It’s Been an Unhinged Week in the Big 12

The league went viral for an outstanding tweet, and that’s already been overshadowed by a scandal and $50,000 in fines.

Oh, and it also happens to be a great weekend of games featuring both rivals and contenders.

Here are my five biggest storylines of the week:

Big 12 Scandal Breaks Out in Lubbock

Yes, Texas Tech does have a big football game at Arizona State on Saturday, but that hasn’t been the real story around Lubbock this week. 

Everyone is talking about tortillagate. Or is it pocket knifegate? Knifegate? Take your pick. 

Tech was penalized twice during the game for objects being thrown onto the field. Once was for tortillas. We now know the other was for a pocket knife Kansas found on its sideline. 

KU head coach Lance Leipold confronted Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire about the incident after the game and made his displeasure known at the postgame press conference. 

The Big 12 handed down $25,000 fines to both Kansas and Texas Tech this week as a result. Tech was punished for not controlling the tortilla throwing, but KU’s fine was far more interesting.

The league said Kansas was fined for “disparaging comments about the Conference and a member institution, and an inaccurate statement regarding a pocketknife by head coach Lance Leipold.”

So the Big 12 investigated and found that Leipold’s statement about a pocket knife being thrown was not accurate. That’s a bad enough look on its own, and KU acknowledged that in statements released by Leipold and AD Travis Goff. It seemed like that would be the end of it.

But thanks to some dynamite reporting from Don Williams of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, we got video of the Kansas sideline and details on Texas Tech’s side of the story. 

Not only did the Red Raiders feel like they proved via video that the knife wasn’t thrown from the stands, but many interpret the video to actually show a Kansas staffer dropping it on the sideline himself moments before a player picks it up. It was then given to Leipold. 

It’s very grainy and hard to tell, so I’ll let you be the judge. 

It’s hard to imagine anyone on KU’s staff thinking this was worth risking just to get a 15-yard penalty, so I’ll stop short of saying it was planted. But it raises plenty of questions.

If it wasn’t dropped there, how did it get there? And why is the only footage so grainy?

No matter what, it doesn’t reflect well upon Leipold. He was the one who made a spectacle of it and ensured it became public. It’s brought a ton of unwanted attention to Kansas in the middle of the season.

It also continues a long pattern of Texas Tech fans being unfairly painted as out of control. Most Tech fans will admit they’re intense, and maybe rough around the edges, but they’re not throwing batteries, vapes, or knives.

This thread sums it up well:

The outcry from Red Raider fans makes perfect sense. They’ve been here before, and they were right to defend themselves.

Late Thursday, the Big 12 also announced that the penalty for a second offense of objects being thrown onto the field will now be $100,000. That sparked even more outrage in Lubbock. 

I have a feeling we haven’t seen the end of this story. 

The Big 12 Dunks on Brent Venables

Knifegate overshadowed an outstanding viral moment this week for the Big 12. 

Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables was asked about how close SEC games have been this season, and couldn’t resist taking a swipe at the Big 12.

“This isn’t the old Big 12 days where Oklahoma destroys everybody every single week except one game of the year.”

The Big 12 didn’t take kindly to that. 

It was an A+ response from the league, and for once, the entire college football world agreed. Media voices from Josh Pate to RG3 to Joel Klatt to Brett McMurphy all praised the tweet.

As of Thursday afternoon, 6.4 million people have seen it. That’s massive exposure for a conference that rarely hits those numbers for an actual game.

Beyond being hilarious, it was smart. This was free, positive publicity. The only people upset were Oklahoma fans and media (more on them in a minute).

For years, the Big 12 was the doormat of college football—too reactive, too passive. Now it’s proactive, firing back when it’s disrespected.

Yes, Venables was referencing his time as defensive coordinator at OU under Bob Stoops when the Sooners dominated the league. Everyone gets that. But the Big 12 has every right to clap back when that same coach went a mere 10–8 in the league after taking over as the head coach.

That’s exactly what Twitter is for. Teams troll each other. Coaches troll each other. Lane Kiffin basically has a PhD in it. Even our elected officials have bought into that culture (for better or worse). 

Still, the Sooner media mafia lost its mind. The following is a real passage from Oklahoma Sooners on SI.  

But for the Big 12 Conference to seemingly try to whitewash over OU’s history as a Big 12 member and suddenly act like Oklahoma football isn’t really all that great — when for two decades OU was the tentpole program for the entire conference — is a gross recollection of history at best, and an immature pot shot at worst, certainly unbefitting a statement from a Power 4 conference’s official social media feed.

The Big 12’s unprompted response is unprofessional, unacademic, unappreciative and sophomoric — frankly, one of the many reasons that Castiglione and the Sooners have long wanted out of the league.

Never mind the fact that the league NEVER did this type of thing when OU was actually in the conference, which makes the last paragraph seem rather silly and irrationally self-righteous. 

Bro, it’s not that serious. I promise. 

Oklahoma will live to fight another day. For the Sooners’ sake, I hope there aren’t any more meanie weenie conferences out there giving their egos a boo-boo.  

Biggest Holy War Ever?

#23 Utah (5-1, 2-1) at #15 BYU (6-0, 3-0) – 7:00 Fox
Line: Utah -3.5

We do have actual games this week, I promise. 

Unbeaten BYU hosts 5-1 Utah in Provo with Big 12 title and playoff implications on the line. That’s never happened in the 96-game history of this rivalry.

It’s only the second time the teams have met while both in a power conference. If it’s anything like last year’s thriller in Salt Lake City, buckle up.

Who can forget Utah AD Mark Harlan’s legendary press conference after that controversial holding call?

Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham added fuel this week by refusing to even talk about BYU QB Bear Bachmeier or say “BYU” during his press conference.

He’s clearly locked in on payback—and maybe his final Holy War if retirement speculation is true.

The key for BYU is making Utah one-dimensional and forcing QB Devon Dampier to throw. The Cougars could use a healthy LB Jack Kelly for that.

According to the injury report, he will play. But how close to 100% will he be?

The Utes' defense, meanwhile, is licking its chops at the chance to turn over BYU true freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier, who has coughed it up three times in the last two games. 

It feels like a game where a key turnover or two will be the difference. 

Will Texas Tech Keep it Rolling?

#7 Texas Tech (6-0, 3-0) at Arizona State (4-2, 2-1) – 3:00 Fox 
Line: Tech -7.5

Texas Tech hasn’t won a game by fewer than 24 points all season. Will that change in Tempe?

This might be the Red Raiders’ toughest test left—if ASU QB Sam Leavitt plays.

Leavitt missed last week’s loss at Utah with a lingering injury but is listed as probable. 

Beyond his numbers, Leavitt is ASU’s emotional heartbeat. Without him, they looked flat and lifeless in Salt Lake City.

Tech has quarterback injury issues, too. Behren Morton is listed as questionable after re-aggravating an injury suffered early in the season. 

But the Red Raiders are far more equipped to win with their backup QB. Will Hammond struggled throwing the ball against Kansas, but was effective on the ground. Tech is averaging 7.5 yards per carry with him at QB.

Utah QB Devon Dampier ran so well against ASU (120 yards) that he only had to throw 12 passes the entire game. 

This is a golden opportunity for ASU to bounce back and reassert itself, but it’s a tall order. 

Who Can Separate in the Second Tier?

Baylor (4-2, 2-1) at TCU (4-2, 1-2) – 11:00 ESPN2
Line: TCU -2.5

Arizona (4-2, 2-1) at Houston (5-1, 2-1) – 11:00 FS1
Line: Arizona -1.5

These two games are flying under the radar but could reshape the Big 12’s middle class.

Baylor feels like the forgotten team in the title race. After a 2-2 start, they’re only one game back of Texas Tech. The Auburn loss has aged poorly, and they needed a 14-point comeback to beat K-State, but Dave Aranda’s teams tend to find a groove late.

If that happens again, Baylor might emerge as Tech’s biggest challenger.

A once-promising season for TCU is on the rocks after the Frogs blew a 17-point lead at Arizona State and handed K-State 14 points on defensive scores last week in Manhattan.

This game could turn into a shootout with two capable quarterbacks: Robertson for Baylor and Hoover for TCU.

Arizona is still reeling from blowing a ten-point fourth-quarter lead to BYU, while Houston rebounded nicely last week at Oklahoma State behind 306 passing yards from Conner Weigman.

The winner here has a real path to eight or nine wins.

Week Eight Power Rankings

1. Texas Tech (LW: 1)
2. Utah (LW: 7)
3. Cincinnati (LW: 3)
4. BYU (LW: 5)
5. Baylor (LW: 8)
6. Iowa State (LW: 4)
7. Arizona State (LW: 2)
8. Houston (LW: 9)
9. TCU (LW: 6)
10. Arizona (LW: 11)
11. Kansas (LW: 10)
12. K-State (LW: 12)
13. Colorado (LW: 13)
14. UCF (LW: 14)
15. West Virginia (LW: 15)
16. Oklahoma State (LW: 16)

• Utah and Arizona State flip-flop after the Utes blasted the Sun Devils. Utah feels like the second-best team in the conference; they were just unlucky to be the first Big 12 team to get Texas Tech this year.

• BYU and Baylor continue to creep up the power rankings while others in front of them lose. Admittedly, it’s difficult to parse the difference between Iowa State, Arizona State, and Baylor, especially with the Sun Devils’ and Cyclones' injury issues. 

• Not much has changed near the bottom of the power rankings, even with big wins from Colorado and K-State. I still haven’t seen enough consistency from either to give them a big bump.

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