Don’t quit on Big 12 football just yet

big 12 football

A lot of people around the sports world seem to think that having two schools lose to strong non-Power 5 schools and having one school really struggle against a decent air raid Houston Baptist team means that the Big 12 is in trouble… Not necessarily the case and here’s why.

It’s early

Well for one, its their first game! We are living in a pandemic, like not just Texas or Kansas are experiencing this pandemic, we all are. That include professional and college athletes. Guys are rusty out there, they haven’t had a lot of time to really practice and get conditioned. Plus, they have to worry about the fact the season can end at literally any possible moment. These guys are playing scared because they need tape to even have a chance to make it into the minds of NFL scouts. Just give it some time and see after this little conference-wide (aside from Oklahoma State) bye week that all teams will play their best games and we’ll see who is really best in the Big 12.

Respect the Sun Belt

Another reason why you shouldn’t give up on the Big 12 is because most of the teams played a super strong Sun Belt Conference where most of them have a chip on their shoulder for not being part of the Power 5 conferences. These are not the usual FCS teams that most athletic programs pay to come in and get the beating that they should receive when playing a Power 5 team. These are FBS teams with the spotlights on them. Everyone, myself included, counted these teams out and expected the Big 12 to have a clean sweep in football last week and the Sun Belt just said, “Hey! We’re here too!”

Ragin’ Cajuns are good

Number three reason, it was two losses against a really good Louisiana team and a Coastal Carolina team that has beaten Kansas before, but like I said in my predictions, we kind of expected Kansas to be a toss up. It doesn’t mean it can’t pull off the expected Big 12 upset in Weeks 5, 10, and/or 12.

In conclusion, it’s Week 1. Don’t give up hope. This conference is the toughest to play in because anyone can beat anyone. Don’t forget Oklahoma hasn’t had a undefeated season since 2000, and the Big 12 hasn’t presented an undefeated champion since 2005. Your team is still No. 1 and could easily take over the conference if it has a couple of key victories over certain teams.

Photo courtesy of Iowa State Athletic Communications