Tuesday’s Big 12 conversation has three clear themes after a wild start to the season: Oklahoma State’s massive bounce-back, some early unease around Texas Tech, and a new read on Iowa State after a strong showing in defeat.
The biggest surprise of the weekend came in Stillwater. After Oklahoma State lost to Tulsa in Week 1, plenty of people - the writer included - were ready to write the Cowboys off.
Then came Saturday’s performance against top-ten Oregon, and the Cowboys didn’t just win the matchup in spirit. They controlled the Ducks in every way imaginable.
The turnaround was so extreme it bordered on hard to believe. The difference from Week 1 to Week 2 was described as the biggest leap seen in years of covering college football.
The hope now is that the chaos settles down a little, because the version of Oklahoma State that showed up against Oregon is being treated as the real 2026 Cowboys. If that’s the case, the Pokes are going to make noise in the Big 12.
The one thing Stillwater still has to prove is consistency.
Texas Tech, meanwhile, is unbeaten but not beyond scrutiny. A 2-0 start sounds clean enough, yet there’s hesitation about declaring the Red Raiders the league’s best team just yet.
They looked a little rough around the edges against Abilene Christian in Week 1, which was understandable with so many new faces in the mix. But Saturday’s game against Oregon State raised a few more questions.
The run game has not been as dominant as expected, and Will Hammond still hasn’t done enough to lock down the job in convincing fashion. Head coach Joey McGuire seemed to echo that concern after the win, saying, “There’s two sacks out of the four sacks that are on the quarterback.
He’s got to throw the ball away. You can’t take sacks.”
He followed that up with, “There’s a clock that’s got to go off in your head when you step up, nothing’s there,” McGuire added. “You either run or you throw the ball out of bounds.”
There are also issues on the other side of the ball. The defense does not look like last year’s unit, the secondary was beaten up last weekend, and the front line doesn’t appear to have the same talent level.
None of that means Texas Tech is bad. It does mean the “clear-cut best team in the Big 12” label feels premature.
Friday’s game against Houston offers a chance to change that view.
Then there’s Iowa State, which looks a lot sturdier than expected. With a new coaching staff and a wave of new faces, the Cyclones were picked by the writer as one of the conference’s bottom three teams in the preseason. That opinion took a hit after their loss to Iowa.
Even in defeat, Iowa State showed real fight. The effort in Iowa City stood out, and the Cyclones were only a play or two away from leaving with a win.
That kind of performance changes the picture. Instead of a team near the bottom, Iowa State now looks more like a middle-of-the-pack Big 12 team.
The bigger question may be which programs truly belong at the bottom of the league, because that still feels too early to sort out.
In Other News...
Oklahoma State Just Turned One Win Into A National Debate
Oklahoma States win over Oregon did more than add a quality result to the Cowboys ledger. It rippled through the national picture, because the Ducks entered the season as one of the teams expected to matter in the championship conversation, and one loss was enough to make the market reassess how sturdy that case really was. Sportsbooks moved quickly, and Oregons place on the odds boards slid with it, a reminder of how much a September setback can reshape the way contenders are viewed.
The Ducks are still firmly in the mix for more important games ahead, and that is what keeps this from becoming a fatal blow. But the drop in perception was real, with Oregon now sitting closer to the second tier of title hopefuls than the very top line it occupied before the loss. For Oklahoma State, it is the kind of win that can echo well beyond Stillwater, especially when the rest of the country is watching to see whether Oregon can climb back into the center of the debate. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma State's Oregon Field Storming Just Sparked A Bigger Debate
The scene at Boone Pickens Stadium after Oklahoma States upset of No. 6 Oregon was the kind that usually brings a conference penalty with it, but this time the Cowboys avoided one. Big 12 officials reviewed the postgame rush and determined the school had followed the required protocols, including leaving a safe path for Oregons players and the officiating crew as fans poured onto the field.
Even so, the celebration has lingered as more than a feel-good moment. Several fans were injured in the storming, and the episode has only added to the broader discussion around whether these scenes are worth the risk, especially for a school that was already fined earlier for unrelated fan behavior at a basketball game. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon Suddenly Has New Questions After That Loss In Stillwater
Oregon left Stillwater with more than a loss to process, and the injury list keeps giving Dan Lanning more to sort through this week. The Ducks are already bracing for tight end Jamari Johnson to miss additional games because of an earlier injury, and the concern is growing up front and in the secondary as the team tries to regroup from a rough night on the road.
The latest update came with offensive lineman Trent Ferguson and defensive back Carl Williams IV, both of whom were hurt against Oklahoma State. Lanning said Ferguson is likely out for the season because of a knee injury, while Williams is still being evaluated after getting hurt in the game, leaving Oregon with even more uncertainty as it tries to patch together a lineup that was already under stress. [Read more 🡒]