How did Big 12 teams finish relative to preseason expectations in USA TODAY Sports 1-133 re-rank?

With the regular season over, how did the Big 12 land in USA TODAY Sports latest 1-133 re-rank of every college football team in the nation?

It’s championship week in college football. But for some teams, it’s the beginning of the offseason, while others wait on their bowl destinations.

It was a unique season in the Big 12. A number of teams met or exceeded expectations in 2023. And several were incredibly disappointing based on preseason expectations.

Let’s take a look at how each of the Big 12 teams ranked in the USA TODAY Sports 1-133 rankings in the preseason compared to how they now rank after the regular season.

Texas secures top spot in Big 12 Power Rankings after final week of the regular season

How does the Big 12 stack up after the final week of the regular season? Here are this week’s power rankings.

The 2023 college football season has been a thrill ride from start to finish. In its lone season as a 14-team conference, the Big 12 did not disappoint. There were fantastic games throughout the conference schedule that brought us to a dramatic final weekend of the regular season.

The Sooners will look back on this season, knowing they missed an opportunity to reach the Big 12 title game. Their performances against Kansas and Oklahoma State were the difference. And although there was some officiating negligence in the loss to the Cowboys, the Sooners also gave the ball away three times in the loss in Bedlam. Combined, the Sooners turned the ball over six times in their two losses and just seven times total in their other 10 games.

Take care of the football and the Sooners are playing for the Big 12 title this weekend.

Week 13 provided a thrilling overtime game between Oklahoma State and BYU. Iowa State and Kansas State played down to the wire in a wintery Farmageddon. Texas beat Texas Tech by 50 with Brett Yormark in attendance, and West Virginia made good on their promise to the preseason media poll look foolish.

After the final week of the regular season, let’s take a look at this week’s Big 12 Power Rankings.

Big 12 Power Rankings: Top of the conference survive scares in week 12

With just one week remaining in the regular season, how doe the Big 12 power rankings look after Week 12 action?

The Big 12 will come down to the final week of the regular season to determine who will represent the conference in their title game in Arlington, Texas.

Texas was challenged by Iowa State and Oklahoma State survived a terrible start in Houston. The Kansas State Wildcats trailed in the fourth quarter against Kansas before pulling out a win and the Oklahoma Sooners survived in Provo despite the loss of Dillon Gabriel.

Here’s a look at the Big 12 Power Rankings ahead of the final week of the regular season.

Big 12 Power Rankings: Cowboys dropped by Knights, Sooners make a statement in week 11

Oklahoma’s win over West Virginia and Oklahoma State’s loss to UCF shook up this week’s Big 12 power rankings.

There are just two weeks left in the regular season, and there’s still a lot to sort out. Texas and Oklahoma State currently hold the top two spots in the Big 12 standings, but Kansas State, Oklahoma, and Iowa State are lurking.

There’s no time for anyone to slip up like Oklahoma State did this past weekend in Orlando.

The UCF Knights’ dominating 45-3 win over the Cowboys was shocking after Oklahoma State knocked off Oklahoma in Bedlam.

As for the Sooners, they responded to their two-game losing streak with authority, putting together arguably their best game of the season in their 59-20 win over West Virginia.

In the win, the Sooners looked like one of the best teams in the Big 12. That combined with the Cowboys’ loss, there’s been a shakeup in this week’s Big 12 power rankings.

Big 12 Bowl Projections: Sooners face Utes in latest from USA TODAY Sports

After two straight losses, the Sooners are headed to the Alamo Bowl in latest USA TODAY Sports bowl projections.

The Oklahoma Sooners have had a good year. In the midst of a two-game losing streak, that may not be the thing we want to talk about, but they’ve been good. Good enough to get to the College Football Playoff? No. To make the Big 12 title game? That’s not completely off the table.

They’ve made improvements on the defensive side of the ball, in particular, that provide enough encouragement that this program is heading in the right direction. In 2022, the Sooners allowed their opponents to score more than 30 points seven times. In 2023, that’s only happened twice.

The Sooners still have a lot to play for. Drake Stoops, a player who’s become synonymous with “OUDNA,” said as much when he met with the media.

With three games remaining, the Sooners have a chance to make a statement. They can show off the resiliency that’s been a characteristic of this team in 2023. And in those three games, continue to make strides as a football program.

As for where their postseason fate lies, here’s where Big 12 programs are headed in the latest bowl projections from USA TODAY Sports.

Big 12 Power Rankings: Cowboys emerge from Bedlam title contenders

Updated Big 12 power rankings. Conference starting to sort itself out with just a few weeks remaining in the regular season.

In the wake of Week 10’s results, the Big 12 has found its favorites for the Big 12 title game in Arlington, Texas.

Though there are still several weeks to go in conference play, the Oklahoma State Cowboys walked out of Bedlam in control of their path to the game. Their win over Oklahoma put them in a tie for first place with the Longhorns at 5-1, and they have a very favorable remaining schedule.

Oklahoma State finishes the season at UCF, at Houston, and at home vs. BYU in their regular season finale. Those three teams have a combined conference record of 5-13.

The Cowboys are a far different team than the one that was blown out at home by South Alabama.

With their controversial win over Oklahoma and Texas’ win over Kansas State, the front-runners for the conference title game have emerged. It’s not impossible for Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma or Iowa State to find their way to Arlington, but they’ll need help along the way to make the trip to the DFW Metroplex.

Here’s a look at this week’s Big 12 power rankings.

Updated look at the ESPN matchup predictor after Oklahoma’s loss to Kansas

How did ESPN’s Matchup Predictor win probabilities change after the Oklahoma Sooners loss to the Kansas Jayhawks?

This week’s loss to the Kansas Jayhawks was a setback in Oklahoma’s journey to the Big 12 title game. While a setback, it doesn’t take anything off the table for the Sooners.

They’re still in a good spot to make the title game. They simply have to take care of business.

However, it would be hard not to be concerned about the Sooners after what we’ve seen the last couple of weeks. Admittedly, the Kansas Jayhawks have a good offense and are a good football team. They’re not the Jayhawks of old.

Still, it puts the Sooners in a situation where they have no margin for error if they want to get back to the Big 12 title game or play for something meaningful in the postseason.

After the loss, here’s a look at how the ESPN matchup predictor views the rest of the Sooners schedule.

Big 12 Power Rankings: Sooners loss to Jayhawks shakes up the top of the conference

Big 12 power rankings are a mess after the Kansas Jayhawks knock off the Oklahoma Sooners.

The Kansas Jayhawks upset win over the Oklahoma Sooners was their first since 1997 after an 18-game losing streak against OU. It showed off the strong direction their program is heading under Lance Leipold and added another team to the Big 12 title race mix.

While the Sooners are still in first place in the Big 12 due to tiebreakers, there are currently five teams with a 4-1 record in Big 12 play and two more teams (West Virginia and Kansas) that are one game back of first place at 3-2.

The depth of the Big 12 is starting to reveal itself as teams begin to beat up on each other. Week 9 provides a semifinals of sorts for the Big 12 title game with Kansas State traveling to Austin to take on Texas and Oklahoma State hosting the Sooners in Stillwater for Bedlam. The teams that come out of this weekend with a win will have the best shot to make the Big 12 title game.

By the numbers: No. 7 Texas routs BYU in stellar performance by the defense

Here are the numbers in Texas’ vital conference win vs BYU.

The No. 7 Texas Longhorns didn’t allow a touchdown all game against BYU. No matter who you are playing that is a big deal.

Before Saturday’s matchup, BYU was averaging over 26 points per game. The Longhorns held their opponent to two field goals, credited to defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski’s adjustments from last week’s near disaster of a finish vs Houston.

Sure, there are things you can criticize Texas for during the game, but what matters is they won. With disappointing finishes from Longhorns teams in previous years, going into November with a 7-1 record is something we can all be happy with.

Here are the final numbers in Saturday’s vital conference win vs BYU.

Major takeaways from Texas’ 35-6 victory over BYU

Texas deserves credit for what it did well against BYU.

The Texas Longhorns are 7-1 and tied for first place in the Big 12 standings following a huge win over the BYU Cougars (5-3). And while we will continue to knit pick the team, there are plenty of positives to glean from the game.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian deserves credit for the overall on-field product this week. The Longhorns faced a 5-2 team and won by 29 points with their backup quarterback. Sarkisian and quarterbacks coach AJ Milwee did a tremendous job getting backup quarterback Maalik Murphy prepared to play and creating opportunities for him to succeed.

While a 29-point conference win should always be viewed as a success, Texas’ play indicated there’s room for great improvement. The team has a handful of areas to improve.

Let’s look at a few major takeaways from the game.