SBNation Big 12 Roundtable - Week 4

by Jon Woods on Sep 23, 2009 4:30 PM MDT in College Football Roundtables

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1. The game between Texas Tech and Texas got the Big 12 in the national eye early in the season. If your team was approached with this opportunity (or for Tech and Texas, approached again), would you accept and reap the benefits of the exposure, or decline because of the potential pitfalls of playing a conference foe so early in the season?

I prefer that non-conference and conference games are all lumped together whenever possible. I like that the Big 12 is one of the few conferences that keeps them separate for the most part. It isn't that I mind of a conference game earlier in the season, more so that I don't like teams having a non-conference game (which is usually an easier opponent) later in the year.

2. Some of the Big 12 teams are starting to become known quantities, but there are still a few teams that most of us can't quite measure. Which team in the Big 12 do you consider the biggest enigma right now?

Oklahoma State. I'm really torn about this team, as well as two of the teams that they have played. It will be a few weeks and a few more games before we have a good idea how strong Houston (we should know much more about the Cougars after this weekends game with Texas Tech), Georgia (who looked MUCH better against South Carolina) and the Cowboys are.

3. What did you learn about your team in Week 3, and what questions has your team failed to answer at this point of the season?

We learned that Rodney Stewart is going to continue to be a large part of this offense while he is here and that maybe we should have started the season with this so called "simplified" defense.

4. There aren't exactly a whole lot of marquee matchups in Week 4. Which Big 12 game this week not involving your team piques your interest the most?

The Big12/Conference USA games should tell us a lot about two teams that had some high hopes entering the 2009 season. Many expect Kansas to take care of business against Southern Miss, but with Jake Sharp possibly sitting out the game the Golden Eagles have a good chance to pull off the upset (although I don't think it will happen). In Houston, the Cougars will attempt to knock off their second Big 12 team this year, selling out their stadium for only the third time in history for the game match up against Texas Tech.

5. Give us your Offensive Player of the Week, Defensive Player of the Week, and Surprise (team, individual, coaching decision, etc. Whatever you want it to be...) of the Week.

Offensive Player - Landry Jones. Six touchdowns are six touchdowns. That's damn impressive for a freshman.
Defensive Player - Sergio Kindle. The Longhorns need him to step up and put pressure on the quarterback to be successful and he did that for the first time Saturday night.
Surprise - The Buffalo defense shutting out the Cowboys. While no one is going to mistake the Pokes offense as a solid unit, no one expected the Buffs to shut anyone out either.

6. Power Poll! Rank the teams from 1-12 based on which team would win on a neutral field.

1. Texas Longhorns
2. Oklahoma Sooners
3. Kansas Jayhawks
4. Oklahoma State Cowboys
5. Nebraska Cornhuskers
6. Missouri Tigers
7. Texas Tech Red Raiders
8. Baylor Bears
9. Texas A&M Aggies
10. Colorado Buffaloes
11. Iowa State Cyclones
12. Kansas State Wildcats