No. 12 West Virginia at No. 25 Texas Tech
12p ET
ESPN2
The Big Ten and Big 12 don’t cross paths too often or even play close to similar styles of football. That’s what makes this game so fun though.
West Virginia and Texas Tech could both score into the 50’s in this game and nobody would be surprised. The early block of games isn’t as entertaining as some of the others outside of this one so unless you don’t want to watch football on Saturday until 3:30 this is your best option. But it’s not a bad option at all.
Texas Tech is fresh off a beatdown of No. 15 Oklahoma State and now welcomes one of the best teams in the Big 12 to Lubbock. Oklahoma is the favorite year in and year out in the, but West Virginia is expected to challenge the Sooners. That’s if they get by the Red Raiders of Texas Tech.
This is a huge game in the Big 12 since the participants in the Big 12 Championship aren’t decided by winners of divisions. The top two teams in the conference play in the game and there aren’t any divisions. Finishing second is just as valuable as finishing first. If nobody catches Oklahoma, there’s still a race for second. And it starts with this game.
Expect a ton of passes and not a lot of defense. West Virginia has shown more defensive prowess this year than normal but that’s only by Big 12 standards.
This game will be a delicious appetizer for the afternoon and night games that follow.