Big 12 football struggles, power shifts in Group of 5: A Blitz Podcast

Big 12 football continues to struggle while the power has shifted in the Group of Five ranks in an already eventful 2020 season.

The early season struggles from the Big 12 have continued through Week 5 of this fluid and strange college football season. Week two saw the league go 0-3 against the Sun Belt, highlighted by a shockingly dominant Louisiana win over Iowa State.

In Week 5, that same Cyclones team stunned Oklahoma in Ames, handing the Sooners their second consecutive loss. For the first time since 1998, Oklahoma is 1-2 in their first three Big 12 contests. With Texas looming in Dallas this week, the Sooners’ season is teetering on the brink of a disaster.

The Longhorns, always the darling on lofty preseason expectations, have hardly fared better than their rivals to the north. After Saturday’s discouraging 33-31 loss to TCU, Texas is a spectacularly fortunate late-game comeback over Texas Tech the week before from matching Oklahoma’s 1-2 start.

With Oklahoma’s unexpected slide and Texas’ consistent inability to receive a resurrection, the Big 12 seems to be in an uphill battle to regain optics and have a legitimate shot at a berth in the College Football Playoff.

The Group of Five race has taken some early unexpected twists. The AAC has earned the last three automatic bids into the New Year’s Six, Tulsa’s unexpected upset of UCF could potentially open the door for another league to step ahead. Obviously, both Cincinnati and SMU are off to strong starts and stand at the forefront still.

But even with an early season loss by Appalachian State, Louisiana has emerged as a legitimate threat, and Coastal Carolina has a chance for a huge statement against the Ragin’ Cajuns, with the winner likely standing near the top of the mountain.

With the return of the Mountain West in sight, Boise State — and perhaps a surprising challenger — will have a lot to say in the outcome.

The Saturday Blitz Podcast is part of the FanSided Radio Network at Omny. The show goes live every Wednesday morning. You can reach John Mitchell at @jlmitchell93 and Zach Bigalke at @zbigalke on Twitter.