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          Big 12 Blog

          Mailbag: Big 12 playoff hopes, Texas talent and the league's best coach

          • Jake Trotter, ESPN Staff WriterNov 28, 2014, 02:00 PM ET
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              Jake Trotter covers the Cleveland Browns for ESPN. He joined ESPN in 2011 covering college football. Before that, he worked at The Oklahoman, Austin American-Statesman and Middletown (Ohio) Journal newspapers. You can follow him on Twitter @Jake_Trotter.
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          In today's Black Friday edition of the Twitter mailbag, we discuss Texas talent, the Big 12's playoff hopes and the best way to cook a turkey.

          I will be in Arlington, Texas, this weekend to check out Baylor vs. Texas Tech, which is always entertaining.

          Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

          Now, on to the 'bag:

          Trotter: That was a poor performance last night. But Tyrone Swoopes is still the odds-on favorite. He's had a bunch of good moments this year, even if none of them came against TCU.

          Trotter: Malcom Brown could start for anyone in the country. Jordan Hicks, Cedric Reed and John Harris could start for anyone in the league. Maybe Quandre Diggs, though last night wasn't pretty. After that...

          Trotter: I'm not going to answer this. You all know who you are.

          Trotter: It's possible. Ross has a role as a returner, and fits as a nice change-of-pace back to Perine. We don't know what Mixon can do yet. Ford would seem like the most likely to fall out of the rotation, especially with his past fumbling issues. Whatever happens, Perine is going to be the primary running back in that backfield for the foreseeable future. At least, he should be.

          Trotter: Sure, there's a real chance. If the season ended today, that's exactly what would happen. But if I'm a fan of either TCU or Baylor, I'm more worried about No. 6 Ohio State than No. 4 Mississippi State. The committee seems to be overlooking Ohio State's early loss to Virginia Tech for whatever reason, and the Buckeyes have a chance for a marquee win at the end in the Big Ten championship game. It feels to me like the Big 12 is one more upset away from getting a team in the playoff.

          Trotter: It would take us a step in that direction. A Big 12 official told me over the summer that it would take getting left out three years in a row for the league to rethink expansion. But it's going to really sting if two 11-1 teams are left out. I would think that would at least force the league to have a discussion about whether its current format is really the best path to the playoff.

          Trotter: Bill Snyder is arguably the greatest coach in college football history. He certainly should be in that conversation. But Gary Patterson should be this season's Big 12 coach of the year for what he's accomplished in Fort Worth.

          Trotter: Oklahoma State. The Cowboys should be pretty salty defensively next year. And the emergence of true freshman QB Mason Rudolph offers hope that the offense could get back to business in 2015.

          Trotter: Smoked turkey in a landslide. I wish you all could have tried the 13-pounder my pops smoked yesterday. Off the charts.

          Trotter: I thought I blocked this guy already.