Hot take review

I find myself being a contrarian quite often. I don’t mean to be, but I can acknowledge I have that trait. This leads to me accidentally making quite a few scorching hot takes for you all to consume and mock. Now the season is at an end my takes have played out. As a fun exercise I thought I would review them, the ones I can remember anyways, and see how hot they turned out to be.

The take: Jalen Hurts would not live up to the hype

Hotness Meter: Ramen noodles that have been left out for a few minutes

Hurts for the most part has been a star for Oklahoma. His ability to run the ball has carried the team on more than one occasion and his arm has been far better than I anticipated. That being said, the guy so much hype coming into the season. He has not fully lived up to it, especially with his back-breaking red zone turnovers lately. The take is still kind of hot because Hurts has been a good deal better than I predicted, but the impossible hype he carried into this year made anything less than a Heisman win a disappointment.

The take: Baylor would be a lower tier team

Hotness Meter: The surface of the sun

Woof, this take was an especially bad one because I stuck to it for the entire year. I still have no idea if Baylor is actually 11-1 good, but you are what your record says you are. This was probably my worst take of the season.

The take: TCU would be mediocre

Hotness Meter: Liquid Nitrogen

This was easily my best take of the year. I nailed this on every level, although I am sad their mediocrity includes a win over the good guys. In spite of the flack I took from the Horned Frog faithful, I was right about every piece of this take. Especially how their quarterback room ended up looking. Max is the future, but he has had some real stinkers this year. TCU’s devastating loss to West Virginia to miss bowl season was a cherry on top for this take.

The take: Texas is almost back

Hotness Meter: Touching a hot stove

Texas is definitely not back. I had this team finishing second in the conference and basically looking like a championship contender without actually threatening Oklahoma. Herman and his coaches plus numerous injuries let me down big time. Texas stinks and the Burnt Orange faithful are looking to burn it all down. Herman is making changes, but will they be enough to save his job next season?

The take: West Virginia will finish last in conference play

Hotness Meter: Blowing hot air on some ice

I was very close here, but unless Kansas upsets Baylor they will be outright last place in the conference. West Virginia is a bad football team, but not quite as bad I predicted. An upset over Kansas State ruined this take essentially, besides the fact that head-to-head West Virginia triumphed over the Jayhawks.

The take: Kansas will win a few Big 12 games

Hotness Meter: A chill fall breeze

Sadly, I was very close here thanks to the Red Raiders falling apart in Lawrence. Kansas was unable to find any other sucker to defeat in conference play. They came very close on a few occasions, but could not finish.

The take: No one would beat Oklahoma/come within 14 points

Hotness Meter: The heat coming off the dumpster fire that is Big 12 refereeing

This was another take I stuck with for too long. Oklahoma rewarded my belief by barely winning games and then being knocked off by the Wildcats. Oklahoma is clearly the conference darling, but I overestimated them. With Lamb hurt, their offense has been far easier to contain and that has really closed the gap between them and their fellow conference mates.

The take(s): Texas Tech would blowout Arizona/Kansas

Hotness Meter: The heat coming off the dumpster fire that is Arkansas football

This one hurts the most, as Tech both suffers directly from me being wrong and I was the most confident about these takes. This just sucks that I missed on both of these takes. The football gods were cruel indeed. Perhaps my hubris played a part in these losses.

The take: The Big 12 is down this year

Hotness Meter: Unclear

The Big 12 is tough for me to evaluate this year. There were no real marquee out of conference wins to fall back on, and while I tend to see the parity as a result of a lot of mediocre teams having a pillow fight it could be the opposite. It could be that the conference is deep because there are so many solid teams. Bowl season will be the great decider for this take.

The take: Starting Jackson Tyner was doomed to fail

Hotness Meter: Cold as outer space

This was a softball, and only qualifies as hot take because we had never actually seen the kid play until that start in Norman. Every stat pointed to this being the wrong move, and by golly it sure was. This was the worst decision Yost made all season, just an awful whiff.

The take: Jett Duffey is not a Big 12 caliber quarterback and will hold this team back

Hotness Meter: Hot as a ghost pepper

Duffey has been a revelation this year. His production has been better than anyone expected, and I believe with a full off season under his belt as QB1 he will be even better. He could get beat out for the job, but he has not given me any reason to doubt he can be the guy. He still tends to make a few costly mistakes, but in a mediocre offense with questionable play calling he still shined most of the year.

The take: Texas Tech is going to finish with 8 to 10 wins and as a top three Big 12 team

Hotness Meter: Hotter than Tom Herman’s seat this coming season

This take now just looks awful, but it came from a well reasoned place originally. My belief was with a better defensive system and a veteran offensive line we would comfortably handle the Big 12 in a down year. Instead injuries and Frye’s regression devastated the secondary making a vulnerable unit awful, and the offensive line never materialized as a force. Part of the issues were due to Anderson’s injury, but it can’t all be explained that way. Bowman’s injury was one I classified as a disaster, but Duffey was great in relief. The issue there was just a boring and predictable offensive system. All in all, I stand by this take as being legitimate at the start of the year but it looks super dumb now.

The take: Khavon Moore would be one of the most important basketball players for this year’s squad

Hotness Meter: Eggs cooking on a sidewalk in the summer in Arizona

For fun, I tossed in this take from my comrade Emory. Emory is a statistical wizard, and usually does not fall into this category. But this giant L comes courtesy of his way too early basketball preview. As we all know now, Khavon had no role in the future at Tech and transferred during the off-season. Welcome to the club Emory.

The take: Nick Saban will coach at Texas Tech

Hotness Meter: Doing the polar plunge in Antarctica

Our esteemed editor Jeramy made this 100% serious take, and damn it I still believe. Nick Saban will be our football coach. He would love Lubbock, and who needs the five star recruits or the massive salary or his free house. Saban seems like he is bored of winning all the time. Rebuilding Tech is his destiny.

Remember any other takes you’ve read that I, or any of us, have made this year? Let us know in the comments!