UNDATED (AP) — The second Saturday of October has a different focus in the Big 12 this season. The big game is No. 17 TCU at No. 19 Kansas in an unexpected matchup of undefeated teams. Texas and Oklahoma play their annual game at the State Fair of Texas with both teams unranked for the first time since 1998. Iowa State’s Big 12-best defense faces against No. 20 Kansas State with Big 12 rushing leader Deuce Vaughn and dual-threat quarterback Adrian Martinez. Texas Tech plays at seventh-ranked Oklahoma State. Baylor and West Virginia have open dates before playing the following Thursday.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Sonny Dykes has built winning programs all over the country, from Louisiana Tech to California to SMU and now TCU. He has the Horned Frogs unbeaten through four games and ranked in the Top 25. So if anybody can appreciate the job that Lance Leipold has done at Kansas, it’s probably him. The two coaches will face each other Saturday in a matchup of perhaps the two biggest surprises of the season. The Horned Frogs are ranked No. 17 while the Jayhawks are No. 19. The game is a sellout, the third consecutive one for Kansas at Memorial Stadium.
UNDATED (AP) — Oklahoma State got off to a good start in Big 12 play with a 36-25 victory at then-No. 16 Baylor. The seventh-ranked Cowboys are positioned for a run at a playoff spot, and quarterback Spencer Sanders could become a more prominent part of the Heisman Trophy conversation if he continues to perform well. Both possibilities would take a hit with a loss to Texas Tech on Saturday. Tech, which already has wins over ranked opponents Houston and Texas this season, could crack the Top 25 with a victory.
UNDATED (AP) — The same template has been used to build Iowa State and Kansas State, and both have earned reputations for rising up and challenging the Big 12 No. 20 Kansas State heads to Ames to play Iowa State for the 106th time since 1917. Two years after the Cyclones reached the Big 12 championship game for the first time, K-State is looking to make a run of its own after beginning conference play 2-0. Iowa State and K-State are fixtures in the bottom half of the Big 12 recruiting rankings. Both are in the top half in conference wins since 2018.
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Brent Venables was a popular choice to step as Oklahoma’s head football coach after Lincoln Riley left for Southern California last December. But Venables has already hit some rough patches. He approved when a popular receivers coach resigned before the season after the assistant said a racially charged word during a film session. Now, Oklahoma has suffered back-to-back losses to Kansas State and TCU heading into the rivalry game against Texas. A loss to the Longhorns would turn up the heat even more.
UNDATED (AP) — Early-season firings have gone for normalized to the norm in college football. As the season heads toward Week 6, five coaches have already been sacked, at least one every week since Sept. 11 when Nebraska cut loose Scott Frost. Last Sunday was the first with two firings: Colorado parted ways with Karl Dorrell and Wisconsin made a shocking dismissal of Paul Chryst. Generally, an in-season coaching change signals a lost season, but with so many games left the messaging has to include trying to salvage what’s left.
UNDATED (AP) — The much-anticipated matchup between Texas A&M and Alabama is coming up this weekend after an offseason feud between the team’s championship-winning coaches. But AP College Football Writer Ralph Russo says that is not nearly as interesting as the game in Lawrence, Kansas. That’s where the unbeaten and 19th-ranked Jayhawks face No. 17 TCU and its high-powered offense. There is also another top-20 matchup of potential Pac-12 contenders in Utah and UCLA in Los Angeles.
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