3 games to watch on road-trip weekend in the Big 12
Clark Griswold has traded in the old station wagon and loaded up the Family Truckster, and he couldn't have picked a better weekend as far as the Big 12 goes.
Pile in the wife and kids, load up the cooler, set your GPS, and make sure to watch out for Christie Brinkley in a red Corvette. If you have the ways and means, this would be a great weekend to hit the road to Austin on Thursday, Fort Worth on Friday, and Stillwater on Saturday: Texas Tech-Texas, Baylor-TCU, and Oklahoma-Oklahoma State are the three big games for the Thanksgiving weekend of action.
And don't stop to see the largest ball of twine, because the Big 12 title could be decided by Saturday.
Thursday: Texas Tech at Texas
Memorial Stadium, Austin, 7:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1
For the Longhorns, it's simple: win the next two games and go into the postseason; lose one and you're done. And head coach Charlie Strong knows how much this program could use a few more weeks of practice. The only problem is those last two games will come against Texas Tech on Thursday and then Baylor on Dec. 5, both tall orders. This will be the 88th time the Horns will play on Thanksgiving Day, and they've gone 59-25-3 in those games.
Tech's offense features the Big 12's leader in passing yards per game (Patrick Mahomes, 355 yards per game), the third-best rusher (DeAndre Washington, 117 yards per game), and the best ball-control offense in the conference (29 first downs per game). If the Raiders are clicking in their short passing game and able to control the ball and the clock, this should be a W for Double-T.
By contrast, the Longhorns average just 25 points per game on offense, which is nearly shameful in the high-octane Big 12. In addition, the Horns will be without leading rusher D'Onta Foreman, who underwent finger surgery last week, and Johnathan Gray will remain on the shelf.
A ray of hope: Texas has not lost at home to Texas Tech since the dark days of 1997.
Friday: Baylor at TCU
Amon Carter Stadium, Fort Worth, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
The Baptists and the Christians renew their new high-stakes rivalry in a game with Big 12 title ramifications.
The Frogs are pining for some revenge as they've lost the last two games to the Bears by three points each. Not to mention, last year’s 61-58 loss cost the Frogs a spot in the final four national playoff and catapulted the Bears to their second straight Big 12 crown. Baylor overcame a 58-37 fourth-quarter deficit in that one, scoring 24 straight points, including a game-winning field goal as time expired.
Both squads are walking MASH units, as Baylor quarterback Jarrett Stidham has been ruled out the rest of the season, leaving the Bears to hope Chris Johnson can work his magic like he did in that scintillating win at Oklahoma State. TCU All-American Trevone Boykin is still a maybe for this game, and his presence would make a huge difference - no offense to Bram Kohlhausen, the Frogs' third-string Houdini who nearly pulled off the upset at Oklahoma last week.
But no matter who's throwing the ball deep for BU, there are still three guys named Corey Coleman, KD Cannon, and Jay Lee who are notorious for phoning home on long bombs. This TCU secondary isn't the vintage deep-five that you usually see from a Gary Patterson-coached team, so look for the Bears to strike deep and strike often.
Some Baylor-TCU trivia: The first meeting between these two came in 1899 and finished in a 0-0 tie. Both schools were located in Waco at the time.
Saturday: Oklahoma at Oklahoma State
Boone Pickens Stadium, Stillwater, 8 p.m. ET, ABC
For the Sooners, it's hopes for the final four or bust.
For the Cowboys, it’s bust the Sooners' final-four hopes.
The Sooners are favored by six, but you know how Bedlam is - it's freakin' bedlam. Throw out the records and the previous results with these two. It will be a great atmosphere and a hard-fought game that could very well come down to who gets that one last big break.
Baker Mayfield got the go-ahead to play in this one earlier this week after leaving Saturday's game with TCU with a head injury. Mayfield said during a press conference this week that he would "run through a brick wall for my team." Instead, he had to watch from the sidelines in the second half as TCU mounted its comeback and the Sooner offense stagnated behind backup QB Trevor Knight.
But the big key in Stillwater could be the effectiveness of Sooner running backs Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon. If those two can gash the Okie State defense consistently, this one gets tricky for OSU. Baylor ran 104 offensive plays against the Cowboys. If Oklahoma can get close to that number again, the Big Red will win this game in the fourth quarter. But again, it depends on OU's control of the time of possession and the pace of the game.
Remember, this is Bedlam.