Playing for bowl bids
How many Big 12 teams will become bowl eligible on Saturday and what Big 12 team is most likely to be upset? Check out Berry Tramel’s Big 12 and national pregame coverage for answers.
Three Big 12 teams are 5-5. One more victory is required of each to be bowl eligible. It’s assured for only one.
Texas is 5-5 and plays at West Virginia on Saturday before hosting Texas Tech next Friday.
Kansas State is 5-5 and plays at Oklahoma State on Saturday before hosting Iowa State next Saturday.
Tech is 5-5 and hosts TCU on Saturday before playing at Texas.
The Tech-Texas winner is assured of being bowl eligible. But can all three make it and give the Big 12 eight bowl teams? Unlikely.
Part of the problem is the teams they’re playing are still in the Big 12 title hunt. OSU, TCU and West Virginia all still have championship aspirations. So there’s not a lot of big-picture thinking on either side.
“For me, it’s game by game,” said K-State coach Bill Snyder. “Most coaches will tell you exactly the same thing. That’s not to say we don’t have a desire to be bowl eligible. That’s important for the players. Important for Kansas State people. Certainly want that to happen. But we’ve probably spent too much of this season looking forward instead of present day.”
One caveat. Some five-win teams are likely to make bowl games, since there were a shortage of bowl-eligible teams and there figures to be the same this year. Texas, for example, was 5-7 last season and rejected an invitation to be considered for a bowl, primarily because they were going through a coaching change. The Longhorns wouldn’t figure to reject a bid this time.
“Texas, they’re a good football team,” West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said. “We definitely have our hands full here in Morgantown.”