And then there were three.
Entering Week 12, four teams were still alive for the two spots in the Big 12 championship game -- Iowa State (5-2), Oklahoma (6-1), Texas (5-2) and West Virginia (6-1). Oklahoma held serve after holding off stubborn Kansas to move to 7-1; West Virginia was upset by Oklahoma State in Stillwater to fall to 6-2; and Texas took care of business in whipping Iowa State, with the Longhorns improving to 6-2 and the Cyclones dropping to 5-3.
Add it all up, and the Cyclones are the only one of the four to be eliminated this weekend even as they could still end up in a three-way tie for second in the conference (point differential among the tied teams would knock them out).
Thus, in Week 13, Oklahoma and West Virginia square off in Morgantown while Texas draws perpetual-conference-doormat-turned-pesky-out Kansas on the road in Lawrence.
The scenarios for the league championship game are relatively straightforward:
- Texas beats Kansas, would face the winner of the Oklahoma-West Virginia game in the Big 12 title game.
- Texas loses to Kansas, Oklahoma beats West Virginia: UT-OU in the Big 12 title game.
- Texas loses to Kansas, West Virginia beats Oklahoma: OU-WVU in the Big 12 title game
Regardless of which teams are involved, the Big 12 championship game will be played Saturday, Dec. 1, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
