Big 12 showdown
With two weeks left, WVU is one of four teams in reach of the title game.
Sixth-ranked Oklahoma or No. 7 West Virginia will play in the Big 12 Conference championship. They might be facing each other, too,
The Sooners, Mountaineers, No. 13 Texas and No. 18 Iowa State are the teams still in contention for the Big 12 title game at noon Dec. 1 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. There are two big head-to-head matchups the final two weekends of the regular season before then.
Three-time defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma (9-1, 6-1) or the Mountaineers (8-1, 6-1) advance by winning their final two games. Since they play each other in the regular-season finale, it is impossible for both to finish 8-1 in conference play, but they also still could face each other two weeks in a row — the day after Thanksgiving in Morgantown and then for the Big 12 title.
“We’ve got a lot of big goals and our goals are kind of predicated on us playing our best ball here at the end of year,” Sooners coach Lincoln Riley said Monday.
Every Big 12 team plays each other in the roundrobin conference schedule that sets up one rematch for a guaranteed spot in a New Year’s Six bowl. And if Oklahoma or West Virginia win out, they possibly could make it into the College Football Playoff.
“That means there’s going to be really important games coming down the stretch run,” Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said. “That’s what makes this time of year really special.”
Iowa State (6-3, 5-2) plays Saturday at Texas (7-3, 5-2) in what will be their only meeting this season. There is no possible scenario that could create a championship rematch between the teams currently tied for third place.
The Cyclones have won five Big 12 games in a row for the first time in school history. That’s since opening conference play with losses to Oklahoma and TCU, the teams that played in the 2017 Big 12 title game after both lost to Iowa State in the 2017 regular season.
Since a 37-27 win at Iowa State in mid-September, Oklahoma has scored at least 45 points in each of its past six conference games. But the Sooners lost, 48-45, to Texas, a setback that would keep them out of the Big 12 title game if it came down to a head-to-head tiebreaker between the Red River rivals.
West Virginia’s only loss was a month ago at Iowa State, but the Mountaineers won, 42-41, at Texas when quarterback Will Grier ran for a 2-point conversion in the final minute.
That means opposite tiebreaker scenarios against the current co-leaders for the Longhorns and Cyclones: Texas over Oklahoma; and Iowa State over West Virginia.
Kansas (3-7, 1-6), the only Big 12 team so far that can’t get bowl eligible, also is the only team that will finish the regular season against two of the title-contending teams. The Jayhawks are at Oklahoma Saturday, and play host to Texas Nov. 23 in their finale.
“We just lost our opportunity to become bowl eligible, so obviously our goals will shift from here,” outgoing Kansas coach David Beaty said. “We love those opportunities, and when it comes down to the situation, it would be spoiler for others. But for us, it’s about our seniors and it’s about our team being able to provide as many victories for our university, these seniors and really for the future of Kansas football.”
Oklahoma has won 13 consecutive games against the Jayhawks by an average margin of 31 points, and its most recent home loss in the series was 1996, the first Big 12 season. Kansas is 1-14 against Texas in the Big 12, though the Longhorns lost in their previous visit to Lawrence two years ago.