Bracketology 2020 Losers: League play leads to early casualties

Big XII

The tiers of this league are starting to become more defined, with Kansas and Baylor both scoring good victories this week. West Virginia pulled off a win over Ohio State and nearly knocked off the Jayhawks, so the Mountaineers are right there at the top, too. There’s a bit of a gap between WVU and Texas Tech, but the league’s top four are relatively clear.

Less clear is how the Big XII will shake out after that. Oklahoma and TCU both had fine weeks, but Texas could’ve helped their case with a win over Baylor. Instead, the Longhorns managed just 44 points in their loss to the Bears. Oklahoma State continued to struggle, getting run out of the building by the Red Raiders on Saturday. These four teams are most likely to be the ones competing for at-large bids out of the Big XII. The Sooners and Longhorns probably have the best case at this point, but OK State and TCU both have good wins in their pockets, too.

Iowa State and Kansas State easily got the worst of it this past week. The Cyclones fell to TCU, albeit in overtime on the road. Regardless of the circumstances, Iowa State needed to start Big XII play off on the right foot after a New Year’s Eve loss to MEAC opponents Florida A&M. That confounding loss capped off a frustrating non-conference season for the Cyclones, which has now bled into league play. The Wildcats have also struggled since starting 4-0, losing six of nine, including their Big XII opener against Oklahoma.

The Big XII looks to have four teams locked into bids and a probable ceiling of six for the league in total. While Oklahoma and TCU had good weeks, neither they nor Texas and Oklahoma State can be considered safe bets to get at-large bids. All of these teams need to focus on punching up and finding a way to knock off someone from the top four.

From the great plains, we continue our manifest destiny westward, looking at another league that could be in the running for upwards of six or seven bids.