Big 12 play heating up as first week of all conference games is here

1. Oklahoma- After barely escaping against West Virginia, the Sooners travel to Manhattan to do battle with the Wildcats of Kansas State. Will Spencer Rattler be able to get his mojo back and get this offense back on track?
2. Baylor- After escaping with a narrow win against Iowa State, Baylor has officially entered the top of the Big 12 picture. They now get another tough test and have to travel to Stillwater and play the 19th ranked Cowboys. Gerry Bohanon has thrown for 823 yards and seven touchdowns and no interceptions, which is helping this Baylor offense be as explosive as they are.
3. Oklahoma State- The Cowboys are back in the rankings and are looking to have a nice statement win at home with the Baylor Bears coming to town. This offense hasn’t had an explosive game this season on offense and will look to if they want to keep up with the Bears offense that has been solid on the offensive end.
4. Texas- Putting on a performance like the Longhorns did on Saturday will shoot you up the rankings and get you back on track through the season. The question is was that a good Texas offense coming to light or was that a terrible performance by Texas Tech? We will see this week as the Longhorns head to Fort Worth to play TCU.
5. Kansas State- A narrow loss to the Cowboys won’t derail the Wildcats season if they can pull off an upset this week against the Sooners. They’re catching them at the right time as the offense just seems to be off, so they could either take advantage of that or be a stepping stone for another inevitable Sooners conference title run.
6. TCU- The Horned Frogs come off a bye week and welcome in the Longhorns who just put up 70. Will TCU be able to bounce back from a tough loss to SMU? Max Duggan will have to play out of his mind and Zach Evans has to be a focal point of this offense if they want to keep up with the Longhorns.
7. Texas Tech- While the loss to Texas is about as embarrassing as it gets, it was their first loss of the season and there is still plenty of time to regroup. This week presents a difficult task in West Virginia, so a bounce back will be difficult but still possible.
8. Iowa State- The Cyclones season has gone downhill quickly with another loss. Baylor beat them narrowly and have knocked them from the rankings, so the Cyclones get just about the best rebound game one could ask for in Kansas. They’re still technically in the race for the Big 12 championship, but any playoff hopes have been dashed.
9. West Virginia- After an exciting win against Virginia Tech, the Mountaineers lost a close one to Oklahoma in a low scoring affair. The offense has just been too inconsistent but the defense has been a solid surprise. They will try and get on track against the Red Raiders.
10. Kansas- The Jayhawks were blown out by Duke in their final non-conference game of the season and are now 1-3. They are now heading to Ames to take on an Iowa State team fresh off of a close loss that essentially ruined all preseason expectations. Not a good recipe for the Jayhawks.

Key Matchups- The most exciting matchup of the week is easily Baylor and Oklahoma State. The early season matchup will definitely be key later in the season when it comes down to who will be in the conference championship game and could be an exciting offensive game if the Cowboys decide to show up. Oklahoma going to Kansas State is my upset pick of the week as I can see the Wildcats taking down the Sooners, and I also see Texas Tech taking down West Virginia in Morgantown.