The 2023 college football regular season is now over, as the Big 12 delivered one last week of close games and exciting outcomes.
The Dr Pepper Big 12 Football Championship in Arlington next week will officially feature the No. 7 Texas Longhorns and No. 21 Oklahoma State Cowboys. Texas secured a spot by being the only team with one conference loss this season, while the Cowboys won the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Oklahoma Sooners by winning their week 10 matchup this season.
Nine Big 12 teams are officially bowl eligible while two others, TCU and BYU, barely missed the mark. Participants for each of the 42 bowl games will be announced on Dec. 3 starting at noon EST on ESPN.
Eight bowl games have Big 12 tie-ins, meaning all but one of the eligible teams is guaranteed a bowl appearance from the conference. The ninth team may also participate if a shortage of teams eligible exists.
With that being said, before the playoffs begin, the cap must be put on the regular season. Here is how the Big 12 shaped up in its final week.
Oklahoma State vs. BYU: Cowboys clinch championship berth and make BYU bowl-ineligible in overtime
Both teams had their season’s fate on the line Saturday, and they played like it. The game took two overtime periods to determine whether BYU would become bowl eligible or if OSU would make a championship appearance, and it was the Cowboys leaving their home stadium happy with a 40-34 win.
Running back Ollie Gordon II, who had a breakout season, proved once again that he is championship caliber in the win. The sophomore had 34 carries for 166 yards and all five of Oklahoma State’s touchdowns. He outgained both BYU’s run game and quarterback Jake Retzlaff’s passing gains. Senior quarterback Alan Bowman played well, too, throwing 31/47 for 321 yards, but his two interceptions were the main component keeping BYU’s bowl hopes alive. Nevertheless, the Cowboys sport a fierce offense around Gordon, Bowman, and receivers Brennan Presley and Leon Johnson III, which will be their main source of hope entering the Big 12 Championship.
For BYU, a 17-0 run in the second quarter allowed the Cougars to sit comfortably at halftime with a 24-6 lead, but once Oklahoma State took care of the ball and eliminated their run game as a threat in the redzone, they simply could not get anything done. The team had five fumbles in the game and lost two of them. They took advantage of OSU’s turnovers, gaining a touchdown off one of Eddie Heckard’s two interceptions, but their below average offense kept them from completing the upset and cut their own season short.
UCF vs. Houston: Knights secure bowl eligibility after starting conference play 0-5
The UCF Knights defeated Houston 27-13 at home, earning themselves a 3-6 conference record, a 6-6 overall record, and bowl eligibility.
After starting the season 3-0 before conference play, UCF appeared to be a legitimate threat going forward, but that was almost never the case again, as the team went on a five game losing streak in its first ever Big 12 games. The team performed well, especially after star quarterback John Rhys Plumlee returned from injury, and nearly knocked out then-undefeated Oklahoma, but wins never came. In the last four weeks of the season, though, the Knights won three games, including a 45-3 demolition of Oklahoma State, who is now making a championship appearance. Because of that win, alongside ones over Cincinnati and Houston, UCF has fully bounced back and will likely make a bowl appearance.
John Rhys Plumlee was airtight in the win over Houston, throwing 23/27 for 253 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 58 yards and a touchdown in 15 carries. Also shining in the win was senior running back RJ Harvey, who has led the team’s run game all season and did not disappoint Saturday with136 yards and two touchdowns in his 21 carries.
Defensively, the Knights only forced one turnover- an interception from Donovan Smith- and allowed 3/5 fourth down efficiency from the Cougars. That being said, Houston’s high-ceiling offense remained pretty tame throughout. Whether or not the Knights can hold their potential bowl opponents to a similar fate is yet to be seen, but this was a strong way to end their regular season. Houston fell to 4-8 and 2-7 in conference games with the loss. This was both teams’ first season in the Big 12.
Oklahoma vs. TCU: Sooners earn no prize from taking away TCU’s bowl eligibility
Outside of Texas, Oklahoma finished as the only Big 12 team with 10 wins this season, but with two conference losses, the Sooners’ championship fate had little to do with how their own game played out this weekend. It did matter, however, for TCU, who was one game short of bowl eligibility entering the Friday matchup. Despite a strong offensive showing, Oklahoma made sure the Horned Frogs did not get it, defeating TCU 69-45.
The high-scoring win was a callback to the Sooners’ explosive start to the season, which featured a 73-0 win over Arkansas State and a 66-17 win against Tulsa. Dillon Gabriel earned his third outing with 400 passing yards against TCU, throwing 24/38 for 400 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception. He also ran for one touchdown in his seven carries for 36 yards. Gavin Sawchuk also tallied three touchdowns, gaining 130 yards in 22 carries. Oklahoma scored in double digits for each of the four quarters, with their highest scoring coming in the second quarter, where they posted 28 points.
Josh Hoover did his best to match Gabriel for TCU, throwing 32/58 for 344 yards, four touchdowns, and an interception. Like Gabriel, the freshman also ran for a touchdown, gaining a net zero yards in his three carries. Hoover earned his spot after Chandler Morris went down to injury in October, and he filled in well in for the Horned Frogs. In seven games as a starter, Hoover averages 42 throws per game and has a 62.1% completion rate. Alongside running back Emani Bailey, who finished with 21 carries for 150 yards and a touchdown against the Sooners, Hoover ran the offense to three 40-point games this year.
The season’s end is disappointing for both teams, as Oklahoma will not make a championship appearance due to their week 10 loss to Oklahoma State, who tied them in conference play. TCU’s season, while having a disappointing end on its own, is also a far cry from their National Championship appearance last season. They end 2023 with a 5-7 record and 3-6 in conference games for 10th place in the Big 12.
WVU vs. Baylor: Bears fall short of third conference victory in strong showing at home
West Virginia improved to 8-4 and 6-3 in-conference with a 34-31 win over Baylor. The Bears finished 3-9 overall and 2-7 against Big 12 opponents to finish second-to-last in the conference.
Baylor sophomore Sawyer Robertson, who filled in once again for the injured Blake Shapen, completed 17 of his 19 throws for 215 yards and a touchdown. Robertson ran for 33 yards in 15 carries as well. What brought Baylor near a victory, though, was sophomore running back Richard Reese. Reese rushed for 42 yards in six carries to gain the most yards in Baylor’s stagnant run game, but his real accomplishment was gaining 247 yards and two touchdowns in five kick returns. The touchdowns occurred in back-to-back WVU kickoffs in the second quarter and brought Baylor’s deficit to just three points. The Mountaineers pulled ahead afterwards, but Baylor scored the third quarter’s only two touchdowns to secure a one-point lead entering the final quarter. The Bears scored the first points of the quarter with a 39-yard field goal, but WVU’s Jahiem White rushed for a touchdown in the game’s final minute to win it for the Mountaineers.
WVU is slated for a bowl appearance, but it will likely be without star center Zach Frazier, who suffered a leg injury Saturday night. The Mountaineers’ offense runs primarily through quarterback Garrett Greene, who ran for 103 yards and two touchdowns in 13 carries and threw 16/25 for two more touchdowns and 269 yards.
Iowa State vs. Kansas State: Cyclones earn top position of 6-3 teams
The No. 19 Kansas State Wildcats stood as the least likely of the top four contenders for a Big 12 Championship appearance, but a win over Iowa State could have earned them a place in the case of OSU and Oklahoma losses. After Oklahoma’s win on Friday, though, that ambition went away, and Iowa State took advantage for a 42-35 victory.
The Cyclones trailed 20-14 at halftime but outscored the Wildcats 14-8 and 14-7 in the third and fourth quarters respectively to gain the win. The team ran an incredibly efficient offense, requiring just 17:48 with possession for their six touchdowns. Freshman Rocco Becht completed 8 of his 12 passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns, earning him a remarkable 98.4 quarterback rating. Tallying the team’s other three touchdowns was another freshman, Abu Sama III, who had 16 carries for 276 yards. The Cyclones did lose two of their four fumbles in the game, but their lightning fast offense made it completely null and void. Their play earned them a 7-5 overall record and 6-3 conference record and put them ahead of Kansas State and WVU, who had the same record in-conference.
The Wildcats took care of the ball, as they had no fumbles and just one interception from Will Howard, but their inability to outperform Iowa State in their 42: 12 with the ball stands as a bit concerning entering the postseason. Howard, a senior, completed 24 of his 48 attempts for 288 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in the loss. He also ran 46 yards in 11 carries for one of Kansas State’s three rushing touchdowns. Overall, the Wildcats remain one of the top teams in the Big 12 entering their bowl appearance, but the Cyclones made sure their final standings did not entirely look that way, as they finished 8-4 and fifth in the conference.
Kansas vs. Cincinnati: Jason Bean ends regular season healthy and victorious
Neither Kansas or Cincinnati had anything to play for in week 13, as the Bearcats held one conference win while Kansas was even in conference play with a guaranteed bowl appearance. The Jayhawks did, however, have a quarterback to test entering the postseason, as Jason Bean returned from injury after a week off against Kansas State. Bean threw 13/17 for 250 yards, rushed four times for 90 yards and two touchdowns, and earned a 99.5 QBR and 49-16 win over the Bearcats.
The Jayhawks’ Devin Neal also ran for two touchdowns in his 10 carries for 106 yards while Dylan McDuffie rushed for the seventh and final touchdown of the game in eight carries for 47 yards. Cincinnati attempted to match this run game production, using Corey Kiner to gain 106 yards in 18 carries, but the Bearcats’ only two touchdowns came from Emory Jones’ pass to receiver Ryan Montgomery and Ryan Montgomery’s pass to Dee Wiggins.
Kansas, despite struggling at different points in the season, stands 8-4 overall as a well-oiled machine entering the postseason. Cincinnati’s 1-8 conference record and 3-9 finish overall is good enough for last in their first season in the Big 12.
Texas vs. Texas Tech: Championship spot goes to Longhorns in Black Friday game
The Longhorns are the undisputed best regular season team in the Big 12 after a 57-7 win secured them an 11-1 record for the season.
Three different backs picked off Red Raiders quarterback Behren Morton three times, with one resulting in a touchdown from linebacker Jett Bush. Morton completed 19 of his 36 throws but could only manage 88 total passing yards. He rushed for the Red Raiders’ lone touchdown in his five carries for a net loss of two yards. Running back Tahj Brooks was Texas Tech’s shining light offensively with 19 carries for 95 yards. The Red Raiders earned themselves bowl eligibility in week 12 against UCF, making for a 5-4 conference record and 6-6 record overall this season. If they are named to a bowl game, it will be interesting to see how their limited offensive capabilities stand against other strong competition.
For Texas, the win simply reminded the conference why they are the favorites entering their last Big 12 game against Oklahoma State. The team obviously shined defensively while sophomore Quinn Ewers secured 196 yards and a touchdown in 17/26 throwing. He did throw one turnover, which keeps him as the question mark he has been all season when combined with his negative rushing performance, but a run game featuring 302 total yards gained and three touchdowns from three different running backs should keep Texas calm and collected entering the championship.
Photo by Mitch Alcala, Associated Press
