Today is the next step in a new series on the Big 12 blog that we've never done before. I love predicting the standings from top to bottom, but we're going to do it week by week leading up to the season. The goal is to offer my official prediction for each Big 12 team's record heading into the bowl games.
Remember, these are preseason predictions. We'll obviously still do week-to-week picks once the season arrives, and they might change between now and then. There are a lot of preseason practices, and a lot of games between now and the end of the season.
There are always teams that disappoint and teams that surprise. But here's how I see the Big 12 shaking out in Week 12.
PREVIOUS PREDICTIONS
My predictions for Week 12 in the Big 12:
Oklahoma 41, West Virginia 38: Just one more stop was all Oklahoma needed. It got it. The Big 12 Game of the Year lives up to the hype, and it's decided by two of the league's best talents. Tony Jefferson makes an acrobatic interception on a Geno Smith ball intended for Stedman Bailey in the final minute to seal the game. Landry Jones tosses four touchdowns and has all day to throw. He's not sacked once, and hardly ever knocked down to dirty his jersey. Those big-game jitters on the road? Jones did a heck of a job silencing them on this night ... but one more dangerous road game awaits.
Oklahoma State 44, Texas Tech 31: Wes Lunt keeps getting better, and slings three touchdown passes, including two in the red zone to Blake Jackson. The Cowboys don't run all over a handcuffed Texas Tech squad as they did in 2011's 60-point victory in Lubbock, but OSU wins this one convincingly to put Texas Tech's bowl hopes on thin ice.
Kansas State 24, Baylor 20: Just like last year's game, this one comes down to the wire, but Bill Snyder goes with the gutsy play in the final seconds, giving the ball to his Honey Badger on a run-pass option in the red zone on third down, instead of kicking the game-tying field goal. Quarterback Collin Klein drags two Baylor defenders into the end zone and proves the Big 12's silver fox still has plenty of magic left. K-State's ball-control offense hogties its powerful Baylor counterpart into one of its lowest outputs of the season.
Iowa State 17, Kansas 13: Kansas keeps threatening, but the Cyclones duo of Shontrelle Johnson and James White overcomes a pair of fumbles to win this one, icing it late with a six-yard run from Johnson to seal the game with a first down near midfield. Kansas' offense looks out of sorts in its final home game of the year, and even though the Jayhawks keep looking competitive, they can't get over the hump.
BIG 12 STANDINGS (after Week 12)
1. Oklahoma: 10-0 (7-0)
2. West Virginia: 9-2 (6-2)
2. Kansas State: 9-2 (6-2)
4. Texas: 8-2 (5-2)
5. TCU: 7-3 (4-3)
5. Oklahoma State: 7-3 (4-3)
7. Baylor: 5-5 (2-5)
8. Texas Tech: 5-6 (2-6)
9. Iowa State: 4-7 (2-6)
10. Kansas: 3-8 (0-8)