The Big 12 came out of Week 1 with a strong 13-2 mark, but the league’s second weekend brings a much different kind of test. Between marquee matchups, ranked opponents and a few dangerous trap spots, several teams have a chance to shape how the rest of their season gets viewed.
Arizona, Oklahoma State and Kansas State all enter Week 2 with something bigger than a win on the line. Each has a chance to answer a specific question, and each is stepping into a game that says plenty about where the program is headed.
Arizona is the clearest example of a team with real ambitions. The Wildcats want to be taken seriously as a Big 12 contender, and Noah Fifita has the kind of talent that puts him in the conversation as a Heisman Trophy contender.
Saturday’s trip to BYU gives Arizona a national stage to back that up. The game kicks off at 2:30 p.m.
Central on Fox, so the spotlight is built in.
That matters because BYU is being talked about as a potential Big 12 champion, and Arizona already handled business last week by beating Northern Arizona at home. But this is a different level of challenge.
It is a measuring stick, sure, but it is also the kind of game that can turn into a launch point for a season that ends with a trip to Arlington in the first weekend of December. The Wildcats also have a little revenge on the table after losing to BYU, 33-27, in double overtime in Tucson last year.
Oklahoma State is in a much different spot, and the task is more basic. Nobody is lining up to pick the Cowboys over No.
6 Oregon, and they would need a near-perfect performance to make this one interesting. That is not exactly the ideal setup, especially with head coach Eric Morris already talking openly about the team’s lack of conditioning after one week.
Add in the fact that he has lost his top two left tackles, including one to a season-ending injury, and the challenge gets even steeper.
Still, Oklahoma State does have something to prove. Last year’s trip to Eugene ended in a 69-3 loss, one of the worst defeats in program history, and the Cowboys need to show they are capable of making this version of the game far more competitive.
Most of that roster is gone, but the message to the fan base and the Big 12 has to be that the gap can close quickly. There is also the matter of a home-opening streak that has lasted 30 straight years.
That one is very much in danger.
Kansas State rounds out the list, and this one has the feel of a classic early-season test. The Wildcats are home again and will face Washington State after last week’s 71-3 blowout of Nicholls. That game showed Kansas State can pile up points and smother an overmatched opponent, but this opponent brings a different kind of edge.
Washington State pushed Houston well into the fourth quarter in a 33-20 loss, and the Cougars arrive with confidence despite that defeat. Kansas State has been viewed by many as a dark horse in the Big 12, which makes this exactly the sort of game that can either reinforce that belief or create doubt.
The Wildcats need to show they can avoid getting tripped up by a Pac-12 team that is already playing with some momentum under a new head coach. It is the kind of spot that can quietly mess with a team’s season if it goes sideways.
TCU would have sat at the top of this list after its loss in Ireland to North Carolina, but since the Horned Frogs are hosting Grambling on Saturday, they can wait a bit. For now, the spotlight belongs to Arizona, Oklahoma State and Kansas State, three teams with very different stakes but the same goal: leave Week 2 looking the part.
In Other News...
Kansas State Just Got An Early Answer Behind Avery Johnson
Kansas State got a useful early look at its quarterback depth in the season-opening win against Nicholls, with both Jacob Knuth and Blake Barnett getting snaps behind Avery Johnson. For a team that will keep needing answers at that spot, the first game offered a clean opportunity to see how the backup work might hold up in real action, and head coach Collin Klein came away encouraged by what he saw from both players.
Barnett handled the heavier load and moved the offense efficiently in his work, while Knuth made the most of his limited chances by contributing with both his arm and his legs. The bigger takeaway for Kansas State was not just the final result, but the way those reps fit into the programs larger plan at quarterback, giving Klein something tangible to evaluate as the season starts to unfold. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas State Faces Its First Real Test Under Collin Klein
Kansas State gets its first real measuring-stick of the Collin Klein era on Sept. 12, when Washington State comes to Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan. The Wildcats opened with a win under their new coach, and now they face a Cougars team trying to steady itself after a loss in Kirby Moores debut. It is the kind of early-season nonconference game that can tell a lot about where a team really stands, especially with the oddsmakers already leaning toward the Wildcats.
For Kansas State, the larger question is not just whether it can protect home field, but whether the offense keeps building against a more demanding opponent. Washington State brings enough uncertainty of its own to make this an interesting matchup, and the scouting report points to a game with a few pressure points on both sides. The Wildcats should like their position entering the week, but this one feels more revealing than your typical September tune-up, because the margin for error may be tighter than it looked in the opener. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas State Faces Its First Real Test Under Collin Klein
Kansas State opened its season with a win over Nicholls, and now the Wildcats get a far different kind of measuring stick when Washington State comes to Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The matchup arrives with a little more intrigue after Washington State dropped its opener against Washington, and it gives Collin Klein a chance to see how his team handles a bigger stage early in the year.
Klein talked this week about the Wildcats performance and what the next game means for a group still trying to settle in under its new coach. The first meeting between the programs is set for 11 a.m. and will air on TNT, which adds a national spotlight to a game that should tell Kansas State plenty about where it stands. [Read more 🡒]