Big 12 Betting Line Easy Pick’ems: Weekend Of November 30

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Whelp, it’s happened for the second straight year in a row – a seemingly invincible juggernaut in the Big 12 falls hard late in the season. Oklahoma State destroyed Baylor last week, derailing any hopes Bears fans had of a national championship appearance and possibly even a BCS bowl. With three teams sitting on just one conference loss and Oklahoma holding an outside shot at 5-2, this race will go down to the final week. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are off this week. On to the picks!

Thursday Night: Texas Tech at Texas (-4.5)
I’m honestly not sure why this line is another touchdown higher. Texas, despite its flaws, is still 6-1 in league play and contending for the Big 12 title. Texas Tech is 4-4. The game is in Austin. Sure, Texas has looked bad in needing overtime to defeat West Virginia and then getting creamed by Oklahoma State in its past two games, but it’s not like Texas Tech has impressed anyone with its four straight losses. Texas has officially lost quarterback David Ash for the rest of the season, but that’s been a battle the Longhorns have fought all year. The point is, for every concern you may have about Texas, Texas Tech has the same problem only bigger. Texas Tech has a second straight year of promise upended with a nasty losing streak to end the season. Prediction: Texas 34, Texas Tech 25 (over)

Baylor (-13) at TCU
TCU continues to proclaim that, unable to qualify for a bowl game at 4-7, this is its bowl game of 2013. Baylor just suffered its first loss of the year, falling to Oklahoma State 49-17 (and K-State fans feel sooooo much sympathy for the Bears). I still say the biggest weakness Oklahoma State exposed is Baylor’s absolute inability to perform on the road. Baylor goes on the road again in this game. TCU had the advantage of a bye, giving the Horned Frogs two weeks to prepare. That spells trap. Baylor struggles in this one before destroying Texas next week to finish the season. Prediction: Baylor 34, TCU 26 (under)

K-State (-16.5) at Kansas
Well, looks like another snoozer of a Sunflower Showdown. KU got its first conference victory since 2010 when the Jayhawks upset West Virginia two weeks ago, but that doesn’t mean Kansas is a threat to keep this game close. KU got destroyed by Iowa State last week to give the Cyclones their first league (and first FBS) win of the year. K-State out-throws, out-rushes, out-jumps, and generally outplays KU. Prediction: K-State 40, KU 13

Iowa State at West Virginia (-7.5)
Lot of interesting storylines here – something you typically don’t say about 1-7 versus 2-6. But there’s speculation about trying to turn this into a legit rivalry game (I always pegged K-State/West Virginia as a good rivalry, but West Virginia has to defeat the wildcats in a sport before a rivalry can be claimed). West Virginia’s quarterback Clint Trickett recently called Iowa State “the greatest 2-9 football team in the history of football.” The Cyclones probably should have beaten Texas but for a bad call and the team seemed to fall apart after that, but I’ve seen what Iowa State has done this year. There’s no depth in Ames. West Virginia coach Dan Holgerson doesn’t have much depth either – that’s what he admitted when he said the Mountaineers may not be built to withstand a season of Big 12 play. Also, Trickett just copped to hiding a concussion in the game against K-State. All those story lines, and I haven’t even gotten to the match up on the field yet. West Virginia makes Iowa State miss the secondary play of 2012 and passes to a victory. Prediction: West Virginia 31, Iowa State 20 (over)