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I've been inspired by the boys at the Big Ten Blog, and this should be a fun walk-through each week in the new-look Big 12 next season. I'll pick one game a week during the season that I'd attend if it were entirely up to me. I don't make the call, and things change as games are played, of course. I'll include road nonconference games, too.

• Week 1: West Virginia vs. Marshall
• Week 2: Kansas State vs. Miami
• Week 3: Texas at Ole Miss
• Week 4: Kansas State at Oklahoma
• Week 5: Texas at Oklahoma State
• Week 6: West Virginia at Texas
• Week 7: Oklahoma vs. Texas at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas
• Week 8: Kansas State at West Virginia
• Week 9: Notre Dame at Oklahoma
• Week 10: Oklahoma State at Kansas State
• Week 11: Kansas State at TCU
• Week 12: Oklahoma at West Virginia
• Week 13: Oklahoma State at Oklahoma

Here's the Week 14 slate in the Big 12:

• Oklahoma State at Baylor
• Kansas at West Virginia
• Texas at Kansas State
• Oklahoma at TCU

My pick: Oklahoma at TCU

Really, really tough call here. I may do some research between now and then and try to be two places at once. Ultimately, this one will come down to what the Big 12 standings look like at season's end.

I could easily see Kansas State and Texas both a) play for a game with serious Big 12 title implications and b) play the Big 12 game with the fewest pass attempts since, uh, a long time ago.

For now, though, I'll go with two teams with two of the best offenses in the Big 12 and close my Big 12 regular season with another visit to newcomer TCU.

The Sooners' linebackers are solid, but face a tough task in Matthew Tucker, Ed Wesley and Waymon James, the best trio of running backs in the Big 12, who all topped 700 yards and 100 carries in 2011. Quite the platoon, no doubt.

Oklahoma could have a lot on the line in this one, and one final game away from home for senior Landry Jones, who's improved away from Owen Field tremendously throughout his career. TCU's defense wasn't outstanding in 2011, but Gary Patterson's staked a claim as a defensive coach, and this could be a game that gives the Horned Frogs a chance to prove themselves and perhaps earn a Big 12 title on the final weekend of the season.

It'd be quite the dream scenario for the boys in purple. Oklahoma's been by far the best Big 12 program in the history of the league. Now, the Sooners come to town with the Big 12 title on the line?

What an atmosphere that would be in brand-new Amon G. Carter Stadium. I know the Horned Frogs will be dreaming about that one all season if the wins start rolling in.

Could TCU win a Big 12 title in its first season in the league? Could Oklahoma wrap up its eighth since 2000? I can't wait to find out.

2011 overall record: 11-2
2011 conference record: 7-0
Returning starters: offense: 6; defense: 7; kicker/punter: 0

Top returners
QB Casey Pachall, RB Waymon James, DL Stansly Maponga, RB Ed Wesley, RB Matthew Tucker, WR Josh Boyce, LB Kenny Cain, DB Jason Verrett

Key losses
LB Tank Carder, LB Tanner Brock, S Tekerrein Cuba, S Johnny Fobbs, WR Antoine Hicks, S Devin Johnson

2011 statistical leaders (*returners)

Rushing: Waymon James* (875 yards)
Passing: Casey Pachall* (2,921 yards)
Receiving: Josh Boyce* (998 yards)
Tackles: Kenny Cain*(72)
Sacks: Stansly Maponga* (9)
Interceptions: Tank Carder, Kris Gardner, Greg McCoy (2, none return)

Spring answers

1. Filling a hole at linebacker: TCU was ready to lose Tank Carder, but the loss of Tanner Brock was unexpected. Thus, TCU entered spring with big questions at linebacker. Danny Heiss and Joel Hasley have stepped in to help fortify a position with a lot to prove in 2012. TCU has a feel for who its guys will be, but are those guys good enough?

2. Beware of the TCU receivers: TCU already felt good about Josh Boyce and Skye Dawson after 2011, but sophomore Brandon Carter is bigger and better this spring. LaDarius Brown may join the fold as a big factor, though. It's not impossible for him to become one of the team's best targets. Casey Pachall has to love adding a 6-foot-4, 220-pounder to his targets, and freshman Kolby Listenbee proved he can contribute right away after enrolling early this spring. He'll play.

3. A change in identity: There's no doubt TCU has big questions on defense, especially at linebacker and in the secondary. But offensively? The Horned Frogs have to shore up the offensive line, but its skill-position players are as deep and as talented as any in the Big 12. It's not often that offense has to carry the load for a Gary Patterson team, but it looks like that'll be the case this year.

Fall questions

1. How will TCU handle the jump? Complain about the question all you want, Frogs. It's not that anyone's beating it into the ground, it's that TCU hasn't had a chance to answer it. Fact: The Big 12 will be much more difficult than the Mountain West Conference. TCU brings back a good amount of talent that's built to have success in the Big 12 immediately. Can they do it, though? I'm betting yes, that TCU will flirt with double-digit wins.

2. Will the secondary, especially the safeties, improve? TCU's rise under Gary Patterson has been marked by suffocating defense, but TCU slid to a finish outside the national top 30 in total defense last season after leading the nation in total defense in 2009 and 2010. The loss to Baylor personified those struggles more than any game all season. Patterson wasn't happy with his secondary this spring, either. The bad news: There are lots of Baylors in the Big 12. The good news: Safeties coach Chad Glasgow is back after serving as defensive coordinator at Texas Tech for one season.

3. Can TCU handle gut-punching defensive losses? The Horned Frogs suffered the biggest off-field scandal in the Big 12 this offseason when four players were arrested in a campus drug sting. That's a problem of its own off the field, but on the field, TCU still has to replace 2011 big contributors in Tanner Brock, Devin Johnson and D.J. Yendrey. How much will those losses hurt in the fall?

Time to continue our series breaking down each team's best and worst positions entering the 2012 season. TCU is up next.

More spring superlatives:

• Baylor
• Iowa State
• Kansas
• Kansas State
• Oklahoma
• Oklahoma State
• Texas

Strongest position: Running back

Simply put, this position is pretty absurd for TCU. The Horned Frogs have by far the deepest set of running backs in the league. Ed Wesley, Waymon James and Matthew Tucker all topped 700 yards rushing but each got at least 120 carries and not more than 123. That's crazy balance.

The Horned Frogs may not have a gamebreaker in the unit, and they put those numbers up in the Mountain West, but it's still impressive. Casey Pachall spearheads a great passing attack, but the Horned Frogs are more than capable of getting physical on the ground. Balance has been a benchmark of Gary Patterson's program, and it'll be especially true this year. Nobody in the Big 12 can boast anything close to three 700-yard rushers coming back, and TCU will use them all liberally.

Weakest position: Safety

TCU's safeties outpace the linebackers here, but after Tanner Brock got mixed up in the campus drug sting, there's a big question mark at both positions. Tank Carder was a stalwart at the position for the past three seasons, including the Rose Bowl win in 2010, but he's gone now. Brock missed 2011 with an injury, but the former All-American was expected back. He almost certainly will not return.

Safeties Tekerrein Cuba and Johnny Fobbs are both gone, and the position was already a trouble spot last year. You saw plenty of it in the loss to Baylor that opened the season. Devin Johnson, a likely starter this season, was also arrested in the drug sting and barring a stunning turn of events, won't be with the team this year. Now, it's up to sophomores Sam Carter, Jonathan Anderson and juniors Elisha Olabode and Trent Thomas to fill the void.

The good news? Coach Chad Glasgow is back to coach them after a year coordinating the defense at Texas Tech. The Horned Frogs were the nation's leader in total defense in 2008, 2009 and 2010 with Glasgow. That'll change in their new home in the Big 12, but hopes are still high.

We'll cap our moving week by introducing a new team to the big stage: TCU, welcome to the Big 12.

Our former Southwest Conference teams surely remember the Horned Frogs, but it's time to get everyone acquainted. To help me out, we've got College Nation blogger Andrea Adelson.

David Ubben: Andrea, you've been around this program the last year or so. Most fans won't have to travel far when they make it to the newly renovated Amon G. Carter Stadium, but what can they expect for a game-day experience?

Andrea Adelson: TCU might not have a stadium as big as Texas or Oklahoma, but fans sure get loud and provide a really good home-field advantage. The Horned Frogs have won 26 of their last 27 home games, and coach Gary Patterson has lost only seven times there in his 11 seasons as head coach. The newly renovated stadium should provide even more of a home-field advantage as the student section has now been reconfigured to run goal line to goal line behind the opponent bench. Students typically get dressed up all in purple and there is one spirit organization known as the HyperFrogs that leads chants throughout the game to get everybody fired up. Word is that playing a full slate of Big 12 competition is going to spur even more excitement at games and lead to many more sellouts.

DU: I'm excited to see it. I've done baseball and basketball at TCU, but I've never been to a football game. I'll have to end that this year. I'm definitely buying the idea that TCU's attendance issues have been accentuated by some less-than-stellar opponents. I'm not impressed by the home record, though.

The Horned Frogs already have their hand signal ready, a signature of Texas teams from that old Southwest Conference, but what's this move, getting reacquainted with some old friends, mean to TCU?

AA: It means everything, David. TCU was so desperate to get into an automatic qualifying conference, it agreed back in 2010 to join the Big East and then tried to tell everybody that geography did not matter and making the move was the perfect fit. The truth is, TCU always had designs on the Big 12, but the league had no interest in the Horned Frogs. Maybe that is because they were viewed as the pesky little brother that needed to be kept locked in his room. But the shifting sands of realignment made it increasingly obvious that TCU was the no-brainer choice to join the Big 12. It is no wonder TCU jumped ship for a conference closer to home without ever having played a down of football in the Big East. The Horned Frogs have finally achieved the goal set when the Southwest Conference broke up -- and it took only three (and a half) league homes to get there.

DU: Yeah, people want to knock TCU for conference jumping, but how can you not when the non-AQ leagues are shifting as much as they have in the past couple of decades. There's no doubt about it: TCU is home. I was at the news conference when they announced the move, and I've never seen so many people in suits wearing enormous smiles.

Big 12 fans may know TCU's combo of quarterback Casey Pachall and receiver Josh Boyce, but who are a few names Big 12 fans should keep an eye out for in 2012?

AA: TCU has a three-headed running back trio in Ed Wesley, Matthew Tucker and Waymon James, and all three return for this season. The three nearly split their carries evenly in 2011 -- each getting over 100 -- and combined for 2,337 yards and 24 touchdown runs. On the defensive side of the ball, watch for DE Stansly Maponga, a first-team Mountain West selection who really blossomed in his sophomore season. Maponga had nine sacks, 13.5 tackles for loss and five forced fumbles and will be expected to anchor what should be a solid defensive line. I am also going to be intrigued to see how receiver Brandon Carter does in his sophomore season. He did play as a true freshman and had 352 yards and three touchdowns, but bigger things will be expected. He was one of the big gets in the 2011 recruiting class, a four-star prospect out of Euless, Texas.

DU: OU fans may remember Brandon Carter. He was almost a Sooner, but they wanted him to play corner. Safe to say he's feeling good about his decision now.

Time to put you on the spot, AA: Forecast the Horned Frogs' first year in the Big 12. Win total, conference record, bowl game and Big 12 finish.

AA: Without knowing the actual schedule, as in home games and away games, I am going to say at least eight wins and a finish in the top four. So that would project out to Alamo or Insight, and of course that depends on who else is eligible to be selected.

DU: Yeah, the Big 12 isn't really making this one easy on us.

I like what TCU's got coming back. This is a team that could run the table outside of the Big 12, but they may hit a few speed bumps in the transition. I'll say TCU wins nine games, finishes fourth in the Big 12 and heads to the Insight Bowl. Not a bad debut for a program that could see its success sky-rocket in years to come.

WACO, Texas -- TCU starting tailback Ed Wesley didn't play in the first quarter because he was suspended for missing class during summer session, coach Gary Patterson said after Baylor's stunning 50-48 victory over the No. 14 Horned Frogs.

"I told him next time he did it he wasn't going to start the first quarter," Patterson said. "So he didn't start the first quarter."

Wesley, nursing a sore shoulder for the last part of camp and through this week, finished with just six carries for 36 yards. He did not play in the second half because he aggravated the injury in the second quarter.

"He had been in a red shirt [signaling an injured player during practice] for the last week-and-a-half and we probably shouldn't have played him, to be honest," Patterson said. "He wanted to go in and the doc said he was healthy, but the other guys, [Matthew] Tucker was running great and so was [James] Waymon, and they're going to have to carry the load for a couple of weeks."

James finished with 64 yards on six carries and Tucker had 43 yards on 12 carries, plus a 30-yard reception on TCU's go-ahead touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. The Frogs were forced to mostly throw in the second half after falling behind 47-23 with 6:10 to go in the third quarter.

Patterson said he won't know more about Wesley's availability for next week's game at Air Force until he's re-evaluated on Saturday.

The 51 preseason candidates for the 2011 Doak Walker Award presented to the nation's top running back were announced Friday.

Two TCU running backs made the list: Matthew Tucker and Ed Wesley. SMU's Zach Line and North Texas' Lance Dunbar also represent DFW schools.

Texas A&M's Cyrus Gray and Christine Michael were also tabbed. Nebraska back and Plano product Rex Burkhead also appears.

Last season's recipient, Oregon junior and Texarkana native LaMichael James, returns to the watch list after leading the nation in scoring and rushing in 2010.

Semifinalists will be named Nov. 11, and finalists will be determined Nov. 21. The winner will be announced Dec. 8 on ESPN.

LOS ANGELES -- The overwhelming theme entering Saturday's Rose Bowl is the overwhelming size of the Wisconsin Badgers' offensive line. And, OK, with 6-foot-4, 315-pound right guard Kevin Zeitler being the shrimp of the group, those boys do have some pretty good size.

But, hold the scales. TCU Horned Frogs senior left tackle Marcus Cannon, all 6-6, 350 pounds of him, says his bunch of all-300-pound-plus linemen aren't exactly flyweights. In fact, TCU's offensive line weighs in just a few steaks fewer than Wisconsin's heavies, averaging four pounds less across the line and an inch shorter.

"We may not be as big as Wisconson, but we’re a tight-knit group. All of us have each other’s back," said Cannon, who turned a dominant final season. "It’s kind of like the movie "300" where if something goes down we’re all behind each other. That’s why we’re still in the single digits in sacks."

The Frogs have allowed just nine sacks in 12 regular-season games, tied for seventh in the nation. And they bulldozed their way to eighth in the nation in rushing, averaging 261.2 yards a game with Ed Wesley (1,065 yards) and Matthew Tucker (694), which actually comes in just higher than Wisconsin's 12th-ranked three-headed rushing attack (247.3).

Cannon, who will be play Sundays next season, said it's about power more than sheer size.

"We’ve got two or three guys on the offensive line that are doing 450 [pounds] or above on bench [press] and a lot of us are hitting 700 on squat," Cannon said. "We have a lot of big, strong guys and a lot of us are really fast. I don’t think there’s one of us on the line that doesn’t run a fast 40. So we’re real quick and good at using our hands.

"You know, size isn’t everything."

we’ve got two or three guys on the offensive line that are doing 450 or above on bench, a lot of us are hitting 700 on squat, a lot of big strong guys and a lot of us are really fast. I don’t there’s one of us on the line that doesn’t run a fast 40. So we’re real quick and good at using our hands. You know, size isn’t everything.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- No. 4 TCU scored touchdowns on its first five possessions and the defense manhandled Baylor's offensive line and quarterback Robert Griffin III for a 35-3 halftime lead.

A sell-out crowd saw the Horned Frogs' offense execute near-flawlessly. Quarterback Andy Dalton started the game with a career-best 11 consecutive completions. He put TCU on the board just minutes into the game with a 28-yard strike to Jeremy Kerley. Ed Wesley added touchdown runs of 49 yards and 5 yards, Matthew Tucker toted it 1 yard for a touchdown and Luke Shivers scored TCU's final TD of a dominant first half from 2 yards out.

Dalton's 11 consecutive completions to start the game was also the second-best streak for consecutive completions in a game in TCU history, trailing only the 14 in a row by Jeff Ballard against San Diego State in 2006.

The TCU defense was tremendous in the first half, limiting Griffin to 2 net yards rushing on seven carries. Baylor trails in total yardage, 335-87. Griffin is 7-of-15 passing, but for just 51 yards. He's been sacked twice. The only thing the TCU defense failed to do was get a turnover.

Wesley, the TCU sophomore tailback, finished the first half with 99 yards on 11 carries and the two touchdowns. Dalton added 21 yards rushing to his 13-of-14 passing for 174 yards, the touchdown and no interceptions.

*Shivers, a junior fullback, scored his fifth career touchdown (four rushing, one receiving) on just eight touches.

One reason No. 6 TCU continues to be successful is coach Gary Patterson isn't afraid to let his coaches coach. A prime example occurred on the opening drive of the third quarter Saturday in the Horned Frogs' 30-21 victory against No. 24 Oregon State.

With TCU leading 21-14 coming out of halftime, the Frogs were dominating the line of scrimmage and gaining chunks of yardage on the ground. Eleven plays into the drive, TCU rushed seven times to the Oregon State 14-yard line where it set up for a third-and-1. Running backs Ed Wesley and Matthew Tucker were both finding big holes, but Frogs co-offensive coordinators Jarrett Anderson and Justin Fuente sent down a play that called for quarterback Andy Dalton to roll right and lead tight end Evan Frosch.

Only Oregon State linebacker Dwight Roberson sniffed it out and and made a pretty interception to end a drive that threatened to give TCU a 14-point lead and all the momentum. The Beavers capitalized on the turnover with a touchdown to tie the game at 21-21.

Patterson said he wasn't surprised by the play call because he was listening on the head set. But, he didn't jump in to question the pass play in the short-yardage situation when the ground game was punishing the Beavers.

"Myself, I would not have chose it," Patterson said of the call. "But, I mean that's not my job. They probably wonder sometimes when I call the defenses that I call. Going into Friday, I know what's going to go on. They did a great job a year ago and I thought they did a great job [Saturday]."

Allowing assistants to coach without being second-guessed is critical to success. So, too, is accountability. Dalton said he wasn't surprised by the play call either because they practice it all the time. The senior quarterback, who passed Sammy Baugh to become TCU's all-time wins leader with 30, said not executing the first down came down to a poor decision on his part.

"I shouldn't have thrown it," Dalton said. "I should have run it for a first down."

The TCU Horned Frogs enter the 2010 season boasting the program's highest preseason rankings -- No. 6 in the Associated Press poll and No. 7 in the coaches poll -- after reaching unprecedented heights last season in playing in the BCS Fiesta Bowl.

The Frogs couldn't finish the job against fellow BCS-buster Boise State, but it only whet their appetite for more. TCU wants a shot at a national title. To have a chance they know they'll have to sweep their 12-game regular season that starts Saturday night at Cowboys Stadium against No. 24 Oregon State.

PODCAST
ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit joins GAC to announce that he is ready for the start of another season and gives his pick for the TCU-Oregon State game. Listen

The Frog file:

2009 record: 12-1 (lost to Boise State in Fiesta Bowl, 17-10)
Starters returning: 19
Offensive starters returning: 9
Defensive starters returning: 7
Special teams returning: 3

Key offensive returners: QB Andy Dalton(needs one win to pass Sammy Baugh for most wins by a TCU quarterback); T Marcus Cannon (preseason All-American, ranked by ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr., as third-best OT in 2011 NFL Draft); C Jake Kirkpatrick (preseason All-American); WR Jeremy Kerley(team-high 44 receptions for 532 yards last season); WR Jimmy Young(115 career receptions are eighth all-time at TCU).
Will be missed:T Marshall Newhouse; RB Joseph Turner.

Key defensive returners:NT Kelly Griffin (became first true freshman in 2007 to start under Gary Patterson); DT Cory Grant (All-MWC last season, first as starter); DE Wayne Daniels (on Lombardi Trophy watch list, all-MWC last season); LB Tank Carder (preseason All-American, top returning tackler); FS Tejay Johnson (preseason All-American, tied for team lead in '09 with three interceptions).
Will be missed: DE Jerry Hughes; LB Daryl Washington; CB Rafael Priest; CB Nick Sanders

Key special teams returners:PK Ross Evans (first-team all-MWC, 15-of-18 FGs last season); KR/PR Jeremy Kerley (Four total kicks returned for touchdowns last season).

On the rise: WR Antoine Hicks(scored 10 touchdowns on 32 touches last season); RBs Ed Wesley and Matthew Tucker(Both rushed for more than 600 yards and averaged better than 6.0 yards a carry last season); DE Stansly Maponga (could become only redsirt freshman to earn starting job for opener); CB Greg McCoy (4.32 speed, had two interceptions last season and an 81-yard kickoff return for touchdown).

Toughest schedule stretch:Oct. 16 vs. BYU; Oct. 23 vs. Air Force; Oct. 30 at UNLV; Nov. 6 at Utah.

By the numbers:
27: Seniors (tied for the lead nationally with Louisville)
12:Wins needed by 2010 seniors to become the winningest class in TCU history (a new mark has been set in each of the last two seasons)
110: Wins by Gary Patterson, to 38 losses, since Gary Patterson arrived as defensive coordinator in 1998 (10th year as head coach).