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Pat McAfee declares the best team in the Big 12

Joe Cox|
ESPN analyst Pat McAfee, shown here with Kirk Herbstreit, declared his pick for the top team in the wide-open Big 12 race on College GameDay.
ESPN analyst Pat McAfee, shown here with Kirk Herbstreit, declared his pick for the top team in the wide-open Big 12 race on College GameDay. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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BYU Cougars

ESPN analyst Pat McAfee has never been one to shy away from a controversial opinion and he dropped one (at least locally) in his Big 12 pick. McAfee led a discussion on his top team in the Big 12, which drew some pointed boos from the partisans on hand in Utah for College GameDay.

Not only did McAfee name his top team, but he named the key star who is a potential difference maker in establishing that foundation.

McAfee praises a difference-making player

There's a freshman quarterback for BYU, Bear Bachmeier, who looks very cool. He has a very cool number. He has a very cool name.... Looks like a linebacker, plays like a linebacker. Last week, he went for 307 through the air, 49 yards rushing and three total touchdowns. He's only getting better. He's a freshman who's only getting better for them.
Pat McAfee

With Bachmeier's skills (and his odd uniform number, 47) discussed, McAfee then named his best team in the Big 12.

McAfee names his top B12 team

I know they're not going to like hearing this, but the Holy War happened. The game took place.... It's hard not to say that BYU is the best team in the Big 12 right now, Coach Saban.
Pat McAfee

8-0 BYU drew McAfee's nod. He noted the rivalry game with Utah, dubbed the Holy War, that BYU won 24-21. While BYU still has significant tests at Texas Tech and Cincinnati, their unbeaten start and the play of Bachmeier has drawn substantial attention, and not just from McAfee.

Bachmeier's memorable season

Bachmeier grabbed the starting QB job as a true freshman at BYU after incumbent passer Jake Retzlaff withdrew from the school following misconduct allegiations. Bachmeier had committed to Stanford but after the coach who signed him, Troy Taylor, was fired, he chose to transfer to BYU, where he stepped into the starting role ahead of the season.

Bachmeier is completing over 62% of his passes for 1,693 yards and 11 touchdowns while rushing for another 408 yards and nine scores on the ground. He was chosen as a Heisman Trophy candidate this week by FOX Sports analyst Robert Griffin III.

While a chorus of boos greeted McAfee's praise of the BYU Cougars, BYU and Cincinnati sit alone atop the league and in part due to the strong play of Bachmeier, the Cougars' fate rests in their own hands.

Bachemeier
BYU QB Bear Bachmeier drew substantial praise from Pat McAfee on College GameDay. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Joe Cox
JOE COX

Joe is a journalist and writer who covers college and professional sports. He has written or co-written over a dozen sports books, including several regional best sellers. His last book, A Fine Team Man, is about Jackie Robinson and the lives he changed. Joe has been a guest on MLB Network, the Paul Finebaum show and numerous other television and radio shows. He has been inside MLB dugouts, covered bowl games and conference tournaments with Saturday Down South and still loves telling the stories of sports past and present.

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