Season 22 Big XII 1st Semester Report Cards

By: David Ware (@davidware)

Into the Home Stretch!

Every single season this happens, and it never fails, we are so excited for it to start, and then we blink twice, and the season is almost over. It blows my mind every year and it shocks me even though I know it’s going to happen. Now that each team has played five games, we are going to give them a grade on their season and put an unofficial playoff odds percentage with each team. This playoff percentage will not count the vote-in spots, but I will talk about who I think could get a vote-in spot for each conference. Let’s have fun with it and the great part is, if you don’t like your grade in the first half, you have a lot of time to fix it and make me eat my words. Ask Oklahoma about making me eat my words last season, I will eat the crow if I get it wrong.

Texas Longhorns

Current Record: (4-1)

1st Semester Grade: B+

After a rough Week 1 against North Carolina, Texas has been on a roll and this past week they played a very good Oklahoma team and found a way to come back in the fourth quarter for the win. It’s not always about winning big, a championship team must find a way to win the close games and have the resilience to come back when they get down. The Longhorns have shown they can regroup after a tough loss, they can dominate from start to finish, and win the close games. They are one of only three teams in the conference to have a positive point differential as well.

Second half predictions:

Texas still has LSU, Colorado, and Texas A&M left to play. I think they could drop two games to finish (3-2) in conference play and finish second in the conference.

Playoff Odds: 90%

LSU Tigers

Current Record: (3-2)

1st Semester Grade: C+

A huge win for Josh Claydon in Week 1 started the positive momentum for the Tigers, but then two tough losses followed against Michigan and Alabama. LSU found a way to win another close game though in Week 4 against West Virginia. They followed it up with a close loss to Colorado. To be fair to LSU, this season was a rebuilding season for them as Josh Claydon returned from retirement to lead the Tigers after a not-so-hot season last year. Everyone knew what Claydon could bring to the table the expectations are high for LSU, but it’s not a one-season rebuild. I would suspect it will take two to three full recruiting classes for LSU to be firing on all cylinders. They are ahead of the curve in my opinion.

Second Half Predictions:

The Tigers have a gauntlet of a schedule in the second half as they have to face Texas, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma. I do not think that they have any large losses and would say they keep all the games within 14 points, but they finish the second half (2-3) in conference play.

Playoff Odds: 20%

Colorado Buffalos

Current Record: (1-3)

1st Semester Grade: D

The Kentucky and Colorado shootout will go down as one of the best CFSL games ever. The Ohio State game and Texas A&M game were not as competitive as they would have liked, but there are plenty of positives that Colorado can take from those games. I honestly thought they were going to upset the Florida State Seminoles in Week 3 as they pushed them to the brink. As long as Colorado has Halfback Taylor James running the ball, I feel like they have a chance to win every week.

Second Half Predictions:

There are some winnable games left for Colorado as they have Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia on their schedule. I think we have some more nail-biters here for Colorado though and they win one of the four remaining games to finish (2-3) in conference play.

Playoff Odds: 40%

Texas A&M Aggies

Current Record: (1-4)

1st Semester Grade: D

Not the start the Aggies dreamed of as they looked to revenge their loss in the National Championship game last season, but with opponents like USC, Miami, Auburn, and Colorado they knew it would not be a cakewalk. The old saying, it’s not how you start, but how you finish is going to be key for the Aggies. They showed last week that they can get the offense rolling as they put up 45 points on the defending Big XII champions and held Colorado to only 20 points. But then dropped a game to Oklahoma.

Second Half Predictions:

The second half will be a little easier in comparison to the gauntlet they had in the first half, but it will still be difficult for them. West Virginia, LSU, and Texas wrap up their regular season schedule and I will be bold enough to say that they win out and finish (4-1) conference play and win the conference title.

Playoff Odds: 80%

Oklahoma Sooners

Current Record: (3-2)

1st Semester Grade: B

The last two weeks have been rough for Oklahoma, but we have seen what they are capable of doing. The Sooners have an offense that can score at will, a quarterback who could win offensive player of the year, and one of the top running back duos in the country. They also have a defense that can cause nightmares for opposing teams. Their most recent loss to Texas was a nail-biter in which they led almost the entire game, so we know that they can hang with the top teams in the conference. They proved that again with an impressive win over Texas A&M.

Second Half Predictions:

They will have to put some work in for the second half of the season, but I feel like they will be the favorites in all of their remaining games. Left to play is Colorado, West Virginia, and LSU and realistically I believe they win all three games and finish third in the conference. The loss to Texas being the tiebreaker for second place.

Playoff Odds: 70%

West Virginia Mountaineers

Current Record: (1-4)

1st Semester Grade: D

The question for West Virginia this season is what offense shows up each week. In Week 1, their offense barely even sputtered to move the ball and didn’t score. In Week 2, it was an unlimited offense as the Mountaineers beat Notre Dame 73-31. Weeks three, four, and five were one-score games and it shows that West Virginia is on the cusp of winning more games. My concern for them is that their favorable part of the schedule has come and gone already though.

Second Half Predictions:

It’s not looking good for West Virginia in the second half, as they play Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Colorado still. I think they can keep these games close and will have a few leads, but I don’t know if they will be able to pull out a win. I hate this part of content writing, to be honest, and I hope that I have to eat these words much like I did last season with Oklahoma. The talent level on these teams does have a gap over the West Virginia roster but never count out Nate Murphy and his game-planning capabilities. Please prove me wrong Nate!

Playoff Odds: 10%

Possible Vote-In Teams

LSU is a team with a resume that may garner some votes for one of the final four playoff spots and should they get in, it could spell trouble for the rest of the league. I can see a world where maybe Colorado could get in with votes as well, but I do not think that it is likely, and I am confident that no more than one team from the Big XII will make the playoff via the vote.

Until Next Time, Keep Your Game Face On, and Your Spirits High!