Oklahoma football: Reshuffling Big 12 in final month sprint to finish line

Oct 3, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; A view of the Big 12 logo on the field after the game between the Baylor Bears and the Texas Tech Red Raiders at AT&T Stadium. The Bears defeat the Red Raiders 63-35. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 3, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; A view of the Big 12 logo on the field after the game between the Baylor Bears and the Texas Tech Red Raiders at AT&T Stadium. The Bears defeat the Red Raiders 63-35. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

With four regular-season games remaining — think of it as the fourth quarter of the 2022 college football season — the question for Oklahoma football is how high can the Sooners go?

That question has been almost rhetorical in seasons past because Oklahoma seemingly always has been in top contention for the conference crown if not in the conversation for a College Football Playoff spot (remember the Sooners did once make four playoff appearances in a row).

But this hasn’t been your typical Oklahoma football season. After losing three games in a row to begin the Big 12 schedule — and not in a pretty way, I might add — the Sooners came very close to falling below .500 in a season for the first time in almost forever (actually it has been since 1998).

Consecutive wins in the past two games has put at least a temporary hold on that fate, as OU heads into the homestretch of the season with a 5-3 overall record.

light. Related Story. How will Big 12 race will shake out in 2022?

Before the season started, we projected what the final standings would look like in the Big 12 when all the dust and surprises of the regular season had finally settled. A lot has naturally happened in the first nine weeks of the 2022 season, and we thought it time to recalibrate, taking into account the conference standings as they are today and how we believe things will play out during the championship month of November leading up to the Big 12 Championship game on Dec. 3.

TCU is in the driver’s seat with an 8-0 overall record and 6-0 in the Big 12 as we enter the deciding month of November. Kansas State is close behind at 5-1 and coming off a sensational 48-0 blowout of Oklahoma State. Oklahoma State dropped to 3-2 and is tied with Texas and Baylor, all with identical conference records.

There are some big matchups coming up in the next four weeks, including Baylor at Oklahoma and Texas at Kansas State this coming weekend, K-State at Baylor and TCU at Texas the weekend of Nov. 12, Oklahoma State at OU for Bedlam on Nov. 19, Baylor at Texas on Nov. 25 and TCU at Baylor on Nov. 26 to close out the 2022 regular-season schedule.

Here is how I project the outcome of November games in the Big 12 (the winner in bold face):

November 5

Texas Tech @ TCU

Baylor @ Oklahoma

Oklahoma State @ Kansas

West Virginia @ Iowa State

Texas at Kansas State

November 12

Oklahoma @ West Virginia

Iowa State @ Oklahoma State

Kansas @ Texas Tech

Kansas State @ Baylor

TCU @ Texas

November 19

Texas @ Kansas

Kansas State @ West Virginia

TCU @ Baylor

Texas Tech @ Iowa State

Oklahoma State @ Oklahoma

November 25

Baylor @ Texas

November 26

West Virginia @ Oklahoma State

Oklahoma @ Texas Tech

Iowa State @ TCU

Kansas @ Kansas State

Projected final Big 12 standings

Conf.              Overall

TCU Horned Frogs                              8-1                  11-1

Kansas State Wildcats                     7-2                    9-3

Oklahoma State Cowboys               6-3                    9-3

Texas Longhorns                                6-3                    8-4

Texas Tech Red Raiders                   4-5                    6-6

Oklahoma Sooners                          4-5                    7-5

Baylor Bears                                       4-5                     6-6

Kansas Jayhawks                              2-7                     5-7

Iowa State Cyclones                        2-7                      5-7

West Virginia Mountaineers         2-7                      4-8

TCU over Kansas State for Big 12 Championship and spot in Allstate Sugar Bowl