Important Big 12 games for Texa sTech football fans to monitor in week two

Another week of college football begins Friday night (because college football is not going up against the NFL's season opener on Thursday) and the Big 12 could use a rebound. That's because the first week of the season wasn't as great as it could have been for the league.

Of course, Texas Tech's close call against the mightly Abilene Christian Wildcats didn't help matters. However, being as that game was on ESPN+, not as many people around the nation were aware of that debacle.

That same can't be said of West Virginia's face plant at home against Penn State. In the 34-12 loss, the Mountaineers were thoroughly dominated on both sides of the football.

WVU gave up 457 yards of offense while managing to pick up only 256 yards themselves. That was a terrible look for the conference against one of the top teams in the Big Ten.

Another bad look for the Big 12 was Houston's embarrassing home loss to UNLV. In the 27-7 loss, the Cougars trailed 27-0 before scoring a garbage-time touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

Though Houston is projected to be one of the worst teams in the Big 12 this year, it was still an awful look for the conference that bills itself as the deepest in the country to have one of its members dismantled by a Group-of-5 team.

Hopefully the Big 12 can rebound this weekend with some big wins. Here's a look a five critical games for the conference in week two.

Nearly upset on the road in week 0 by Nevada, SMU got an easy win in week one against FCS opponent Houston Christian, 59-7. Now, they have a "prove it" game against the Big 12's BYU.

This is the start of an important 3-game stretch for the Mustangs. After next week's open date, they host rival TCU before then taking on Florida State also in Dallas. If they rattle off wins in all three of these games, SMU will be discussed as a serious contender to play in the ACC title game and they will find themselves in the national rankings.

BYU opened the year with an easy win over Southern Illinois. They now have road games at SMU and Wyoming before they open their second Big 12 season.

ESPN's matchup predictor gives SMU a 78.9% chance of winning this game. But don't be surprised if the Mustangs have to work hard for this win.

Sure, the Arkansas Razorbacks are expected to be one of the worst teams in the SEC this year. But that's what makes this an important game for the Big 12. Oklahoma State, one of the preseason conference favorites, can't afford to drop a game to one of the weakest S.E.C. teams or the Big 12 will have some serious explaining to do.

Last week, the Hogs opened up with a 70-0 win at home against UAPB. Meanwhile, the Cowboys began their season with a nice 44-20 win over South Dakota State.

ESPN gives Oklahoma State a 56.1% chance to win this game. Look for Ollie Gordon II and the rest of the OSU skill position players to prove to be too much for Arkansas to handle.

In an odd scheduling quirk, two Big 12 teams, Baylor and Utah, will meet this weekend in a game that is technically a non-conference game. That's because this game was already scheduled before Utah joined the league and the powers that be decided to simply keep it on the schedule as a game that won't count toward the league standings.

Still, this game will be worth watching for Big 12 fans. Will the Utes prove to be a dominant Big 12 favorite as they've been portrayed by the media and their own fanbase all offseason? Or will Dave Aranda's rebuilt Baylor team be able to spring a huge upset in Salt Lake, City?

Tech fans may keep an eye on this game to see what Baylor has in store since the Bears will come to Lubbock later this season. However, ESPN gives Utah a 78.2% chance at winning this one. Don't be surprised to see the Utes dominate at home.

The Cy-Hawk Trophy will be on the line again this weekend as Iowa State travels across the state to face No. 21 Iowa. This has not been a great matchup for the Cyclones in recent years, though.

In fact, ISU is just 1-7 in the last eight playings of this rivalry. However, that one win was in Iowa City in 2022 so the Cyclones may have some confidence heading into Iowa's stadium.

ESPN gives Iowa a 71.8% chance to win. However, don't be shocked to see the Cyclones pull this one out. The talent ISU returns on offense means that the Hawkeyes won't be able to simply rely on their defense to win this game and the Iowa offense isn't likely to be able to keep pace with a high-powered Cyclone attack.

It will be fascinating to see Colorado head to Lincoln, Nebraska for the first time since 2018. Star power will be all over the field with the Buffs' QB Shedeur Sanders and WR/DB Travis Hunter on one sideline and true freshman Cornhusker QB Dylan Raiola a former five-star recruit on the other.

The head coaches for both teams will also be featured here. Matt Rhule at Nebraska has to prove that he can pull off another rebuilding project in year two in Lincoln while Deion Sanders has lost his last six games to FBS teams.

ESPN gives Nebraska a 60.4% chance to prevail and the Huskers seem to have the better roster from top to bottom. However, Shedeur Sanders was built for big games like this. Meanwhile, we don't know how Raiola will respond in his first true test as a collegiate. This game has all the makings of a toss-up and though it may be tough for Big 12 fans to pull for Deion Sanders to succeed, this is a game that would do wonders for the conference's perception if the Buffs can sneak out with a win against a Big Ten team that many think could be pretty good this season.