SOMEHWERE ON I-35 – Good golly I love technology.
When I got off the air from hosting Cyclone Reaction after Iowa State’s 51-23 win over Kansas on Saturday night, the clock read 11:15. My main man Brent Blum and I decided to head back north to Des Moines anyway.
At the time of me writing this, it’s 3:00 a.m. Blum is driving. I’ve got the Internet card fired up along with my MacBook Pro. To pass time, we’re knocking out bowl projections, now that the Cyclones are eligible and what not. Here’s what we’re thinking…
We’ve decided to project based off of who we think is going to win the rest of the Big 12 games this season…So these projections aren’t "as of right now" projections. They’re projecting where we think things will stand after the first weekend of December.
Picks…
Thursday, Nov. 22 – TCU @ Texas – Hook em’.
Friday, Nov. 23 – West Virginia @ Iowa State – We both like Iowa State in this one. I’m kind of hoping that WVU might be a bit wiped after losing to Oklahoma 50-49 on Saturday. Blum is projecting West Virginia as a slight favorite in the game. The Cyclones will have the chore of slowing down that WVU offense but even so, the Mountaineers have one of the worst defenses in college football. We both like Iowa State to finish at 7-5.
Saturday, Nov. 24 – Baylor vs. Texas Tech (in Arlington) – This one can go either way. Tech is on a major downslide right now. We’ll call it a PICK but take Baylor just because they are on an upswing…Tech is going the other direction.
Saturday, Nov. 24 – Oklahoma State @ Oklahoma – Boomer.
Saturday, Dec. 1 – Oklahoma State @ Baylor – Cowboy up!
Saturday, Dec. 1 – Kansas @ West Virginia – West Virginia
Saturday, Dec. 1 – Oklahoma @ TCU – Boomer
Saturday, Dec. 1 – Texas @ Kansas State – Blum likes Texas…I like Kansas State. Our disagreement works well for what we’re about to lay out for you in our projections.
Blum’s final Big 12 standings look like this…
Oklahoma (8-1)
Texas (7-2)
Kansas State (7-2, Texas has the tie-breaker)
Oklahoma State (6-3)
Texas Tech (4-5, with a tie-breaker over Iowa State and West Virginia)
Iowa State (4-5)
TCU (3-6, with a tie-breaker over West Virginia and Baylor)
West Virginia (3-6, with a tie-breaker over Baylor)
Baylor (3-6)
Williams’ final Big 12 standings look like this…
Kansas State (8-1)
Oklahoma (7-2)
Texas (6-3 with a tie-breaker over OSU)
Oklahoma State (6-3)
Texas Tech (4-5, with a tie-breaker over Iowa State and West Virginia)
Iowa State (4-5)
TCU (3-6, with a tie-breaker over West Virginia and Baylor)
West Virginia (3-6, with a tie-breaker over Baylor)
Baylor (3-6)
Bowl Projections
We both feel like regardless of what goes down that the Big 12 still has a great chance of getting two BCS teams, especially with Notre Dame’s current position at being No. 1 in the standings.
BCS – Oklahoma
BCS – Kansas State or Texas
AT&T Cotton – Kansas State or Texas
Valero Alamo – Oklahoma State
This is where it gets tricky. We’ve got Texas Tech, Iowa State in a tie. Tech traditionally doesn’t travel well (remember that bowls don’t have to pick off of standings alone). Iowa State went to this same bowl (formerly the Insight Bowl) in 2009 and traveled well.
In our scenario, Tech would have lost 4 of its last 5 games. Iowa State would have won two in a row. So in our projections, we’ve got iowa State going to Phoenix but if Tech beats Baylor, they’d likely get this spot. Regardless, if iowa State loses to West Virginia, the Cyclones don’t have much of a chance.
Our theory: if Iowa State beats West Virginia, we think they’ll go to Phoenix or San Diego. If Iowa State loses to West Virginia, it will likley be Houson, New York or Dallas.
Buffalo Wild Wings – Iowa State
Bridgepoint Holiday – West Virginia (give them the nod due to national brand/travels well)
Meineke Car Care of Texas – Texas Tech
New Era Pinstripe – TCU
Heart of Dallas – Baylor
As you can see, a lot still needs to be decided over the next two weeks. The Texas Tech/Baylor game is big. How many BCS teams will the Big 12 get? And most importantly, will the Cyclones beat West Virginia?
Stay tuned.
