Welcome to Fact or Fiction Friday. Each Friday, I give our Facebook and message board fans an opportunity to ask the most intriguing questions in the Big 12 Conference, and I will tell you whether they come true or if they are set to fail. Now let’s crack it open and see what we have in store this week.
The Big 12 will outdraw the ACC on television this season.
Fact: I believe you will see better ratings across the board. While the Big 12 doesn’t have a blueblood like a Florida State or Clemson, the conference has more depth than the ACC. That means that more teams will be fighting for the top spot, which also means that playoff hopes are on the line. The month of November in the Big 12 Conference will have weekly elimination games for teams who are hoping to get to the Big 12 Championship Game, which means they will have hopes of reaching the College Football Playoff. This should put more focus on the Big 12 due to the fact that the conference title race is much larger than that of the ACC. To simply put it, the Big 12 is more interesting than the ACC, which will lead to bigger ratings, especially as the season progresses.
There are five Big 12 teams in the preseason AP top 25. There will be more than five Big 12 teams in the final end of season poll.
Fiction: I don’t trust AP voters when it comes to the Big 12. I never have and I never will. They are part of the reason why you see so much SEC bias out there and why the Big 12 usually gets the short end of the stick. Personally, I could care less about the AP Poll. The only one that matters if the College Football Playoff ranking. Utah, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State will likely finish the year in the Top 25 and I could see a team like Kansas there as well, or maybe another team like Iowa State, UCF, or even West Virginia. If there is going to be a fifth team ranked, it will be one of those teams who came out of left field.
A Big 12 player will be a Heisman finalist.
Fact: While I may not know who that player will be, someone from the Big 12 is heading to New York come December. Maybe it’s a quarterback like Jalon Daniels, Noah Fifita, Cam Rising or Avery Johnson. Or maybe it’s one of the superstar running backs that the conference has such as Tahj Brooks, Ollie Gordon II, or RJ Harvey. If one of those players don’t end up in New York, I would be very surprised.
Texas Tech running back Tahj Brooks will lead the league in rushing yards.
Fiction: First off, I love Tahj Brooks. Nobody in the conference runs the football with authority like him (R.J. Harvey is close). But I must go with Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon II. He rushed for over 1,700 yards last season which led the entire country. While I am not sure if he can put up another 1,700-yard season, he is the best running back in the Big 12. Plus, his offensive line returns which should create more opportunities for him this season.
If Oklahoma State beats Kansas State and Utah, they will make it to Arlington.
Fact: Those are, by far, the toughest two games for the Cowboys this season. Now it is a tough ask considering they are playing those two teams in back-to-back weeks, but if they can get by them then there should be a serious conversation about them being 12-0 in the regular season. Outside of West Virginia, who they play the following week at home, nobody else on their schedule should be of major concern.
