Iowa State is a must-win game for the Texas Longhorns. That’s not breaking news, but one scenario could be for those who follow the program.
The quickest path to the Big 12 championship game for Texas is straightforward: Win your final two games and you’re in. But what happens if Texas loses a game?
Heartland Sports’ Bryan Clinton broke down how Texas could make the title game with a loss.
“Texas can secure a spot in the Big 12 Championship with a win over Iowa State on Saturday, and would obviously be there if they were to win out and go 11-1 on the year. However, if the Cyclones can pull off an upset over Texas and drop them to 6-2 in conference play, the Longhorns would then require an Oklahoma loss to get to Arlington on top of beating Texas Tech in Week 13.”
Should the Longhorns beat Iowa State and lose to Texas Tech, the team could be forced into a four-way tie with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Kansas State. According to Clinton, in that scenario, Texas would face the Kansas State Wildcats for a Big 12 title.
The three other viable contenders have no incentive to lose. Oklahoma State faces Houston (4-6) and BYU (5-5) and is likely to win both contests. Oklahoma faces the same BYU team and TCU (4-6) to close the year.
Kansas State is probably the least likely of the other three to hold up its end of the bargain in a four-way tie. Albeit, the team faces Kansas (7-3) and its injury plagued quarterback room and should be favored to beat secondary rival Iowa State (6-4) to close the year.
The Iowa State game for Texas could make or break the Longhorns’ conference title bid. A win makes the team heavy favorites, if not a near lock, to make the Big 12 championship game.