Well, here we are, two months down, and one to go.
To say the season is flying by would be the understatement of the year. But even so, there's plenty to look forward to the rest of the way.
The Big 12, once again, has a national title contender entering the final stretch and they'll be more than enough talk about who is going bowling where to keep you occupied at the water cooler.
Here's a rundown of what to expect over the final five weeks of the season along with some of the biggest questions yet to be answered as we get set to enter month of November.
Most likely to win the conference title:
Kansas State. While the Wildcats are the odds on favorite to win their second ever Big 12 title, they can't afford to take their foot off the gas. Even one loss would open the door for either Oklahoma or Oklahoma State who would each have to win their final five games to create a tie should Kansas State indeed drop a game. (Only one of those two can win out, however, since OU and OSU still have to play each other).
Will Kansas State play for the national title?
I'd say yes. Their remaining schedule isn't easy, but at the same time, their toughest tests are behind them.
The Wildcats likely have the easiest remaining schedule of the four contenders which actually could hurt them in the BCS rankings over the next month. That being said, they're complete body of work will be just as impressive as anybody's should they go 12-0.
Not to mention, it's highly likely the season finishes with four undefeated teams. There's still plenty of football to be played and if college football has taught us anything over the years, it's too assume nothing.
Toughest remaining schedule:
TCU. The Horned Frogs have to go to West Virginia and Texas while getting Oklahoma and Kansas State at home. With TCU sitting on five wins with four games to go, it would be easy to think they're a slam dunk to qualify for a bowl game. With that schedule, however, it's far from a given especially if the knee injury to quarterback to Trevon Boykin requires him to miss any significant playing time.
Team with the most to gain/lose over the season's final month:
Texas. Kansas State notwithstanding (what's at stake for the Wildcat's is obvious), the Longhorns season has been a mixed bag of results thus far. Texas can still win out and finish the season with a 10-2 regular season record. Or they could lose three of four and finish 7-5. That's a rather large discrepency yet to be determined.
They have to go on the road to Texas Tech and Kansas State sandwiched around home games with Iowa State and TCU. Is the program heading back in the right direction? Those four games will go a long way in determining how people answer that question this offseason.
Following another blowout loss to Oklahoma and a narrow escape over Kansas, the perception of Texas is trending down right now, but there's still time to change that. Yes, November is an important month for the folks in Austin.
Will Kansas win a Big 12 game in 2012?
Yes! It would be easy for a team with one win in eight games to pack it in and just play the season out. But coming off a narrow losses to Oklahoma State and Texas, there's plenty yet to build on in November for the Jayhawks.
So who is going to be the victim? I'm guessing it happens this weekend at Baylor. After the Bears, the remaining schedule includes road trips to Texas Tech, West Virginia along with a home game versus Iowa State.
Where will West Virginia finish?
Three weeks ago, this will a top five team. Now following back-to-back blowout losses, nobody knows what to expect from the Mountaineers.
Even though West Virginia has proven they're far from great, this is still a better than average team. I'll predict a 3-2 finish with losses coming to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State or Iowa State and a final 8-4 record. Not great, but then again, not bad considering how young their defense is this season.
It's obvious the expectations placed on this team go blown a little out of proportion early in the season which may make an 8-4 finish seem more disappointing than it really is.
Big 12 offensive player of the year:
Geno Smith was the preseason pick, but he has plenty of ground to make up on Collin Klein, who has to be the odds on favorite through two thirds of the season. Tevon Austin deserves some recognition, as well, as does Seth Doege, Joseph Randle, Terrance Williams, and Stedman Bailey.
Big 12 Defensive player of the year:
There are plenty of contenders here and it's nearly impossible to predict the winner although I'll give the early vote to Arthur Brown at Kansas State. Alex Okafor was the preseason choice and he's still in the running (second in the Big 12 in sacks) along with A.J. Klein, Tony Jefferson, Devonte Fields and Cody Davis, among others.
Newcomer of the year:
Devonte Fields, TCU. This award might already be decided. Fields leads the Big 12 in both sacks and tackles-for-loss as just a freshman. Oklahoma running back Damien Williams would be the likely runner up. (OU wider receiver, Trey Metoyer, was the preseason choice).
Who is the conference favorite for 2013?
Wait, what? Yes, there's still plenty of football yet to come this season, but how this final month plays out will go a long ways in determining people's perception are heading into next season.
One thing we know for sure is that the Big 12 will have a whole bunch of new quarterbacks next season. Collin Klein will be gone. So will Landry Jones, Geno Smith, Seth Doege, Steele Jantz, Dayne Crist (is he already gone?), and Nick Florence.
That leaves Oklahoma State and Texas as the only teams with real experience returning at the QB position (Iowa State also has Jared Barnett coming back, as does TCU with Trevone Boykin and possibly Casey Pachall who all will have starting experience).
Like I mentioned, there's plenty that will happen between now and then, but if I had to pick a favorite for next season, I'd go with Oklahoma State. They'll have both Wes Lunt and J.W. Walsh back for their sophomore season plus Joseph Randle and Jeremy Smith are both only juniors meaning they'll be back, as well. They'll also have plenty of talent returning at the receiver position and on defense to go along with it.
