BYU 's visit to Austin this weekend isn't just an intriguing matchup. It's a changing of the guard.
Texas has been the Big 12's flagship brand since the day the league was formed. BYU represents the conference's new era moving forward once the Longhorns leave town with Oklahoma .
Do the Cougars have the most prestigious brand within the Texas/Oklahoma-less Big 12? Well ... answering that question may be above my pay grade. I'll leave that debate up to the in-state rivalry banter around here.
Of the league's four expansion programs this year, BYU may very well hold the most prestige (thank you, 1984, Ty Detmer and CougarTails). Commissioner Brett Yormark sure seems to love the Cougars. No, the conference won't ever be the same without Texas and Oklahoma, but BYU will play a key role in what the Big 12 can become without them.
Think of this showdown between the Longhorns and Cougars as a clash between past and future. It's like when rookie Peyton Manning faced off with Steve Young in the twilight of his career. The only thing missing from such a comparison is Peyton's nephew Arch seeing the field for Texas.
BYU may not have a taller task in 2023 than this trip to Austin. Not since 2018 have the Cougars been billed as such heavy underdogs. Could this be another program-defining dub for Kalani Sitake?
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The Longhorns are coming off a two week stretch in which they lost late to Oklahoma and were nearly embarrassed by hapless Houston. Starting quarterback Quinn Ewers is injured. This is usually the time of year when things begin to slip away from Steve Sarkisian.
By the way, did you know that Sark played at BYU? Surely no one else has pointed that out yet.
They may not have Taysom Hill to save them this year, but the Cougars are playing with house money at 5-2. They have nothing to lose. With Aidan Robbins healthy again, BYU should be able to produce a run game for Kedon Slovis to lean on, and anything can happen against a backup quarterback.
Yes, Texas is stacked, but don't count the Cougars out. This game will be much more interesting than the 17.5-point line suggests. Aside from the burnt orange-loving Longhorn faithful, the rest of the Big 12 should be backing BYU to topple Texas one last time.
It's getting awkward in Orlando.
UCF is still searching for its first-ever Big 12 win, having dropped four straight contests since the start of league play. Can you believe this team was 3-0 at one point this year? Life comes at you fast.
Amid their skid, the Knights came dangerously close to pulling off a shocking road upset over Oklahoma this past weekend, going the distance with the Sooners until a failed two-point conversion in the final minute sealed their tragic fate. Such a triumph would have been all the sweeter against former UCF quarterback-turned-Heisman hopeful Dillon Gabriel , but alas, it wasn't meant to be.
The Knights are a truly fascinating team. On paper, they should be much more successful than what reality has reflected. UCF leads the conference in total offense at 499.6 yards per game. The Knights average 5.6 yards per carry as a team and have one of the most talented receiving groups in the nation. However, their defense has been inconsistent and the offense lacks any sort of clutch factor, adding up to a recipe for mediocrity.
Oklahoma hasn't been the only heartbreaker for UCF, as the Knights also suffered an epic collapse to Baylor last month to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Crazily enough, UCF could have been two or three plays away from sitting at 2-2 and in the thick of the Big 12 race. I guess it just wasn't meant to be.
The Knights have a bright future with some talented young pieces and an encouraging recruiting effort. This team is still pretty fun to watch given its steamrolling offense, but 2023 can't be seen as anything but a lost season for UCF.
To quote Michael Keaton's Batman: "You wanna get nuts? Let's get nuts!"
The Big 12 standings are still a crowded mess. With four teams at 3-1, another four at 2-2 and Oklahoma sitting pretty at 4-0, the majority of the league is still in the hunt for a title game berth. This weekend should whittle that number down a bit.
Or will it?
It may seem unlikely (and it is), but there's a scenario in which the Big 12 could feature an eight-way tie for second place by the end of Saturday's action. Could you even imagine?
There isn't a single league matchup this weekend that doesn't play into this hectic hypothetical. Bear with me ...
Here are the dominoes that need to fall:
Baylor over Iowa State
West Virginia over UCF
Cincinnati over Oklahoma State
Kansas over Oklahoma
Houston over Kansas State
BYU over Texas
Yes, this scenario would require an upset in every Big 12 contest this weekend, but crazier things have happened. Don't act like it wouldn't be extremely on brand for such widespread absurdity to occur in this league. The conference of chaos more than deserves an eight-way tie for second place heading into November. Give us all the drama!
It probably isn't going to happen, unfortunately ... but I'm saying there's a chance. Jim Carrey would be proud.
No matter how many league upsets do or don't materialize this weekend, the point remains: The Big 12 is wide open. The race is far from over, and as of this current moment almost anyone can find a path to challenging Oklahoma at Jerryworld.
Buckle up everyone. The second half of conference play promises to be even more exciting than the first.
