It would be hard for the Big 12 conference to fit more excitement into a five-game slate than they did last weekend. In a weekend that was set to be dominated by rivalries in the SEC and Big Ten, Big 12 football still seemed to dominate the headlines.
You had ranked teams falling apart (sorry, Utah Utes), last-minute comeback heroics (shouts to the Kansas State Wildcats), and dominant efforts from College Football Playoff caliber teams (Iowa State Cyclones and BYU Cougars… We see you).
The Big 12 did have six teams on byes this week, but that didn’t stop some of them from moving in our power rankings. Further, the top of the conference appears up for grabs… while the bottom continues to be more or less the same week to week. While that’s up for some programs to figure out, the “truck stop conference” appears to be doing anything besides stopping.
No. 1 – BYU Cougars
Dominant defense, strong specialists, and an offense capable of getting the job done. BYU gets to boast a lot of things after getting to 6-0 over the weekend with a convincing win over the Arizona Wildcats. Provo, Utah, continues to look like one of the toughest places to play in America.
No. 2 – Iowa State Cyclones
Iowa State went halfway across the country to Morgantown, West Virginia, and beat the West Virginia Mountaineers into the “should we fire our coach?” conversation. ISU continues to impress with their explosive receiving core and dominant defensive backs. It’s hard to pick a team more built for modern football.
No. 3 – Kansas State Wildcats
Quarterback Avery Johnson may have had the best play of the weekend with his game-winning 50-yard touchdown pass over the Colorado Buffaloes. Johnson was held in check as a runner, but the rest of the Wildcats added over 200 yards rushing to make up for his -15. KSU continues to dominate Big 12 play since dropping their game to BYU. Thankfully for one fan in particular.
No. 4 – Texas Tech Red Raiders
Had the Red Raiders not lost so badly to the Washington State Cougars in the non-conference, it would be easy to rank Tech even higher. Tech comes out of the bye unscathed, but their in-conference strength of schedule is questionable. Narrowly beating the Cincinnati Bearcats and Arizona Wildcats hasn’t aged well, but beating the Arizona State Sun Devils in Lubbock looks better each week. Tech has similarly weak opponents the next two weeks, but if they can scare Iowa State later this month they may have a shot to climb.
No. 5 – Arizona State Sun Devils
ASU climbs the highest this week. Last week’s 8th-place team leaps into the top half of the conference after knocking off what’s left of quarterback Cam Rising and the Utah Utes. While that game may tell us more about Utah, it’s hard to ignore Arizona State’s 5-1 record. That, and they have a running back with the best running back name in college football: Cam Skattebo.
No. 6 – Cincinnati Bearcats
Last weekend’s narrow win in Orlando over the UCF Knights may ultimately tell us more about UCF, Gus Malzahn, and whatever the situation is with KJ Jefferson… but for now, Cincy is 4-2 and their two losses are to an undefeated Pitt Panthers team and those darned Red Raiders. When he’s “right,” quarterback Brendan Sorsby is a talented gunslinger and Corey Kiner is a strong back.
No. 7 – Colorado Buffaloes
Coach Deion “Prime” Sanders, his son and quarterback Shedeur Sanders, and wide receiver cornerback Travis Hunter make for a star-studded team… but the Buffs continue to flirt with the bad type of destiny as they continue to play these close finishes. Colorado thought they had a huge win over KSU with just under three minutes left…Now, they look ahead to get on track with Arizona.
No. 8 – Arizona Wildcats
Arizona’s win over Utah is looking less impressive, and while their loss to BYU isn’t disqualifying… it wasn’t pretty. Big Noon Kickoff and the crowd it brought created a challenging environment, but quarterback Noah Fifita needed to show America something in this one.
No. 9 – Utah Utes
The Utes will want to blame the Friday night collapse to Arizona State on the “first-game-back-rust” of Cam Rising, but truthfully they were outplayed as an entire offense. The biggest thing keeping Utah from a precipitous fall is that, if Rising were to return to form, they have some potential big wins on their schedule. Until they hit those marks, they continue to trend down.
No. 10 West Virginia Mountaineers
West Virginia with the rare “climbs a spot in a loss,” but that is really more a function of teams ahead of them falling. WVU has three losses to three teams who may all end up in the College Football Playoff (and are all ranked in the AP top 10 right now), but at some point they’re going to have to beat the good teams put in front of them. WVU could shoot up the rankings if they finish 9-3, but they face another ranked opponent next weekend in Kansas State.
No. 11 – Oklahoma State Cowboys
OSU manages to “climb a spot without playing,” which is really hard for a team that is 0-3 in conference to pull off. But it’s hard to “get worse” in a week you don’t play, and we have to assume they’re working on their quarterback issues in the bye week, right? A return to Arlington for the Big 12 title game is out of reach… but is a good bowl game?
No. 12 – Houston Cougars
The Coogs are still riding high off of a win over TCU more than a week ago, and head to Arrowhead stadium looking to build on an actual “winning streak.” Unlike other teams in this part of the Power Rankings, it appears they may have found a quarterback in Zeon Chriss. If they can ride the dual threat of Chriss into a few more Big 12 wins, who’s to say they can’t shock the world and make a bowl game?
No. 13 – TCU Horned Frogs
TCU is another team that couldn’t get worse if they weren’t playing, but they are hoping to take advantage of a down Utah team this weekend. TCU blew a late one to UCF and beat the Kansas Jayhawks. While that makes it weird to put them ahead of UCF… It’s a function of what we’ve seen on the field most recently.
No. 14 – UCF Knights
I get it- it’s weird to see UCF fall below a team they beat. But UCF is spiraling, and positively worse than they were a few weeks ago. They have major questions at quarterback, a prominent media voice asking for a new coach, and two games coming up they absolutely will not win. The Bounce House is a tough place to play, but it’s hard to feel good about what’s happening in Orlando.
No. 15 – Baylor Bears
The bye week didn’t change anyone’s mind on head coach Dave Aranda. I’m sure they’re going to have a great Tuesday practice, but until they have a good game, they’re going to sit at the bottom of the power rankings. It feels impossible that they head into Lubbock and compete, let alone win, right?
No. 16 – Kansas Jayhawks
Still can’t be ranked higher than last in an FBS conference until you beat an FBS team.