SQUAD: West Virginia, BYU, Utah and Texas Tech Are STILL ELITE?

Arch Manning and the Texas Longhorns have to rebound NOW if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive.

The suit-and-tie network executives in Bristol and Chicago love to pitch Notre Dame on their precious super-conferences, but if the Irish ever wake up and smell the real football, the Big 12 is the only logical landing spot. For decades, golden-dome entitlement hid behind independent TV contracts and soft scheduling arrangements. But the landscape has shifted. The Big Ten and SEC operate like corporate syndicates designed to turn classic programs into sterile TV content. Meanwhile, Brett Yormark has transformed the Big 12 into a premier, blood-and-guts football conference—a rugged gauntlet defined by line-of-scrimmage violence, genuine rivalries, and high-altitude houses of horrors like LaVell Edwards Stadium. If Notre Dame wants to claim they still play real, hard-nosed college football, they need to stop hiding behind special postseason exemptions and step into a four-quarter weekly meat grinder. Dropping South Bend into the Big 12 would instantly pit the Irish against real physical cultures like BYU, Utah, and Texas Tech every single Saturday. No pamper-job rotations or coasting on legacy reputation—just raw trench warfare where every yard in the dirt is earned. The suit-and-ties claim Notre Dame would never trade their precious independence for a middle-America gauntlet. But true football fans know the truth: if the Irish ever want to prove they can handle genuine physical dominance instead of algorithm-inflated metrics, joining the Big 12 is their only way out of the corporate country club. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! KALSHI For a limited time, Download Kalshi and use code Locked On to get $25 when you trade $25. Kalshi. Trade what’s next.

ESPN’s precious Football Power Index computer formula isn't just broken—it is a localized smear campaign against the entire Big 12. Look at the absolute absurdity on paper. Kalani Sitake’s BYU Cougars sit proudly at 6-0, holding down the No. 2 national ranking in the human AP Poll after physically beating No. 2 Notre Dame to a pulp. Yet, Bristol’s favorite spreadsheet nerds look at an unblemished, top-two juggernaut and relegate BYU to No. 14 in the FPI. Why? Because ESPN’s proprietary algorithm is built from the ground up to protect corporate blue-bloods and shield pampered power programs from the brutal reality of actual trench warfare. The FPI treats the entire Big 12 like a second-class afterthought. Texas Tech, Utah, and BYU are all sitting at 6-0, grinding through a weekly gauntlet where every single snap requires blood-and-guts execution. But instead of rewarding real grass, bruised ribs, and four-quarter line-of-scrimmage dominance, the Bristol computer spits out metrics that favor multi-loss SEC and Big Ten rosters simply based on preseason hype and suit-and-tie brand bias. Computers don't measure the thin air at LaVell Edwards Stadium, a goal-line stand with the game on the line, or the pure, unyielding grit of a program that refuses to fold. ESPN’s analysts can cook up all the analytic disrespect they want, but the raw tape doesn't lie. BYU and the Big 12 didn't build undefeated records to validate a Bristol spreadsheet—they are out here breaking the national algorithm entirely. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! KALSHI For a limited time, Download Kalshi and use code Locked On to get $25 when you trade $25. Kalshi. Trade what’s next.

When BYU turned back No. 2 Notre Dame in that 28-24 thriller, the suit-and-tie coastal media immediately reached for their favorite crutch: manufactured controversy. Look at the tape. As CJ Carr’s frantic goal-line pass struck the turf, a full second clearly remained on the stadium clock. The Big 12 even came out postgame and confirmed that one second should have been restored. But while network empty-suits whine endlessly about clock management and uncalled pass interference, they are completely blind to the physical reality of what actually transpired in Provo. Notre Dame didn't lose because of a clock operator—they lost because they got physically manhandled in a high-altitude house of horrors. Kalani Sitake’s squad didn't ask for legacy protection or media handouts. They earned every inch in the dirt. Bear Bachmeier put on an absolute blue-collar clinic, scoring three different ways, including the ice-cold touchdown strike to Walker Lyons with under two minutes on the clock. And when the Irish launched their final desperate drive, BYU’s defense stood like a stone wall, stopping four straight goal-line rushes and leaving Notre Dame gasping for air in the thin Utah oxygen. Let the suit-and-ties in Bristol draft their whiny press releases and cook up excuses for blue-blood entitlement. Algorithms and clock-management debates don't win ballgames—trench warfare does. Unblemished 6-0 BYU dragged Notre Dame into the deep water, out-hit them on four consecutive downs, and proved that the balance of power in college football runs straight through the Big 12. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! KALSHI For a limited time, Download Kalshi and use code Locked On to get $25 when you trade $25. Kalshi. Trade what’s next.

While network suit-and-ties glaze over the calendar looking ahead to November 7th’s Holy War showdown in Salt Lake City, both No. 2 BYU and Utah are walking directly into a high-voltage trap. Welcome to the Big 12 meat grinder, where brand reputations don't mean a single damn thing once the ball is kicked off into the mud. Look at undefeated BYU. Kalani Sitake’s squad is coming off a brutal, emotional war after suffocating Notre Dame on the goal line. Every corporate network anchor in Bristol is practically begging for a letdown spot. They expect Bear Bachmeier and this blue-collar unit to read their own press clippings, show up soft, and drop their guard. But in this league, if you take one week off to pat yourself on the back, you get hit squarely in the jaw. Meanwhile, over in Salt Lake, Kyle Whittingham’s Utes are facing the exact same danger. Utah prides itself on line-of-scrimmage violence and trench toughness, but if they enter this weekend looking past their opponent and itching for revenge against BYU, they’re going to get dragged into deep water and drowned by a hungrier football team. The Big 12 doesn't offer free passes or warm-up weeks. The suit-and-tie narrative wants you to tune into the national storylines, but real football fans know the truth: trap games are set, the altitude is thin, and both Utah powerhouses are on maximum upset alert. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! KALSHI For a limited time, Download Kalshi and use code Locked On to get $25 when you trade $25. Kalshi. Trade what’s next.