Most Big 12 games were pretty one-sided in week 8 and now there are only two teams remaining in the Top 25.

Will Oklahoma State be the next to fall?

Texas jumped out to a 35-7 halftime lead to easily defeat Missouri on the road. The Texas defense has solidified into one of the top units in the nation and should suppress fantasy output for any players they face. Colt McCoy (pictured left, thanks Icon SMI) completed 84% of his passes including 3 TD tosses, Jordan Shipley caught 2 TDs to go with 108 yards receiving, and Fozzy Whittaker has become the team’s number one back, chipping in a modest 54 total yards but finding the end zone once.

Kansas State and Colorado played a defensive game in which Daniel Thomas was the only player producing much on offense. He had 145 yards on the ground and scored once.

Oklahoma State dominated Baylor 34-7, with Zac Robinson throwing for 250 yards and 3 scores, and Keith Toston grinding out 109 yards plus a score of his own. Aniyam has become the Cowboys’ top receiver in Dez Bryant’s absence, who has now been officially ruled ineligible for the remainder of the season.

Nebraska out-gained Iowa State by 123 yards, but three interceptions by Zac Lee and FIVE lose fumbles were far too much to overcome. The Huskers turned the ball over four time inside the red zone, and there’s really no overcoming that — not even when the other team misses a PAT and  a field goal after the Huskers turned the ball over inside their own 40. Dontrayevous Robinson owners (?) will be happy with his 77 yards and a TD in this snoozer.

In a game I thought would be much closer, Oklahoma dominated Kansas to win 35-13. Landry Jones was effective, but it was Chris Brown‘s bruising 66 yards and 2 TDs that were the difference in this one. Ryan Broyles pulled in 121 receiving yards, and Kansas’ Dezmon Briscoe was held to just 60 yards receiving by a tough Sooner defense.

And in the bizarro game of the week, Texas Tech was upended on the road by Texas A&M’s apparently unstoppable offense, 52-30. Taylor Potts was intercepted twice and the Aggies took advantage of a +4 turnover edge and a 21-0 second quarter to win this one. Both offenses racked up over 500 yards apiece, with A&M gaining 321 on the ground in great days for Cyrus Gray, Christine Michael, and QB Jerrod Johnson, who not only ran for 71 yards and a score but threw for 238 and another. On the Tech side, Taylor Potts did throw for 310 and 2 scores, but 2 costly INT led to him being benched in the second half. Alexander Torres was the big game receiver, hauling in 128 yards and scoring once on a big play.

Week 9 Picks

Nebraska should get back on track against Baylor, who has reverted to pre-Griffin form in getting blown out of every conference game. Expect big numbers from Helu.

Colt McCoy faces one of the nation’s worst secondaries against Oklahoma State. Because of the nature of this budding rivalry, his numbers won’t be what you’d expect judging solely on OSU’s pass defense statistics, but he should throw for 250 yards and a few scores. Jordan Shipley has moved into the slot and should have another big game. While there’s some uncertainty in how Texas’ offense will perform on the road in a semi-rivalry, what I do expect is for the Texas defense to shut down a team playing without their top WR and likely again to be without their top RB (or playing a limited role). I would not start Oklahoma State players this week against this defense.

Texas Tech should put up big numbers against a Kansas defense that has clearly slipped since the glory days of 2007. The Red Raiders themselves still don’t have a great defense, and Kansas is likely to get behind early and end up trying to keep pace in a shootout, so Reesing & Co should put up better numbers this week as well.

Oklahoma may be returning to form – or at least, as well as this particular unit is going to play – so they should shut down Kansas State and put up solid numbers for Broyles and Brown.

After the last few weeks, I’ll say A&M could score anywhere from 10 to 50 points in this one and leave it at that! They do look to be the most wildly inconsistent bunch in the conference right now, a fact that makes them dangerous to opponents and dangerous to their players’ fantasy owners as well. My hunch is that Iowa State won’t get lucky two weeks in a row, and that A&M running backs plus Johnson are safe plays. What is it about teams from Iowa getting the right bounces in 2009?