It was a wild weekend of college football—so wild that three FBS coaches were fired, including Penn State’s James Franklin. That’s already shaking up the rumor mill for a couple of Big 12 fanbases with coveted head coaches.

Texas Tech still looks like the class of the conference, but can the Red Raiders actually win a national title? And who’s the second-best team in the league right now?

Let’s break it down.

Data Says Texas Tech Can Win the National Title

Texas Tech kept rolling despite real adversity and key injuries in a 42-17 win over Kansas.

After jumping out 21-0, Tech let Kansas climb back into it with 17 straight points. The Jayhawks had the ball and a chance to take the lead before a massive third-and-one stop flipped the momentum. 

From there, the Red Raiders leaned on the ground game, highlighted by a top-five day in program history from RB Cameron Dickey (263 yards, two touchdowns), to score the final 21 points and leave no doubt about who runs the Big 12 right now.

The Red Raiders lost QB Behren Morton (stop me if you’ve heard that one before) and star defensive tackle Skyler Gill-Howard in the first half. Thankfully, it sounds like neither injury is a long-term issue. And that is a relief for Tech fans. 

I obviously spoke too soon about backup QB Will Hammond a few weeks ago, who did not replicate the magic he put together in Salt Lake City against Kansas.

This game showed exactly why Tech is a cut above the rest: They have multiple ways to beat you.

With Morton out and Hammond struggling through the air, Tech unleashed Dickey and Hammond’s legs to jumpstart the offense. When Morton is healthy, he’s thrown for 350+ yards multiple times while showing off an elite receiver group. Against Utah, when the run game sputtered, Hammond torched the Utes' secondary for 169 yards and two touchdowns in the second half.

It’s clear the Red Raiders are a legitimate top-10 team, and it’s better to be a top-10 team right now than it has been in years.

There’s more parity across the top 15–20 programs than we’ve seen in a long time.

As CBS Sports’ Bud Elliott points out, the gap between the #1 and #17 teams in ESPN’s SP+ is just a touchdown. In 2019, it was three touchdowns.

Long gone are the days of Georgia and Alabama stockpiling a second and third string full of players who would start at other top 25 programs. NIL and the transfer portal have spread out the talent. It doesn’t take a three-deep full of blue-chip players to compete at the top anymore.  

Texas Tech is currently 4th in SP+, behind only Indiana, Oregon, and Ohio State. There’s no reason they can’t win playoff games this year and legitimately chase a national title.

Elliott is the same guy who created the Blue Chip Ratio and sparred with Tech fans this summer over their playoff chances. Even he now acknowledges the top of college football is tighter than ever. 

Translation: the Red Raiders have a real shot.

Who is Number Two in the Big 12 Right Now?

After another week of watching Texas Tech dominate, this feels like the million-dollar question in the Big 12. 

You could easily make a case for five different teams—maybe more. 

Right now, I lean toward Utah after the Utes' 42-10 blitzing of Sam Leavitt-less Arizona State.

For perception’s sake, it was bad luck for Utah to catch Tech first in conference play. The Red Raiders have beaten every Big 12 team they’ve faced by 24+; Utah was just first in line. 

But Utah was utterly dominant late Saturday night in Salt Lake City, and it wasn’t all about the Sun Devils playing without their star quarterback. 

The Utes' offense scored touchdowns on six of their seven drives before running out the clock. QB Devon Dampier only had to throw 12 passes the entire game, which is the recipe for Utah success. He dazzled on the ground with 120 yards and three touchdowns—one more rushing yard by himself than Arizona State was allowing as a team coming into Saturday night. 

It was always going to be an uphill battle for ASU without Leavitt, who was wearing a boot on his right foot, but it appears the Sun Devils have bigger issues than just getting their quarterback back. 

And guess who is coming to Tempe this week? None other than the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Things are getting very real very fast for Arizona State. 

BYU Has Nine Lives

BYU also has a case for number two in the league, though I’m still not sure how the Cougars escaped Tucson with a 33-27 double-OT win over Arizona.

BYU scored twice in the final 11:14 of regulation to erase a ten-point deficit, but it didn’t come easily. The Wildcats' defense forced the Cougs to burn over seven minutes of clock just to get a field goal to cut the lead to seven, and on the game-tying drive, BYU QB Bear Bachmeier fumbled on a crucial third down inside the ten. 

Not only did the Cougars recover, but they did so just past the first-down marker. That’s living right.

Now 6-0 for the second straight season (a first in program history), BYU looks both charmed and tested. Are they a team of destiny or just overachieving before the meat of the schedule shows up?

We’ll start to get some more concrete answers on Saturday when Utah comes to town for the Holy War with Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff in the house. 

One thing is for certain: BYU head coach Kalani Sitake has built an excellent culture in Provo. The Arizona game was a culture win if there ever was one. 

The Cougars blew a 14-0 lead, dealt with a 74-minute weather delay, and went over three full quarters without scoring and still found a way to steal a road win. True freshman QB Bear Bachmeier was asked to carry the ball a staggering 22 times, and he answered the bell with 89 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-tying and game-winning scores. 

Bachmeier wasn’t without his faults. In addition to the fumble, he also threw two interceptions. But he was clutch when he had to be. He grew up right before our eyes. 

For Arizona, it’s a brutal loss that will haunt head coach Brent Brennan. He played not to lose instead of going for the jugular. Credit where it’s due; the Wildcats are better than I thought they were, but this one will leave a mark. 

Iowa State is a Shell of Itself Right Now

The two most disappointing teams in the league on Saturday were undoubtedly Iowa State and TCU. Both had everything to play for, and both laid eggs as road favorites. 

Take nothing away from Colorado. The Buffaloes finally got over the hump after close calls against #12 Georgia Tech, #15 BYU, and TCU. Once again, the Buffs jumped out to an early lead on Saturday and let it slip away, but this time they made the plays down the stretch to finish it off and grab a 24-17 win over the Cyclones. 

It wasn’t without controversy. 

The Buffs got away with an obvious pass interference penalty in the end zone that led to an interception, but they also stuffed Iowa State on a crucial fourth down, and QB Kaidon Salter zipped a 38-yard pass to Joseph Williams on 3rd and 16 to ice the game. 

Two things can be true: It’s a great win for Colorado, and Iowa State looks like a shell of itself right now. 

The injuries are piling up. Already down two starting corners, ISU played without RB Carson Hansen and lost DT Domonique Orange during the game. They even had 6-8, 310-pound OL Carson Rhodes handling kickoffs because of kicker injuries.

The Cyclones were already thoroughly handled last week by Cincinnati, who I have right behind Utah in the running for second-best in the league right now. 

Now, ISU has three straight games against teams better than the Buffs (BYU, Arizona State, TCU) with zero margin for error if they want another trip to the Big 12 title game. 

Matt Campbell has thrived in the face of adversity throughout his time in Ames, but he has his work cut out for him. 

TCU Can’t Handle Manhattan…Again

I really think TCU’s Manhattan meltdown can be best summed up by this stat: 

Early in the third quarter, K-State had only seven offensive points and 28 rushing yards, yet the Wildcats had a 14-point lead. How is that even possible? When TCU is as sloppy as it was on Saturday, anything is possible. 

The Horned Frogs turned it over three times, two of which were returned for touchdowns, committed eight penalties, and had five drops in the first half alone. It forced TCU to get away from its ground game, which was working. Kevorian Barnes averaged nearly seven yards per rush but only got 12 carries. 

The Horned Frogs have now lost their last three games in Manhattan by a combined score of 113-44. 

Star quarterback Josh Hoover was clearly feeling the impact of his poor performance after the game. 

TCU isn’t out of the Big 12 title race, but there is suddenly zero margin for error.

What You Need to Know

• Kansas head coach Lance Leipold got into a heated, profanity-laced argument with Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire after Tech’s 42-17 win over the Jayhawks. Leipold accused Red Raiders fans of throwing a pocket knife at a KU staffer. 

• Check out what ESPN’s SP+ says the final score of the Holy War will be. This has the potential to be an absolute classic between these two bitter rivals. 

• The preseason AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll is out, and six Big 12 teams are ranked. The highest-ranked Big 12 team is at number two. 

• Multiple Big 12 coaches have been mentioned as candidates at Penn State after the Nittany Lions fired James Franklin on Sunday. 247 Sports listed Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham, and On3 and CBS Sports had Matt Campbell high on their lists.

Enjoying Open For Business? It would mean the world to me if you could share the newsletter with three of your friends who want Big 12 news without SEC or Big Ten bias. Tell them to sign up at OFBNews.com and get started today!