I started on the WVU beat after the first game this season, so things were always going to seem like they were flying by for me. Still, Week 6 seems like it got here in a hurry. Part of that is also probably due to the cancellation of the WVU-N.C. State game a few weeks ago. Either way, we’re pretty much at the halfway point of the regular season and its almost time to start thinking about bowl game positioning for some teams.

STOCK UP:

No. 7 OKLAHOMA (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) — The Sooners did what they were supposed to do last week in pounding Baylor 66-33. I was curious to see how OU came back from its brush with disaster the previous week in an overtime win at home against Army. Oklahoma remains the class of the league heading into the Red River game against No. 19 Texas this week. A big win against the Longhorns could send the Sooners on cruise control until late-season games against in-state rival Oklahoma State and West Virginia.

No. 9 WEST VIRGINIA (4-0, 2-0 Big 12) — Hear me out. WVU appeared to be in peak form early against Texas Tech last week and even though it did almost blow a 35-10 halftime lead to the Red Raiders, the Mountaineers won a conference game on the road against a ranked opponent. Hard to classify that as anything but a step in the right direction, but had this happened against a team not as good as Texas Tech it would be a tougher pill to swallow for Mountaineer fans.

No. 25 OKLAHOMA STATE (4-1, 1-1 Big 12) — The Cowboys bounced back nicely from their lopsided loss against Texas Tech two weeks ago with a 20-point win at Kansas. With Iowa State coming to Stillwater this week and a trip to Kansas State on the schedule next week, Oklahoma State has a chance to rattled off some wins before an Oct. 27 clash with Texas.

NO CHANGE:

No. 17 TEXAS (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) — The Longhorns won 19-17 last week at Kansas State but were not exactly impressive in doing so. Texas is on a good run with four consecutive wins and would get a *huge* bump with a win against rival Oklahoma this week in Dallas.

TCU (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) — TCU got pretty much the same result against Iowa State last week as Texas did against Kansas State. The Horned Frogs won but it wasn’t pretty and the Cyclones aren’t exactly playing well at the moment. Texas Tech comes to Fort Worth this week looking to build off the near-comeback last week against West Virginia in what could be a pretty good game.

STOCK DOWN:

TEXAS TECH (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) — The Red Raiders found a wrinkle in the WVU defense after starting quarterback Alan Bowman left last week’s game with an injury and sophomore Jett Duffey took over. Duffey gave the Mountaineers fits, especially when he scrambled, but Bowman was determined to have suffered a collapsed lung and now there is some tape on Duffey for opponents to study. Stock is only down here because of the uncertain quarterback situation. A win against TCU this week would ease those concerns and put TTU on the way back up.

BAYLOR (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) — Back to reality for the Bears after opening their league slate with a win against Kansas. Baylor was on the bad end of a beatdown from No. 7 Oklahoma. As we have covered, Kansas State hasn’t played well in recent weeks, so there is a chance for BU to get back on track with a win this week.

KANSAS (2-3, 0-2 Big 12) — It has been a rough start to league play for the Jayhawks, and a trip to deal with Will Grier and friends in Morgantown this weekend probably isn’t what you want to see this week. Those wins against Central Michigan and Rutgers seem like they happened a long time ago at this point for Kansas.

KANSAS STATE (2-3, 0-2 Big 12) — The Wildcats play decent defense but that offense has been bad. K-State can’t seem to settle on a quarterback and has only produced 20 points in their two conference losses. Dark days for the folks in the the Little Apple.

IOWA STATE (1-3, 0-2 Big 12) — Still down here on the Cyclone because they were already down and lost again. If there is a bright spot for ISU it has been the defense, which tends to keep the team in games. The offense, much like Kansas State, has been pretty bad.

LOOKING AHEAD TO GAMEDAY:

Let’s get set for this week’s slate of Big 12 games. First, the current standings:

And finally, this week’s league schedule with the TV lineup:

See y’all in the morning.