Take Kansas over Texas Tech in an upset special
It's a Big 12 football weekend void of showdowns. Four games, none matching contenders to make it Arlington for the conference championship game. Every game involves at least one team with no more than one Big 12 win.
Still, there are some interesting games Saturday, with an unlikely upset special and a coach on the hot seat who actually is quite secure.
1. Texas at TCU, 2:30 p.m., Fox: Since the Horned Frogs joined the Big 12 in 2012, they are 37-29 in conference play. Texas is 39-28.
2. Texas Tech at Kansas, 6 p.m., FS1: Strange times. Tech had a better basketball team than did Kansas last season; now the Jayhawks might have the better football team.
3. Oklahoma State at Iowa State, 2:30 p.m., FS1: Only twice ever have both the Cowboys and Cyclones been ranked at the time of their game, and it won't happen this year, either.
4. Oklahoma at Kansas
State, 11 a.m., ABC: The Sooners haven't lost in Manhattan since 1996 and have lost there only four times since 1933.
Upset special
On Oct. 6, 2001, Kansas rallied from a late deficit in regulation to beat Texas Tech 34-31 in double overtime. That remains the Jayhawks' only football victory over the Red Raiders. Ever.
Tech is 19-1 against Kansas — 4-0 before the Big 12 era, 15-1 since. In the last 11 meetings, KU has stayed within single digits of Tech only once. The last three games, not exactly glory years for the Red Raiders, have been 48-16, 65-19 and 55-19 Tech victories.
But Kansas is revived under first-year coach Les Miles. The Jayhawks routed Boston College and played Texas to the wire last week in Austin before losing 50-48.
Saturday in Lawrence, Kansas might have the better quarterback. Senior quarterback Carter Stanley has not had a glittering career but is having a solid season, with 16 touchdown passes and just four interceptions. Meanwhile, Tech has been up-and-down with junior Jett Duffey, who replaced injured starter Alan Bowman.
Tech is a 5½-point favorite at Kansas on Saturday, but let's go with the Jayhawks in the upset.
Upset special record: 4-4.
Coach on the hot seat
Gary Patterson still garners a ton of respect, which he should, since his Horned Frogs are 170-66 in his 19 seasons as the TCU head coach.
But his Frogs are not quite as competitive as they were in their early days in the Big 12. TCU was 6-7 in 2016, 7-6 in 2018 and is 3-3 going into a home game against Texas on Saturday.
The Horned Frogs opened as 2-point favorites over Texas, though
Las Vegas soon rectified that, and the Longhorns are a 1-point favorite.
TCU must split its final six games to be bowl eligible. Since Baylor and OU remain on the schedule, that won't be easy without a victory over the Longhorns.
Patterson's job is eternally secure — he's as popular in Fort Worth as Bill Snyder was in Manhattan, Kansas — but the pressure is on Patterson to rally the Frogs, starting with a winnable game against UT.