Tag: big12blast

Quinn Ewers narrows the gap in the Big 12 QBR standings

Dillon Gabriel and Quinn Ewers are having quite the battle in the rankings.

After Week 4 in college football, three teams remain with a spotless record. The Kansas Jayhawks, Oklahoma Sooners, and Texas Longhorns are all 4-0 and 1-0 in Big 12 play. Their success has been a combination of things but you can look right at the quarterback for some of the success.

Two of those three teams will face off in Week 5. That matchup was the No. 1 game in our weekly breakdown for the Big 12 schedule.

As Week 5 is gearing up to kick off, we are taking a look at the quarterbacks of the conference based on ESPN’s QBR metric. Currently, Dillion Gabriel holds a slim lead over Quinn Ewers and Jalon Daniels in this week’s update.

Which quarterbacks are standing tall for their teams and looking to unseat Gabriel from the top spot?

Quarterback Team QBR Last Week’s QBR (Ranking)
Dillon Gabriel Oklahoma 86.6 92.5 (No. 1)
Quinn Ewers Texas 82.2 76.0 (No. 4)
Jalon Daniels Kansas 82.0 79.2 (No. 2)
Chandler Morris TCU 77.7 70.9 (No. 7)
Will Howard Kansas State 75.0 71.3 (No.6)
Timmy McClain UCF 72.9 –
John Rhys Plumlee UCF 72.6 77.7 (No. 3)
Rocco Becht Iowa State 66.9 53.6 (No. 11)
Emory Jones Cincinnati 62.0 72.9 (No. 5)
Kedon Slovis BYU 58.8 60.8 (No. 8)
Tyler Shough Texas Tech 55.7 58.7 (No. 9)
Donovan Smith Houston 50.5 47.9 (No. 12)
Sawyer Robertson Baylor 39.9 34.5 (No. 13)
Alan Bowman Oklahoma State 35.2 20.4 (No. 14)
Nicco Marchiol West Virginia 34.7 –

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Kansas-Texas highlights Week 5 action in the Big 12

Ranking the best games on the Big 12 schedule in Week 5.

Another week of Big 12 football is set to kick off in Week 5. The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Kansas State Wildcats are on their open week. College Sports Wire ranked the five best games this week in the conference.

The only game that doesn’t make our list is the Houston Cougars at Texas Tech Red Raiders. Two teams that are failing to meet the expectations of their season through four games. Both teams will start a quarterback that was a backup for Tyler Shough. Behren Morton and Donovan Smith both started games last year in Shough’s stead and now face off as opposing quarterbacks in this game. That game can be seen on FS2 at 2:30 p.m. CT.

As the Red River Rivalry looms next week, we could have a top-15 matchup with two undefeated teams. Texas hosts an undefeated Kansas, while Oklahoma hosts Iowa State.

We ranked the remaining five games on the Big 12 schedule:

College football’s top performers of the Big 12 in Week 3

A trio of Oklahoma Sooners led the way in our Week 3 top performers.

In Week 3, there were a total of 13 games on the Big 12 schedule. Only one of those matchups, TCU at Houston, was a conference matchup.

The Kansas State Wildcats, BYU Cougars, and West Virginia Mountaineers were the only teams facing off against Power Five teams. BYU and WVU took care of business while KSU lost to Missouri on a game-winning 61-yard field goal as time expired.

The rest of the Big 12 went 8-3 and the worst loss of the bunch was the 33-7 loss to South Alabama by Oklahoma State. Overall, the Big 12 looked ready to begin conference play for 12 of the remaining 14 conference teams for Week 4.

Dillon Gabriel and the Oklahoma Sooners led the way in our weekly top performers.

College football’s top performers in the Big 12 during Week 2

Quinn Ewers finished what he started in 2022 against the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The biggest story out of the Big 12 in Week 2 was the Texas Longhorns and their efforts to win in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide gave it a good run in the third quarter but Quinn Ewers and the Texas offense had the last laugh.

In all the Big 12 only suffered four losses in the 14 nonconference games that took place over the weekend. The slate of games began in Lawrence, Kansas, on Friday night where the Jayhawks took care of the Illinois Fighting Illini.

The worst loss of the weekend came in Houston where the Cougars fell to cross-town foe, the Rice Owls in overtime. Rice raced out to a 28-0 lead late in the second quarterback before the Cougars responded. They ultimately didn’t have enough juice to pull off the win.

College Sports Wire checks in on the best performances in Week 2 from across the Big 12 landscape.

Nelly to perform during halftime of Big 12 championship game

The Big 12 title game is set to be turned into “Nellyville” during halftime.

During Big 12 media days in July, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark hinted at the conference having a “major artist” as part of a halftime show for its championship game in December.

Originally expected to be announced earlier this month, all has been quiet regarding who the mystery “major artist” could be. On Wednesday, the Big 12 finally announced who fans can expect to see perform.

The artist in question will be rapper and hip-hop artist Nelly. The 48-year-old is originally from Austin, Texas, before he moved to Missouri, an original Big 12 territory, growing up in and around St. Louis.

Nelly is no stranger to the spotlight or halftime shows; during his illustrious 20-plus-year career, he has won three Grammy Awards and has sold well over 20 million albums. He also has performed during two separate Super Bowl halftime shows as well, doing so at Super Bowl XXXV and Super Bowl XXXVIII.

The 2023 Big 12 championship game will be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, where it’s scheduled to be held through the 2030 season. It has been held at the stadium every year since 2017 when the conference brought back its championship game after not having one from 2011 through 2016.

Last year, the No. 10 Kansas State Wildcats upset the No. 3 TCU Horned Frogs 31-28, spoiling TCU’s chance at a perfect season. It was the second time Kansas State had won a Big 12 championship game, also doing so in 2003. TCU would go on to make the College Football Playoffs as the No. 3 seed, defeating No. 2 Michigan 51-45 before losing to No. 1 Georgia in the national championship game 65-7.

Preseason top 25 players in the Big 12

CSW ranked the top 25 players in the Big 12 for the upcoming season.

As of late, there has been a lot of focus on the Big 12 and commissioner Brett Yormark but not for the upcoming season. After adding Colorado to the conference for 2024, they are rumored to add another three schools before it is all said and done.

That will likely all play out in the coming days, but our focus is on the 2023 college football season. We have 14 teams vying to take home the conference trophy in the final year which will feature the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns.

The BYU Cougars, Cincinnati Bearcats, Houston Cougars, and UCF Knights join the other eight teams in hopes of spoiling the fairytale ending for the departing members. More on the season in the weeks to come.

The focus here is on the players who will determine the outcome of this season. College Sports Wire ranked the top 25 players in the Big 12 for 2023 which features everything from quarterbacks to defensive backs and everything in between.

College Wire’s 2023 preseason All-Big 12 team

Who makes our preseason All-Big 12 team?

The 2023 Big 12 football season is almost upon us. It will be quite different than in years past given that there are 14 teams competing for the championship this year. The number will drop to 13 in 2024 with the addition of Colorado and the losses of Oklahoma and Texas.

But for now, we shall focus on the upcoming season that welcomes BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF to the conference.

For the first time in the CFP era, the Big 12 was represented in the national championship game. It didn’t go their way but a new year brings the hope that they can compete for the title. TCU, much like many other teams are hoping that lost production won’t be their undoing in 2023.

As we countdown to the start of the season, College Sports Wire unveils our preseason All-Big 12 team selections.

Big 12 Media Days: One question for each of the Big 12’s 14 teams

College Sports Wire poses one question to each Big 12 program ahead of the conference’s media days.

On Wednesday, the Big 12 will kick off media day season as college football inches one step closer to returning.

It will be the last Big 12 Media Days that feature Oklahoma and Texas, while it’s the first for BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston as members of the Big 12. There will surely be a lot of questions to go around for each one of the conference’s 14 programs entering this fall in what is a big transitionary season for the conference, as it leaves one era of conference history and enters another.

With that, College Sports Wire poses one question for each Big 12 program to answer this week. Before diving into each program, however, there is one question for Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark to answer.

Commissioner Brett Yormark: What is next for the Big 12?

The Big 12 and commissioner Brett Yormark, despite many challenges, were able to find a way to stabilize the conference by adding BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston. That being said, not all the challenges have been navigated just yet.

What is next for the Big 12? Is the conference still looking to expand in the near future? The next wave of conference realignment is only truly beginning, and the conference was able to get ahead of the curve this season by adding those four programs. Next July, Oklahoma and Texas will make the jump to the SEC, while USC and UCLA make the move from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten.

While Yormark, of course, won’t give specific answers to any of the questions regarding future realignment, what type of blanket statement he gives regarding the topic will be an intriguing focal point of his time at the podium this week.

Are 2024 schedules compliant with new SEC league rules?

Only one SEC school doesn’t meet the new scheduling rules for the 2023 season.

The SEC will look quite a bit different when we kick off the 2024 college football season on Aug. 31. No longer will you see SEC West vs SEC East. Divisions are now a thing of the past. The league will officially expand to 16 teams with the additions of the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns.

On Thursday we discovered that the SEC will stick with the eight-game and four-game nonconference schedules. However, they will revisit these rules for the 2025 season.

The only stipulation to the 2024 schedule is that each team must schedule at least one Power Five nonconference opponent. There won’t be any loading up on FCS and bottom-tier Group of Five teams.

With a full year between now and the start of the season, we dive into each of the 16 team’s schedules in 2024. Which school isn’t compliant with the new rules?

Ranking the best Big 12 wide receivers ahead of the 2023 season

Texas and Texas Tech lead the way in our Big 12 WR rankings with seven players between the two schools.

Since the formation of the Big 12 in 1996, this conference has been known for its passing offense. More importantly, we have seen monster years from the wide receivers.

Players such as Ryan Broyles (Oklahoma), James Washington (Oklahoma State), Kendall Wright (Baylor), Roy Williams (Texas), and Michael Crabtree (Texas Tech) are among those conference legends at receiver.

This year’s group will include players from Brigham Young, Central Florida, Cincinnati, and Houston joining the 10 existing members from 2022. But which of these teams has the best receivers in our preliminary rankings ahead of the 2023 season?

Among our list, the Texas Longhorns and Texas Tech Red Raiders have the most players ranked. But perhaps one of the newcomers could snag the top spot by season’s end.

Check out our top receivers as we inch closer to the start of the 2023 season in the new-look Big 12.