Saturday’s game between TCU and No. 17 Baylor has some critical Big 12 stakes. The Baylor Bears were one of just two undefeated Big 12 teams last week, but a 35-34 upset loss at the hands of Texas dashed the hopes of an unblemished regular season.
However, the good news for the Bears is that the other undefeated team inside the conference, West Virginia, also lost last weekend to Oklahoma State, so the Big 12 title is at least still in front of Baylor.
TCU has been having a down season for the most part. In Week 2, the Horned Frogs were upset at home by Arkansas, and they lost to Oklahoma in October. TCU has now lost four games on the year, with the last two being back-to-back losses against West Virginia and Texas Tech. This is pretty uncharacteristic for head coach Gary Patterson — TCU has had the second-best overall record in the Big 12 for the past three seasons at 27-7.
Let’s see if the Frogs have what it takes to upset Baylor on Saturday afternoon.
How to watch, stream and listen
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX. Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt will be on the call, with Shannon Spake on the sideline.
Online streaming: Saturday's game can be live streamed on FOX Sports Go.
Spread: Baylor is currently a 9-point favorite.
Make friends: Get to SB Nation’s team blog chats for this game at Our Daily Bears for Baylor fans and Frogs O’ War for TCU fans.
Three big things to know
1. The last three games have been decided by close margins: Baylor has been able to win two out of the last three meetings, but the games have been close. Over the three matchups, the margins of victory have added up to just 13 total points.
2. Baylor quarterback Kenny Hill struggled last week: In fact, he struggled so much that he was benched for backup Foster Sawyer. Patterson later said that his co-offensive coordinator, Sonny Cumbie, made the decision to pull Hill after he threw his 10th pick of the season against Texas Tech.
Sawyer didn’t do much better in place of Hill, completing 6 of 17 passes for 86 yards and one touchdown. Hill is anticipated to be the starter this week against Baylor. The Horned Frogs are averaging just 19.3 points over their last three games. The Baylor defense, meanwhile, has allowed 20 points per game all season.
3. Baylor quarterback Seth Russell will play: His status was up in the air for part of this week after being placed on the concussion protocol list. He was cleared to play on Wednesday. The junior has thrown for 1,696 yards and 18 touchdowns on the season.