Does Big 12 football still have a shot at 2020 College Football Playoff?
By John Scimeca
After three losses to Sun Belt teams and the presumptive favorite’s defeat to open league play, the Big 12 football’s playoff hopes are dwindling.
The Big 12’s problems began with the opening kickoffs of Week 2, the only non-conference game of the 2020 season for most of its members. Three Sun Belt teams claimed victory over this Power Five league: Arkansas State (against Kansas State), Louisiana (against Iowa State), and Coastal Carolina (against Kansas).
As a reminder: Last season, the Sun Belt only had two teams finish with fewer than five losses. Only two teams have ever been ranked in the Top 25 (Troy and Appalachian State), and several league programs have only been in existence for a decade.
Things only got worse from there. In Week 3, a supposed dark horse conference title candidate, Oklahoma State, trailed in the fourth quarter at home against American Athletic foe Tulsa. The Pokes pulled off an unconvincing 16-7 win against the Golden Hurricane, which finished 4-8 last year.
Week 4 witnessed the preseason conference favorite and five-time defending conference champion go down — and Oklahoma looked hapless in its late-game collapse against Kansas State. In the 38-35 loss, redshirt freshman quarterback Spencer Rattler threw three interceptions, the most by a Sooners quarterback in six years. The Sooners blew a 35-14 third-quarter lead.