Big 12 Football: 5 teams on upset alert in Week 1 of 2017

There’s parity in the middle of Big 12 football with multiple teams competing for the conference title. Who could have a rough going in Week 1?

The Big 12 is always considered the worst of the Power Five conferences. College football does not have room for all five major conferences in the playoff. However, the Big 12 has some brand names that could make a big push this year.

Under first-year head coach Tom Herman, the Texas Longhorns look to make it back to national relevance. The Oklahoma Sooners also have a first-year head coach in Lincoln Riley. OU has a better chance at making noise on a national scale.

Other teams that will compete in the Big 12 include the Oklahoma State Cowboys, Kansas State Wildcats, West Virginia Mountaineers, and TCU Horned Frogs. Oklahoma State and Kansas State have the proven head coaches in Bill Snyder and Mike Gundy. West Virginia has the hype train with Florida transfer Will Grier.

Gundy and the Pokes have the first game of the week in the Big 12. Texas has the first game on Saturday when they take on the Maryland Terrapins. Six of the 10 teams in the conference face teams from the FCS. Most upsets that could happen would damage the Big 12’s reputation even more.

Oklahoma faces the UTEP Miners. That’s an FBS team but not a good one. Some of the FCS opponents pose bigger threats than UTEP. Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield should have himself a field day against the Miner secondary.

Some things to look out for this weekend include Texas Tech’s offense without Patrick Mahomes, Baylor with first-year head coach Matt Rhule, and West Virginia’s performance against Virginia Tech.

Now, let’s take a look at 5 teams on upset alert in Week 1 in the Big 12.