The Big 12 looks wide open, and it's a lot of fun
By Laken Litman
FOX Sports College Football Writer
Guess who sits atop the Big 12 standings right now? Here’s a hint: it’s not Oklahoma, Oklahoma State or reigning conference champion Baylor. It’s not Texas, either.
Give up? It’s Kansas.
You read that right. Two weeks into the season, the Jayhawks are 2-0, 1-0 in league play.
As a quick aside, there has only been one conference game played so far, and it was between Kansas and West Virginia. The Jayhawks went to Morgantown and left with a 55-42 win in overtime thanks to Cobee Bryant’s interception return for a touchdown.
KU is 2-0 for the first time in a decade, currently leads the country in scoring offense (55.5 points per game) and coach Lance Leipold’s name has been circulated in conversations about who will replace the recently fired Scott Frost at Nebraska.
In a time of transition for the league — where Texas and Oklahoma have one foot out the door and new commissioner Brett Yormark is navigating conference expansion and TV rights deals — is it too bold to say that the Big 12 looks pretty good right now?
There’s parity in a league that isn’t the SEC or Big Ten, and right now it seems that the Big 12 title is up for grabs.
No. 6 Oklahoma looks the steadiest of the bunch, but that’s because the Sooners haven’t had a good test yet. Heading into this weekend’s nostalgic road matchup against old Big Eight rival Nebraska (Saturday, noon ET, FOX and the FOX Sports App) won’t provide too much insight either. Especially not after Frost was fired after last week's unspeakable loss to Georgia Southern.
New OU quarterback Dillon Gabriel has been steady, completing more than 70% of his passes with five touchdowns and no interceptions in easy wins over UTEP and Kent State, and his top target Marvin Mims has been electric. First-year head coach Brent Venables seems to have corrected things after the Cale Gundy incident during fall camp that forced the longtime assistant coach to resign. And his defense has only allowed one touchdown so far this season.
Oklahoma’s record of six consecutive Big 12 championships was snapped last year, thanks to two regular season losses to eventual champion Baylor and runner-up Oklahoma State. While this is a rebuilding year with so many new faces, OU hasn’t given a reason to think it won’t be contending for a conference title in December.
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Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables joins Joel Klatt to talk about the Sooners' strong start and offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby's impact.
Meanwhile, No. 21 Texas is finally showing progress — and after a loss, no less. The Longhorns look like a formidable contender after nearly pulling off an unthinkable upset of No. 1 Alabama last week. Steve Sarkisian’s team was an injured starting quarterback, bobbled touchdown and missed sack away from beating the Crimson Tide in Austin. But as Sarkisian reminded everybody after the game, that one-point loss has no impact on the team’s goal, which is to win the Big 12.
"We’ve got 10 more regular season games to play," Sarkisian said Saturday. "Our season will be defined on how we play throughout the entirety of the season. And that next step comes next Saturday so we don't have a lot of time for ‘poor me’s’ and ‘woe me’s.’ I don't think we will. Our team can hold their head high with the way they played and we’ll get back to work and hopefully come out on top next Saturday."
Texas just has to hope enough star players can stay healthy. Quinn Ewers left Saturday’s game with a sprained clavicle and could be out through the Oct. 8 game at Oklahoma. Backup quarterback Hudson Card finished the game with a banged-up ankle. Running back Bijan Robinson has a dinged-up shoulder and cornerback D’Shawn Jamison also has an ankle injury.
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Joel Klatt shares his takeaways from Texas' close loss to Alabama, including the defense rising to the occasion, and what the loss of QB Quinn Ewers means moving forward.
Elsewhere …
— Iowa State beat its biggest rival Iowa for the first time in the Matt Campbell era last week. The Cyclones needed a 21-play, 99-yard drive that spanned nearly 12 minutes to pull off a 10-7 victory, but it was a breakthrough win nonetheless.
— Texas Tech is giving off good vibes under first-year head coach Joey McGuire. The Red Raiders are 2-0 after hanging 63 points on Murray State in Week 1 and then edging out soon-to-be conference foe Houston in double overtime. We’ll learn more about this team Saturday when it hits the road to No. 16 N.C. State.
— Kansas State pounded Missouri 40-12, prompting coach Chris Klieman to say he thinks the Wildcats "can be a really good team."
— Reigning conference champion Baylor lost to future conference opponent No. 12 BYU on the road in double-overtime. While the Bears stumbled and had 14 penalties, there’s no reason to believe they won’t win nine or 10 games and try to defend their league title. The No. 17 Bears play Texas State on Saturday at noon ET on FS1 and the FOX Sports App.
— And then there was Kansas, which made the fire under Mountaineers’ coach Neal Brown’s seat even hotter. The Jayhawks have Houston on the road this week before hosting an undefeated Duke team.
Yes, it’s early, but things are shaping up for an intriguing title race here in the Big 12.
Read more:
- Oklahoma vs. new-look Nebraska and more we're watching in Week 3
- How Oklahoma's Dillon Gabriel and other transfer QBs are fitting in this season
- Joel Klatt's top 10 rankings
- Key matchups NFL scouts are watching in Week 3
- Panic time at Texas, Notre Dame, Alabama and more?
- How to bet Oklahoma-Nebraska
- Can new Huskers coach make an impact?
- At the top of college football, a familiar scene
Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of "Strong Like a Woman," published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her on Twitter @LakenLitman.