Pete Mundo ranked the best non-cons on his latest Heartland College Sports podcast:
(Assuming for the moment that there is a season this year ...) Which non-conference games do you think will define this year's edition of the Big 12 football conference?
Notes:
(Assuming for the moment that there is a season this year ...) Which non-conference games do you think will define this year's edition of the Big 12 football conference?
Notes:
- Pete included 2 Oklahoma games, but no Oklahoma State game. I replaced his #10 game, OU @ Army, with Oklahoma State's season opener vs Oregon State. Maybe not a headliner, but its a Pac 12 opponent, and that way each conference team is represented in the poll.
- For TCU, I also replaced SMU with the road game at California. SMU is huge in the Metroplex, but a matchup with the Pac 12 on opening weekend is more meaningful nationally. I think they will crush SMU anyway. SMU wins one of these every 10-15 years. They won last year, and I don't care who you are, if you beat coach Patterson one year, you gonna pay for it the next year.
- Why include Iowa State at Iowa, when nearly all of us will pick that one? Well ... because the game is HUGE! The teams ought to be ranked, and this is the last monkey on Matt Campbell's back. As Pete points out, too, the Cyclones will outclass the Hawkeyes at the QB position for the first time in a long time.