Is grass greener, or more weedy, in new conferences?

• West Virginia, TCU, Missouri and Texas A&M find their new conference hosts inhospitable
• Missouri's SEC record is 0-4, and the Tigers have been outscored 133-55
• Colorado hasn't seen its fortunes improve in its second season in the Pac-12

Let's drop by and see how the new neighbors are doing in various conferences. It hasn't been easy for some of them fitting in, so maybe it'd be nice to take along a plate of cookies.

Welcome to the Big 12, West Virginia. In eight days the Mountaineers went from unbeaten to losing to Texas Tech and Kansas State by a combined score of 104-28.

You too, TCU. The Horned Frogs were No. 1 in the nation in scoring defense two years ago. They just lost to Texas Tech 56-53 in three overtimes and have dropped consecutive home games for the first time in 14 years.

Welcome to the SEC, Missouri. Four league games, four losses by 133-55. Now might be a good time to recall the immortal preseason words of defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson. "If we execute, nobody in this league can touch us. Period." Rebuttal, Alabama?

SEC greetings, Texas A&M. The Aggies can't hold leads in that league any better than they could in the Big 12.

Meanwhile, still settling into the Pac-12, Colorado. The Buffaloes have played 13 conference games in two years, lost 10 of them, and given up at least 42 points in nine of them. Buffalo Bill was kinder to buffaloes.

All moved with high hopes, which might come true. Someday. TCU and Texas A&M have shown they can play tough teams tough. Hard to argue West Virginia doesn't belong in the Big 12, when it wins at Texas.

But there can be pain in the learning curve of a new home, where different styles and skill levels are demanded. Among the morals of their stories: The Big 12 is not the Big East. And the SEC is not the Big 12.

"Clearly, it's a very talented league,'' West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck said of life in the Big 12. "You don't have to be an expert to see that. We've got plenty of work to do. I'm just impressed as an old quarterback with the quality of quarterback play, how accurate these kids are. Very few passes are dropped, very few open guys are missed.''

It's a neighborhood covenant. Blink on defense, and the other team is headed toward 50.

"I'm pretty familiar with the Big 12, and knew what we were getting ourselves into,'' West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said. "I think it's going to take a whole season for everybody around here to understand it. My message to the team after the game was we need to grow up. ... We need to be mentally tough, we need to be physically tough.

"It's a challenging conference that we fit in. We've got to make sure we're doing things to improve on all sides of the ball each and every week."

Missouri is discovering the SEC is no place for a team with a banged up offensive line and quarterback.

"We're not going to talk about it anymore. We don't have excuses for anything around here," coach Gary Pinkel said of injuries. "If we coach better and if we play better, then we'll win more, and that's just the way it is."

Colorado's three Pac-12 defeats this season are by a combined score of 143-37. "It's embarrassing," safety Parker Orms said to the Associated Press. "We have to see who's willing to compete in this conference."

Better find out in a hurry. The Buffaloes head to Oregon this week.

The thing to do is look at the bright side. Gary Patterson mentioned how his TCU players love the Big 12 crowds, and recruiting has been helped. "I think better things are ahead," he said, but he presumably didn't mean November, when the Horned Frogs get West Virginia, Kansas State, Texas and Oklahoma in a row.

Holgorsen said West Virginia will use a bye week for refocusing, while Missouri really, really, really needs a win at home against Kentucky, because the rest of its SEC schedule is on the road at Florida, Tennessee and Texas A&M.

"The only way you're going to get respect is winning games," Pinkel said before the season about the SEC. "I got no problem with that."

Got no wins yet, either. It's not easy, being the new guys in town.