Frogs O’ War Weekly Picks: Hot off the press (coverage)

Big 12 Games

Iowa State (0-2) vs. Akron (2-0) (11am, Fox Sports Network)

Jamie Plunkett: Iowa State 35, Akron 31 - Akron is coming off a win against Northwestern, and will have a ton of confidence heading into this game. I don’t think it’s an easy one for the Cyclones, but they come away with the victory.

Melissa Triebwasser: Iowa State 38, Akron 17 - I think we will see Akron come back to earth this week, suffering the dreaded hangover after upsetting Northwestern. Meanwhile, the Cyclones have found something in Zeb Noland, who has stepped in for Kyle Kempt and awoken the offense.

Chris Conaty: Iowa State 38, Akron 21 - The Cyclones really need to get a win on the board this week against an opponent that just pulled off a major upset over a Big Ten team.

Grant McGalliard: Iowa State 21, Akron 13 - This game has “stinker” written all over it. I know the ‘Clones just put up points on Oklahoma, but I don’t see them running rampant over Akron.

Deanna Rust: Iowa State 34, Akron 14

Parker Fleming: Iowa State 27, Akron 6: The Clones hung with Oklahoma despite a backup QB, and their defense is confusing as hell. Akron had some fun last week beating a surprisingly awful Northwestern, but the fun ends here, Kangaroo friends.

Mason Chreene: Iowa State 31, Akron 10 - It’ll be nice for the Cyclones to pick up a win here after back to back losses to open the season.

No. 12 West Virginia (2-0) vs. Kansas State (2-1) (2:30pm, ESPN)

Jamie Plunkett: West Virginia 38, Kansas State 13 - This will not be fun for the wizard and his purple people. Holgo, on the other hand, will have a blast.

Melissa Triebwasser: West Virginia 52, Kansas State 20 - This one could get ugly quickly. WVU has looked really good to start the year, and unless the weather-forced bye week slows their mojo, they should roll against a Wildcats team that has been a disappointment so far in 2018.

Chris Conaty: West Virginia 48, Kansas State 16 - The Mountaineers may start slow after having a week off last weekend, but they should roll the Wildcats. Will Grier will move himself back into the Heisman Watch lead with his performance.

Grant McGalliard: West Virginia 41, Kansas State 20 - West Virginia is good. Kansas State is not. The Wildcats will keep this game moving as slow as they can, so the final margin may not completely show it, but the Mountaineers should roll.

Deanna Rust: West Virginia 35, Kansas State 13

Parker Fleming: West Virginia 49, Kansas State 17 - Kansas State is in a super weird spot right now, man. Have they looked good even one drive this season? They might be a basement sleeper team for the Big 12. I’m overselling this, in hopes of awakening the beast, but still.

Mason Chreene: West Virginia 38, Kansas State 24 - Still not sure how good Kansas State is, but the Metal Grier solid machine is just too much for the wizard to handle. This game is over by the end of the third quarter.

Baylor (2-1) vs. Kansas (2-1) (2:30pm, Fox Sports 1)

Jamie Plunkett: Baylor 31, Kansas 28 - In a triumph of the middling, Baylor kicks a last-second field goal to win.

Melissa Triebwasser: Kansas 31, Baylor 28 - Are the Jayhawks’ the Big 12’s hottest team? They could be the second to a three game winning streak should they upsend Baylor in Waco this weekend. We might be asking if KU is for real by Saturday night.

Chris Conaty: Kansas 24, Baylor 23 - The Jayhawks get win number three on the year and David Beaty continues to cool off his seat.

Grant McGalliard: Baylor 27, Kansas 20 - I just couldn’t do it. Come find me when Kansas plays Texas.

Deanna Rust: Kansas 31, Baylor 28 - Go Jayhawks!

Parker Fleming: Kansas 27, Baylor 24 - Baylor couldn’t beat Duke’s backup QB. They are talented, but young and a little bit identity-less. If the Bears don’t come out swinging, the Jayhawk Flying Death Machine offense may make a second appearance. I am never picking against Kansas again.

Mason Chreene: Baylor 30, Kansas 28 - ROCK CHALK BABY! This one comes down to the wire as Baylor has to kick a game winning field goal late in the fourth quarter to stop the white hot Jayhawks.

No. 5 Oklahoma (3-0) vs. Army (2-1) (6pm, PPV)

Jamie Plunkett: Oklahoma 49, Army 24 - Oklahoma’s defense showed some soft spots against Iowa State, and while Army doesn’t have the same Mutumbo-esqe receivers as the Cyclones, I think they score a few points here. Kyler Murray and the OU offense though...they’re just on another level.

Melissa Triebwasser: Oklahoma 63, Army 20 - After looking near-mortal against ISU, expect Kyler Murray and co to ignite against Army. Though the Black Knights’ offense has flummoxed many a foe, the Sooners should coast to an easy one at home this week.

Chris Conaty: Oklahoma 55, Army 23 - Army should be able to put together a few drives and get some points on the board, but I don’t see them as the team to slow down Kyler Murray and company.

Grant McGalliard: Oklahoma 55, Army 10 - I have a feeling the Oklahoma defense is going to be very, very angry. And even though Army does run the triple option, which adds a tremendous amount of variance to a game, I see the Sooners getting up quick and never looking back.

Deanna Rust: Oklahoma 55, Army 21

Parker: Oklahoma 38, Army 17 - I’m not particularly impressed by Army this season, just, it’s hard to score so many points against the service academies, just time wise. Could also be a little bit of a lookahead game for OU - easy to lull with Army and Baylor, knowing Texas is on the horizon.

Mason: Oklahoma 45, Army 20 - I picked OU to score less that 50..how’s that for a hot take?

No. 15 Oklahoma State (3-0) vs. Texas Tech (2-1) (6pm, Fox Sports 1)

Jamie Plunkett: Oklahoma State 63, Texas Tech 61 - This is going to be so much fun to watch, because POINTS. It will quite literally be the antithesis of SEC football circa 2007.

Melissa Triebwasser: Oklahoma State 70, Texas Tech 56 - This game has shootout written all over it, which means we are primed for a 17-13 game, right? While Allan Bowman has been a revelation for Kliff Kingsbury and the Red Raiders, Okie State has quietly put together an impressive start to the season. Though I think #15 might be too high for the Cowboys, it’s hard to argue against a team that just keeps winning.

Chris Conaty: Oklahoma State 59, Texas Tech 48 - It’s fitting that the Cowboys and Red Raiders are the teams most likely to get into an absolute shootout.

Grant McGalliard: Oklahoma State 59, Texas Tech 35 - This will be the best defense Texas Tech has faced all year. The same cannot be said for the ‘Pokes.

Parker Fleming: Oklahoma State 45, Texas Tech 28. Oklahoma State’s special teams play last week just dropped the hammer on Boise. Consider me stunned. I still think Oklahoma State is thin, but their D/ST is better than in years past. Can’t wait for Kliff to become Hawaii’s Offensive Coordinator next year.

Mason Chreene: Oklahoma State 38, Texas Tech 35 - This one is really tough to call, and while I think Oklahoma State is still the better team talent wise and coaching wise, I can’t help but feel a little inspired by Tech’s offensive performance against Houston last week. However, it’s in Stillwater and so I’m going to give the slight bump to the Pokes in this one. I can see this game being close, but I can also see this game being over by halftime. All Hail Cornelius!

No. 17 TCU (2-1) @ Texas (2-1) (3:30pm, FOX)

Jamie Plunkett: TCU 35, Texas 7 - I still haven’t seen enough from Texas to think they keep this one close. Frogs, aka “rejects,” roll.

Melissa Triebwasser: TCU 38, Texas 20 - I am going to echo Chris in believing that Barton Simmons may have lit a fire under TCU with his stupid remarks about the Horned Frogs being a roster of rejects that weren’t recruited by Texas. I wasn’t anticipating that there would be an Ohio State hangover, but you never know how a team will react to a loss like that. Texas is much improved, but TCU is better - and now they’re hopping mad, too.

Chris Conaty: TCU 48, Texas 13 - Thanks Barton.

Grant McGalliard: TCU 38, Texas 21 - This game has me oddly spooked. I think there are so many narratives going in TCU’s favor -- the “roster of rejects,” how good the Frogs looked against Ohio State, the recent run of dominance over Texas, etc. -- that we might be...underrating the Longhorns in this game? I think it’ll be uncomfortably close for quite a while before TCU pulls away in the fourth.

Deanna Rust: TCU 45, Texas 24 - I actually agree with Grant on this 100%. I think Texas will challenge the Frogs a bit in the first half. If we can contain the chaos to the first quarter, I’ll be happy. Otherwise, I think the Frogs will run up a solid lead as we get closer to the end. I think one key component for the Frogs will be playing a clean game like they did against Ohio State last week. Lure the Horns into making mistakes and letting their emotions get the best of them, and I think that will help push the Frogs to victory.

Parker Fleming: TCU 33, Texas 24 - The Longhorns will come out ready to play, but have been hapless against the Frogs the last few years despite reasons to be excited - remember the “Save Charlie Strong” game? I expect this to be tooth and nail, and maybe a little bit on the pointsy side, but far from a shootout. Texas is a little bit trying to stoke the “disrespect” meme, but you lose to Maryland and you get what you get.

Mason Chreene: TCU 45, Texas 21 - I was a bit worried for this game when I saw UT smack a very bad USC team down in Austin. Not because I thought they beat a quality opponent, but for the first time in a while it looked like Texas had actually taken care of business once. That being said, we are the better coached team, we are the more motivated team, and we are going to beat the pants off of Herman. Coming off a loss, we are angry and we are going to bring all the Longhorn tears.

Around the Country

No. 1 Alabama (3-0) vs. No. 22 Texas A&M (2-1) (2:30pm, CBS)

Jamie Plunkett: Alabama 56, Texas A&M 20

Melissa Triebwasser: Alabama 38, A&M 27

Parker Fleming: Alabama 42, Texas A&M 28

Chris Conaty: Alabama 48, Texas A&M 27

Grant McGalliard: Alabama 55, Texas A&M 17

Deanna Rust: Alabama 57, Texas A&M 20

Mason Chreene: Alabama 52, Texas A&M 17

No. 20 Oregon (3-0) vs. No. 7 Stanford (3-0) (7pm, ABC)

Jamie Plunkett: Oregon 31, Stanford 28

Melissa Triebwasser: Stanford 24, Oregon 20

Parker Fleming: Oregon 28, Stanford 24

Chris Conaty: Stanford 31, Oregon 27

Grant McGalliard: Stanford 20, Oregon 17

Deanna Rust: Stanford 28, Oregon 24

Mason Chreene: Stanford 27, Oregon 24

Iowa (3-0) vs. No. 18 Wisconsin (7:30pm, FOX)

Jamie Plunkett: Wisconsin 24, Iowa 17

Melissa Triebwasser: Iowa 24, Wisconsin 17

Parker Fleming: Iowa 7, Wisconsin 6

Chris Conaty: Wisconsin 23, Iowa 17

Grant McGalliard: Wisconsin 27, Iowa 13

Deanna Rust: Iowa 21, Wisconsin 17

Mason Chreene: Wisconsin 28, iowa 20

No. 10 Washington (2-1) vs. Arizona State (2-1) (9:30, ESPN)

Jamie Plunkett: Arizona State 35, Washington 31

Melissa Triebwasser: Washington 31, Arizona State 24

Parker Fleming: Arizona State 31, Washington 27

Chris Conaty: Washington 34, Arizona State 23

Grant McGalliard: Washington 38, Arizona State 10

Deanna Rust: Washington 35, Arizona State 17

Mason Chreene: Washington 31, Arizona State 21