Important Big 12 games for Texas Tech football fans to watch in week one

After a long but eventful offseason, Big 12 football is back. This year, though, Texas Tech fans and those of other schools around the conference might have to enter the season with a different perspective. We might have to start cheering for the overall good of the conference, even if that means that our Big 12 rivals have success.

This conference has never been one that rallied around a sense of conference pride. Rather, it has been one defined by infighting and looking out for one's own interests above all.

As a result, Big 12 fans have not developed the habit of pulling for their conference to prevail the way fans of other conferences (namely the S.E.C.) do. However, the Big 12 has a bit of a perception problem that it must overcome in the modern age of the sport. Without Texas and Oklahoma, the league is seen as inferior and the only way that is going to change is by winning big non-conference games on the field.

Of course, conference perception is important as it pertains to College Football Playoff bids. If the Big 12 is going to get multiple participants into this season's 12-team field, the league is going to have to prove that it is worthy of that honor and that means winning games against namely the Big Ten, the S.E.C., and the ACC.

So as you watch these intriguing Big 12 games this weekend, keep in mind that cheering for the conference is now the cool thing to do. That's because the Big 12 has to show that it is one of the big boys before others around the nation are going to believe it.

The conference got off to a decent start on Thursday night with Colorado, UCF, Utah, and Kansas all beating FCS opponents at home. However, many feel that Colorado's 31-26 win over FCS power North Dakota State was less than impressive and a sign that the Buffalos are not much improved in year two of the Deion Sanders experiment.

As for the rest of the conference, six schools are playing an FCS opponent. However, the following games against FBS opponents will be intriguing and worth monitoring.

No one expects either TCU or Stanford to compete for their conference crowns. However, Friday's meeting between these two mid-tier programs could be one that people point to when they talk about which conference, the Big 12 or the ACC, is the deeper of the two leagues.

Remember, the Big 12 and the ACC are locked in a power struggle to be considered the third-strongest football conference in America. With Clemson, Miami, and Florida State, the ACC has more marquee programs however, the Big 12 will claim to be better from top to bottom. To start to prove that, TCU needs to beat the Cardinal in Palo Alto, Califonia.

This should be a game TCU wins. In year three of the Sonny Dykes era, the Frogs return starting QB Josh Hoover who gained invaluable experience by starting six games last year as a redshirt freshman. Meanwhile, Stanford is in a transition year after the departure of long-time head coach David Shaw. New head coach Troy Taylor returns only five starters but that's not necessarily a bad thing given that the Cardinal went just 3-9 in 2023.

TCU should be the more cohesive and more talented team in this matchup. What's more, playing at Stanford these days isn't exactly like walking into a hornets nest so expect the Horned Frogs to carry the Big 12 banner in this contest.

The Big 12's best opportunity to gain some serious street credibility will come in Morgantown, West Virginia when the West Virginia Mountaineers host regional rival, No. 8 Penn State. That's going to be an intense matchup given the proximity of the two schools and the opportunity this game affords WVU.

All-time, the Nittany Lions have dominated this matchup. They hold a 49-9-2 edge in the series including a 38-15 win in Happy Valley last year. In fact, WVU hasn't beaten their rivals since 1988.

This game will come down to the Penn State rushing attack, which might be one of the best in the nation, against the WVU rushing defense. The Mountaineers were pretty good against the run in 2023 ranking 46th nationally by allowing 143.4 yards per game. This will be the biggest game WVU has hosted during Neal Brown's tenure and Milan Puskar Stadium is a very tough place to play. Look for this game to be tight throughout and don't be shocked if WVU pulls off the upset.

A game that kicks off just 30 minutes prior to Texas Tech's game with Abilene Christian meaning most Red Raiders won't be tuning in live, is UNLV at Houston. But as you check scores on your phone during the Tech game, keep tabs on this interesting game.

This is a meeting of a lower-rung Big 12 school against a good Group of 5 program. Those are matchups the conference doesn't need to drop if it wants to be considered elite.

Houston enters the season under new head coach Willie Fritz who worked wonders at Tulane. How quickly can he clean up the mess left by Dana Holgorsen? Fortunately for him, he has a talented veteran QB in former Red Raider Donovan Smith to help with the transition.

Meanwhile, UNLV is coming off of a 9-3 season in 2023, the most wins for that program since 1999. Don't be surprised if the Rebels give Houston a challenge down in Space City but for the conference's sake, the Cougars need to hold serve at home.

Finally, once the Red Raiders wrap up their opener, fans could turn over to FS1 and check out Wyoming at Arizona State. Of course, Tech learned the hard way last season that the Cowboys can be dangerous when playing a Power 4 team and they could give the rebuilding Sun Devils a test.

Now, Wyoming has a new head coach, former O.C. Jay Sawvel. He'll be breaking in a new QB while trying to maintain the hard-nosed culture that his predecessor, Craig Bohl, built.

Meanwhile, the Sun Devils are in year two under Kenny Dillingham who had to clean up a mess left by Herm Edwards. Last year, ASU was just 3-9 but they have upgraded their talent and started to build a new culture under Dillingham. Look for the home team to defend its turf in Arizona State's Big 12 debut.