Big 12 Bowl Projections: Sooners to face incoming and ascending Big 12 squad in Bowl Season

The Oklahoma Sooners will play a future Big 12 member in the latest Bowl Projections from USA TODAY Sports.

The regular season is over, and all that awaits before knowing OU’s bowl destination is championship weekend. The Oklahoma Sooners just missed out on the Big 12 title game. It’s the third season in a row that the Sooners won’t play for the conference title.

Things are improving at Oklahoma, but after running the Big 12 to the tune of 14 conference championships, it stings a bit not to be able to play for one more.

Still, 10-2 is better than 6-6. The Sooners are showing they’re a program on the right track as they get ready for the SEC. Recruiting is better on both sides of the ball and in 2023, we began to see glimpses of Brent Venables’ recruiting classes impacting the game.

In Oklahoma’s bowl game, we’ll likely get to see more of the youth the Sooners have added since Brent Venables’ arrival. Who will they play? Let’s take a look at the latest Big 12 Bowl Projections via USA TODAY Sports.

How did Big 12 teams finish relative to preseason expectations in USA TODAY Sports 1-133 re-rank?

With the regular season over, how did the Big 12 land in USA TODAY Sports latest 1-133 re-rank of every college football team in the nation?

It’s championship week in college football. But for some teams, it’s the beginning of the offseason, while others wait on their bowl destinations.

It was a unique season in the Big 12. A number of teams met or exceeded expectations in 2023. And several were incredibly disappointing based on preseason expectations.

Let’s take a look at how each of the Big 12 teams ranked in the USA TODAY Sports 1-133 rankings in the preseason compared to how they now rank after the regular season.

Texas secures top spot in Big 12 Power Rankings after final week of the regular season

How does the Big 12 stack up after the final week of the regular season? Here are this week’s power rankings.

The 2023 college football season has been a thrill ride from start to finish. In its lone season as a 14-team conference, the Big 12 did not disappoint. There were fantastic games throughout the conference schedule that brought us to a dramatic final weekend of the regular season.

The Sooners will look back on this season, knowing they missed an opportunity to reach the Big 12 title game. Their performances against Kansas and Oklahoma State were the difference. And although there was some officiating negligence in the loss to the Cowboys, the Sooners also gave the ball away three times in the loss in Bedlam. Combined, the Sooners turned the ball over six times in their two losses and just seven times total in their other 10 games.

Take care of the football and the Sooners are playing for the Big 12 title this weekend.

Week 13 provided a thrilling overtime game between Oklahoma State and BYU. Iowa State and Kansas State played down to the wire in a wintery Farmageddon. Texas beat Texas Tech by 50 with Brett Yormark in attendance, and West Virginia made good on their promise to the preseason media poll look foolish.

After the final week of the regular season, let’s take a look at this week’s Big 12 Power Rankings.

No. 7 Texas vs Texas Tech: A brief history of the Longhorns owning the rivalry

The two teams play each other for possibly the last time on Friday.

The upcoming game between the No. 7 Texas Longhorns and the Texas Tech Red Raiders might be their last encounter due to Texas moving to the SEC in 2024. Continue reading “No. 7 Texas vs Texas Tech: A brief history of the Longhorns owning the rivalry”

Big 12 Bowl Projections: Sooners take on Rising Power in Pacific Northwest in latest Bowl Projections

The Oklahoma Sooners head into the regular season finale still with a shot to make the Big 12 title game. They have to beat TCU on Friday and hope for some good things to go their way, but there’s still a chance. A win over the Horned Frogs would …

The Oklahoma Sooners head into the regular season finale still with a shot to make the Big 12 title game. They have to beat TCU on Friday and hope for some good things to go their way, but there’s still a chance.

A win over the Horned Frogs would give Brent Venables his first 10-win season as a head coach and Oklahoma the bounce-back season they needed heading into the SEC in 2024.

With bowl season right around the corner, the Big 12 has eight teams that have earned bowl eligibility. BYU, UCF, and TCU can all earn bowl bids if they can pick up a win this Saturday.

BYU plays Oklahoma State. A Cougars win and a Sooners win puts Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game.

Here’s a look at the latest Big 12 bowl projections from USA TODAY Sports.

Big 12 Power Rankings: Top of the conference survive scares in week 12

With just one week remaining in the regular season, how doe the Big 12 power rankings look after Week 12 action?

The Big 12 will come down to the final week of the regular season to determine who will represent the conference in their title game in Arlington, Texas.

Texas was challenged by Iowa State and Oklahoma State survived a terrible start in Houston. The Kansas State Wildcats trailed in the fourth quarter against Kansas before pulling out a win and the Oklahoma Sooners survived in Provo despite the loss of Dillon Gabriel.

Here’s a look at the Big 12 Power Rankings ahead of the final week of the regular season.

Big 12 Bowl Projections: Sooners face Pac-12 power in latest projections from USA TODAY Sports

According to the latest Big 12 bowl projections, the Oklahoma Sooners take on the Utah Utes.

The final two weeks of the regular season are upon us. It’s crunch time for the conference title and College Football Playoff contenders. While the playoff is out of reach for the Sooners, they still have an outside shot at a Big 12 title game berth.

They’ll need to take care of business against BYU and TCU over the next nine days. But if the Sooners finish strongly and get a little help, one final trip to Arlington is certainly in the cards.

But at the moment, they’re on the outside looking in, and that affects where they’re heading in USA TODAY Sports’ latest bowl projections.

Let’s take a look at where the Big 12’s projected postseason landing spots.

Big 12 Power Rankings: Cowboys dropped by Knights, Sooners make a statement in week 11

Oklahoma’s win over West Virginia and Oklahoma State’s loss to UCF shook up this week’s Big 12 power rankings.

There are just two weeks left in the regular season, and there’s still a lot to sort out. Texas and Oklahoma State currently hold the top two spots in the Big 12 standings, but Kansas State, Oklahoma, and Iowa State are lurking.

There’s no time for anyone to slip up like Oklahoma State did this past weekend in Orlando.

The UCF Knights’ dominating 45-3 win over the Cowboys was shocking after Oklahoma State knocked off Oklahoma in Bedlam.

As for the Sooners, they responded to their two-game losing streak with authority, putting together arguably their best game of the season in their 59-20 win over West Virginia.

In the win, the Sooners looked like one of the best teams in the Big 12. That combined with the Cowboys’ loss, there’s been a shakeup in this week’s Big 12 power rankings.

Big 12 Power Rankings: Cowboys emerge from Bedlam title contenders

Updated Big 12 power rankings. Conference starting to sort itself out with just a few weeks remaining in the regular season.

In the wake of Week 10’s results, the Big 12 has found its favorites for the Big 12 title game in Arlington, Texas.

Though there are still several weeks to go in conference play, the Oklahoma State Cowboys walked out of Bedlam in control of their path to the game. Their win over Oklahoma put them in a tie for first place with the Longhorns at 5-1, and they have a very favorable remaining schedule.

Oklahoma State finishes the season at UCF, at Houston, and at home vs. BYU in their regular season finale. Those three teams have a combined conference record of 5-13.

The Cowboys are a far different team than the one that was blown out at home by South Alabama.

With their controversial win over Oklahoma and Texas’ win over Kansas State, the front-runners for the conference title game have emerged. It’s not impossible for Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma or Iowa State to find their way to Arlington, but they’ll need help along the way to make the trip to the DFW Metroplex.

Here’s a look at this week’s Big 12 power rankings.

Big 12 Power Rankings: Sooners loss to Jayhawks shakes up the top of the conference

Big 12 power rankings are a mess after the Kansas Jayhawks knock off the Oklahoma Sooners.

The Kansas Jayhawks upset win over the Oklahoma Sooners was their first since 1997 after an 18-game losing streak against OU. It showed off the strong direction their program is heading under Lance Leipold and added another team to the Big 12 title race mix.

While the Sooners are still in first place in the Big 12 due to tiebreakers, there are currently five teams with a 4-1 record in Big 12 play and two more teams (West Virginia and Kansas) that are one game back of first place at 3-2.

The depth of the Big 12 is starting to reveal itself as teams begin to beat up on each other. Week 9 provides a semifinals of sorts for the Big 12 title game with Kansas State traveling to Austin to take on Texas and Oklahoma State hosting the Sooners in Stillwater for Bedlam. The teams that come out of this weekend with a win will have the best shot to make the Big 12 title game.