August 24, 2013
Here is your Big 12 road trip for the 2013 season. You will be seeing a game at every stadium in the league, and we are including the annual Texas-Oklahoma game at the Cotton Bowl. Enjoy.
8/31 - Oklahoma State v. Mississippi State (in Houston) - There is more attention on LSU-TCU, but no one really gives TCU much of a chance there. Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops trumpeted the depth of his league compared to the SEC during the offseason. That argument will take a big hit if MSU wins here.
9/7 - West Virginia @ Oklahoma - Last year, this game was wild. The two teams combined for 99 points, 1,440 yards of total offense and four lead changes over the final 7:12 of the game. OU won in Morgantown on a TD with :21 left.
9/14 - Iowa @ Iowa State - The Cyclones have won the CyHawk Trophy the last two years (44-41 and 9-6). Neither team is expected to be that good, but a good in-state rivalry for bragging rights always adds something to a college football road trip.
9/21 - West Virginia v. Maryland (in Baltimore) - It doesn’t compare to the Red River Rivalry, but here’s a bonus neutral site game.
9/28 - Bonus Week - There’a only two games to choose from, but feel free to check out SMU @TCU or Oklahoma State @ West Virginia.
10/5 - West Virginia @ Baylor - OU-WVU produced more yards of total offense, but this match-up in 2012 finished 70-63. I can’t promise another shootout of those proportions, but it should be a fun one in Waco.
10/12 - Texas v. Oklahoma (in Dallas) - The Sooners have won three straight over Texas by scores of 28-20, 55-17 and 63-21. Texas has gone 22-16 since losing the BCS Championship in January of 2010. A win here will not only get fans off of Mack Brown’s back, it could catapult Texas into national title contention.
10/19 - Oklahoma @ Kansas - This one has the makings of being a laugher. KU has lost eight in a row to OU, all by at least 14 points. In their last meeting here, KU managed only 6 yards of offense in the 2nd half. The crowd should be jacked for this one... for about 10 minutes.
10/26 - Texas @ TCU - The Longhorns have won 28 of the last 30 meetings, but last year, TCU ruined Thanksgiving in Austin with a 20-13 victory. It is the first visit to Fort Worth by Texas since the Horned Frogs joined the Big 12. It is a game that has been circled on the calendar at TCU since they joined the league.
11/2 - Oklahoma State @ Texas Tech - With both the Texas and Oklahoma games on the road, this is the best choice to see Kliff Kingsbury’s boys in Lubbock. The Cowboys have won four straight in the series and scored 125 points over the last two meetings. If Tech can find some defense... any defense... this game will be a good one.
11/9 - Texas @ West Virginia - It will be a historic day in Morgantown as one of the nation’s premiere programs plays there for the first time ever. In fact, WVU is 2-0 all-time against Texas, with a 48-45 win last year and a 1-point win in 1956. Mountaineer fans are known to get rowdy, and this one should have the crowd as rowdy as ever.
11/16 - Texas Tech v. Baylor (in Arlington) - It’s another neutral site bonus game, as these two teams take over Cowboys Stadium. It is the fifth straight neutral site meeting in this series. The last three meetings have led to high drama and lots of points.
11/23 - Oklahoma @ Kansas State -This series has been dominated by Oklahoma. The Sooners are 62-9-1 vs KSU since 1935, but one of those nine losses came last year when Collin Klein led a 24-19 upset. KSU must replace 9 starters on defense, so back-to-back wins in this series should be difficult.
11/28 (Thr) - Texas Tech @ Texas - Thanksgiving night in Texas did not go well for the Longhorns last year as they fell to TCU. In fact, Texas has lost their last three home finales. As rough as things have been in Austin, they haven’t lost to the Raiders since Crabtree broke their collective hearts in 2008.
12/7 - Oklahoma @ Oklahoma State - We finish with Bedlam in Stillwater. A year ago, OSU blew double digit leads in each half and lost in OT. This game could be for the Big 12 crown and a BCS bid. Don’t let anyone fool you though by calling this a great rivalry. They’ve played 107 times. Oklahoma State has won 17.
This should be a three team race between Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. There is a good possibility we could have a three-way tie the way it played out in 2008. Texas has tons of experience returning from a 9-win team. I do not believe they go 12-0, but I think they will end up as the Big 12 Champ.
If the league champion finishes with one loss, it will depend on when the other 1-loss league champs lose to determine if they get to play for the crystal football.
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