By: Heath Moorman (@Heat1017)
Week 1 Against the Odds in the Big XII
The Big XII didn’t come out with the desired results across the conference in Week 1, finishing just 2-4 to open season 23. But which teams exceeded and which fell short of the expectations? Against the odds, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Nebraska all came out on top, while Texas, Texas A&M, and West Virginia fell well below the lines.
Looking back at last regular season, Colorado is the only team from the conference carrying a winning streak against the odds into this season, and is currently on a 5-game streak as they look to face Ohio State next, who is hot off a victory over Auburn. Despite only having two teams win, the overall score against the odds was a +1, meaning the conference only missed meeting its cumulative odds totals by 1 point.
The New Team in Town
Nebraska rejoins the Big XII after a seven-season break, with its last CFSL action coming in Season 15. They’ve never seen themselves climb to the top of the conference, their best finish coming in Season 7. Season 7 also marks the Cornhuskers’ only season finish above .500 in their history. The Cornhuskers do have an active win streak against one conference opponent, and that is Texas A&M, winning their last two meetings against the Aggies.
The Cornhuskers may not have a winning history, but they’re certainly on the right path to tasting success under AD Noah Johnson. Johnson and staff developed an admirable game plan which saw them in a close game with out-of-conference rival Iowa in the Heroes Game. Keep an eye on them in the coming weeks as they continue to find ways to utilize the talent on their roster.
The Bigger Upset
There were two large upsets in Week 1 from the Big XII conference, the first happened Monday night in the season opener as Texas A&M put up big offensive numbers, but couldn’t keep the ball in their hands as Quarterback Malcom Streets had a 4:6 TD to INT ratio.
The good news is that the production lost from star Wide Receiver Buck Stackhouse’s graduation in S22 seems to be replenished between the receiver duo Eli Riggins and Spencer Bady. Combining for over 300 yards and two touchdowns, they were electric. The good news is, I don’t think it is time to hit the panic button yet. Miami staff seems to have found Street’s number, picking him off eleven times in the past two games (going back to the national championship from S22), but that may not be information the rest of the league has discovered just yet. So Aggie staff will have some work to do discovering what Streets’ tell is and correcting it before conference play begins in a few weeks.
The second big upset from the Big XII came Tuesday night as Colorado upset ACC foe Florida State. Colorado took the approach of “I don’t think you’re front seven can stop us,” and by golly, it didn’t.
Halfback Taylor James carried the rock 31 times for 322 yards and 5 touchdowns. Those rushing numbers cracked the top 5 all-time in the CFSL for rushing yards in a game, and tied for 5th in touchdowns. Both of these numbers are first in the modern era of the CFSL. James is currently 70 carries, 44 yards, 6 touchdowns, 14 broken tackles, and a single 20+ yard carry away from top 10 on the career ranking board for each of those categories. These are all achievable numbers for James this season, so turn your eyes towards greatness, my friend.
Outside of James’s eclipse of the entire game, Colorado had stars shine on defense as well, pulling down 4 INTs from second-year Bear Michaels. Two of those are going to freshman Free Safety Jayden Sanders. Colorado will be an interesting team to keep an eye on in the league if they continue to dominate the ground game on offense and be absolute ball hawks on defense.
SEC Results Week 7
Texas A&M loses to Miami, 46-56
Nebraska loses to Iowa, 30-37
Colorado beats Florida State, 52-41
West Virginia loses to Clemson, 17-48
Oklahoma beats North Carolina, 37-20
Texas loses to Virginia Tech, 28-45
Big XII Schedule Week 2
Tuesday, May 13
USC vs Texas A&M (6:30 PM, Twitch)
Wednesday, May 14
Colorado vs Ohio State (8:30 PM, Twitch)
Georgia vs West Virginia (8:30 PM, YouTube)
Thursday, May 15
Texas vs Oregon (6:30 PM, YouTube)
LSU vs Oklahoma (8:30 PM, Twitch)
Tennessee vs Nebraska (8:30 PM, YouTube)
Potential Big XII Game of the Week
My pick for game of the week in the Big XII this week will be a battle between a newly departed conference foe. LSU leaves the Big XII this season to join the SEC and make room for newcomer Nebraska. Oklahoma takes on LSU in our final game on Twitch for the week. After being one of only two teams to snuff out a win in week 1, Oklahoma is climbing the boards to try to prove itself. LSU, despite not being ranked in the preseason poll, handled 12th-ranked Michigan to try to climb its way up the ladder. This is my pick because of blood from the past coming to the surface. I think both teams are going to bring their all in this one.
Honorable Mention: Colorado vs Ohio State
