The Big 12 is easing into conference play, but this week still carries real weight. One of the league’s marquee moments comes overseas, with Arizona State and Kansas set to play the Big 12’s first game at Wembley Stadium in London. Before the league fully turns the page into conference action, there are a few teams with something specific to answer for in Week 3.
Houston and Texas Tech fall into that bucket together because they meet Friday night and both are trying to prove a point.
Houston has been one of the league’s more intriguing stories, and a win here would back up the preseason buzz it picked up in July and August. Willie Fritz has already moved the Cougars a long way in less than three years, but the next step is obvious: win the kind of games that come with pressure, a tough crowd, and a national spotlight. That’s the standard now.
Texas Tech, meanwhile, is getting judged a little too quickly by some after wins over Abilene Christian and Oregon State. Those results may not have turned heads, but the first two weeks of a season rarely tell a clean story.
There are always swings in form, and the Red Raiders have to show they’re moving in the right direction. They’ve been talked about as Big 12 favorites, and if that label is going to stick, they need to handle games like this one.
The Lubbock crowd will be there after the schedule change to Friday night. The real question is whether Texas Tech is sharp enough to beat a motivated Houston team.
Arizona State has a different kind of test ahead in London.
The Sun Devils are in that “I think they can” category - a team that looks capable of getting into the Big 12 race if enough breaks go their way. Saturday’s loss to Texas A&M gave Kenny Dillingham and his staff plenty to work with, and now the focus shifts to Kansas.
These international trips are part of the Big 12’s identity under Yormark, and Arizona State has to show it can deal with that kind of setting. The bigger issue is more basic: it needs to win the games it should win, the ones against teams like Kansas that may be a little less talented.
That’s the difference between hanging around and reaching the conference title picture.
West Virginia doesn’t need to win to make its point, but it does need to show it can stand up to a ranked opponent on the road.
No. 25 Virginia has looked the part so far, especially in its 34-8 win over NC State, and the Cavaliers appear to be building toward something real in the ACC.
For the Mountaineers, the bar is about competitiveness. They need to keep it close for most of the game, protect the football away from home and defend better than they did in the second half against Coastal Carolina.
If they can do those things, the final score matters less. That kind of showing would say a lot about whether they’re ready for Big 12 play, especially with Oklahoma State waiting in the opener.
In Other News...
Houston Gets A Rare Shot To Change Everything Against Texas Tech
Houston finally gets a rare chance to flip the script when it meets Texas Tech in a ranked showdown that carries more weight than a typical early-season test. The Cougars enter at No. 22, the Red Raiders at No. 13, and the matchup comes with the kind of stakes Houston has been chasing as it tries to build momentum and establish itself in the Big 12 race.
The series history still tilts in Houstons favor by a sliver, but Texas Tech has owned the recent run, winning the last seven meetings and entering as the favorite. ESPNs matchup projection reflects that edge, but Houston has a chance to move to 3-0 and claim an early foothold in a conference picture that could get crowded fast. [Read more 🡒]
Houston Faces An Early Big 12 Test That Could Change Everything
The No. 22 Houston Cougars are heading into their Big 12 opener with a real chance to make an early statement, and the setting could hardly be tougher. They travel to Lubbock to face No. 13 Texas Tech, with both teams unbeaten at 2-0 and the Red Raiders installed as the favorite by ESPN odds.
For Houston, this is the kind of September road game that can quickly reshape the conversation around a season and tell you plenty about where a team stands in a new league. Analysts have already spent plenty of time parsing the matchup and the individual battles that could decide it, which only adds to the intrigue around a game that feels like more than just an opener. [Read more 🡒]
Baylors Quarterback Uncertainty Just Got Bigger Entering Week 3
Week 2 brought a little more clarity around the Big 12 quarterback race, but it also left a few programs sorting through fresh uncertainty. Baylor spent the week dealing with DJ Lagways injury, while UCF had its own concern with Alonza Barnett, and both situations shaped the conversation as the league heads into a loaded Week 3 slate. Add in conference showdowns and nonconference games against Power Four defenses, and the pressure on quarterbacks around the league is only getting sharper.
For Houston, the bigger picture is less about one isolated result than where the Cougars fit in a conference that is already separating its signal-callers from the pack. The updated top eight entering Week 3 reflects which quarterbacks have steadied their teams and which ones are still fighting through injury or inconsistency, and the next round of games will give plenty of those names another chance to change the order. Even with Baylors situation hanging over the week, the broader quarterback hierarchy is still very much in flux. [Read more 🡒]