Texas Tech football: Pros of a Big-12-only schedule
![ARLINGTON, TX - DECEMBER 07, 2019 - Detail view of Big 12 logo as the Baylor Bears band plays on the field before Baylor plays the Oklahoma Sooners in the Big 12 Football Championship at AT&T Stadium on December 7, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) ARLINGTON, TX - DECEMBER 07, 2019 - Detail view of Big 12 logo as the Baylor Bears band plays on the field before Baylor plays the Oklahoma Sooners in the Big 12 Football Championship at AT&T Stadium on December 7, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/99387ec37e8a37edc38ad245acfc57a9bfc7a769fb44d407e8074eb70eaf16f2.jpg)
Every conference game is more meaningful than before
Let’s face it, even in the round-robin Big 12, not every conference game matters in the grand scheme of it all. For instance, when Tech faced West Virginia last year in Morgantown, the rest of the conference could not have cared less what happened as the two bottom-feeders of the league collided in a giant pillow fight.
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Typically, the Kansas games are the ones that no one gives any attention to, and though second-year head coach Les Miles is an interesting character and running back Pooka Williams is a stud, this year won’t be a huge exception unless it is your team playing KU. Or will it?
Now, every game on the schedule will be even more special. That’s because, with only nine games, the magnitude of each takes on a greater significance.
Every week, a bottom-rung Big 12 team could completely ruin the national title hopes of a program like OU. In other years, OU has been able to reach the playoff with a loss on the ledger because only one or two teams usually survive a Power 5 schedule unscathed in the regular season. This year, there will likely be more teams than ever that enter the postseason without a loss meaning that one setback could ruin a title contender’s season.
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Therefore, every time that a contender plays the last-place team in the conference, its season will be on the line to a degree that we’ve not seen in quite some time. With less time to atone for a slip-up, contenders will have to take every game as seriously as possible and that will add extra intrigue to the season.