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SB Nation Big 12 Roundtable - Week 4

By Husker Mike

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Another week, another Big 12 Roundtable by the Big XII bloggers in the SB Nation blog network.  Our host this week is Rock M Nation.

This weeks questions involve meaningful conference games in September (good or bad?) and what we know and don't know at this point in the season.

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?

Without a doubt, as I really don't see any downside to playing a conference foe early in the season, except perhaps in week one.  I'll grudgingly accept that teams want a tuneup game in the season opener, to work out some of the kinks.  Oklahoma fans would probably agree to that statement, but I'm sure that Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Missouri fans were much more excited about opening the season with a meaningful game than other Big XII teams.  Why would there be a downside to playing a conference foe earlier in the season?  You have to play these teams sometime, and mixing up the schedule might also provide an opening for a pause later in the season. 

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?

Nebraska's offense is a bit of an enigma right now; it looked really good against the Sun Belt conference, but couldn't find the end zone (almost comically) against Virginia Tech.  Missouri's offense looked unbelievable against Illinois, then looked downright mediocre for most of the game against Bowling Green.  But in my mind, the biggest enigma is Texas A&M, who finds themselves leading the nation in total offense.  Anybody see THAT coming?  Probably not.  Is that for real?  We simply don't know and won't know until A&M matches up with Arkansas next month.

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?

Husker fans think that Nebraska has one of the best running backs in the conference in Roy Helu and one of the best defenses in the conference, an end of game breakdown notwithstanding.  However, a very impressive passing game disintegrated in Blacksburg.  Whether that's due to Tech having another stout defense or whether Saturday's game exposed Nebraska's quarterback and receivers as frauds remain to be seen.  Certainly Jason Worilds disrupted Zac Lee and forced him to make plays.  He did ok in the second quarter, but dismally in much of the second half.

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?

Our matchup shouldn't pique anybody's interest; this weekend is a money game that'll be more noteworthy for being the 300th sellout than for anything else.  My vote goes to Texas Tech travelling to Houston.  Houston knocked off Oklahoma State in Stillwater; are they for real?  Likewise, Tech hung with Texas pretty well in Austin last Saturday. This is a nonconference matchup that the Big XII really could ill-afford to lose, as the conference has not done well this season in these matchups.

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.
I'm going to nominate Landry Jones for offensive player of the week.  Tulsa is no slouch, and the Sooner offense looked like they were back in gear last week.  For defensive player of the week, I'm going with the homer pick and select Ndamukong Suh.  Suh and his linemates were disruptive on the defensive line for the first 59 minutes, and Suh set a school record with four pass breakups.  Surprise of the week has to be Colorado's defense shutting out Wyoming, one week after surrendering to Toledo.

Power Poll! Rank the teams from 1-12 based on which team would win on a neutral field.
  1. Texas
  2. Oklahoma
  3. Nebraska
  4. Kansas
  5. Missouri
  6. Oklahoma State
  7. Texas Tech
  8. Texas A&M
  9. Baylor
  10. Iowa State
  11. Kansas State
  12. Colorado
I'm keeping Nebraska ahead of Kansas and Missouri as neither team has played a team like Virginia Tech, and the Huskers arguably should have won that game on the road.  Oklahoma State seems to be out of sorts now, and Tech showed well in Austin.  The bottom three teams all played better this week, but I really didn't feel like either markedly changed the order, so I'm keeping things as-is for now.

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