Big 12 Power Rankings

With 4 of the Big 12’s programs off for the week, the top and bottom of our power ranking remains largely unchanged. There were a few shakeups in the middle of the pack. After the second week of Big 12 play, let’s see how the they stack up:

(Previous week’s ranking in parenthesis)

1. Oklahoma (1)- OU had the week off, and will get ready to welcome Iowa State to Norman this week. With the way the two have been playing, I wouldn’t expect OU to be leaving the #1 spot anytime soon.

2. TCU (2)- TCU sat out last week as well, and it may serve them well as they’ll have had extra time to prepare for WVU’s high powered offense. Patterson always seems to put a great defense on the field, and they’ll need to continue if they hope to shut down Grier and Co.

3. Oklahoma State (3)- OSU was able to rebound from their disappointing performance against TCU, and get a win against Texas Tech. While they controlled much of the game, they allowed Tech to come pretty close to a comeback, and will need to use their upcoming bye to get some of their issues under control.

4. West Virginia (4)- After suffering several injuries against Kansas, a bye week may have come at the perfect time for WVU. They’ll need everyone playing at their best when they travel to Fort Worth to face top 10 TCU. WVU’s run defense has been abysmal of late, and with TCU’s run game playing like one of the best units in the country, WVU may be in some trouble. If they can’t stop the run, they’ll have no choice but to rely on Grier and his WR’s to put some serious points on the board.

5. Kansas State (8)- Despite having some struggles in the past few games, K-State looked to improve against Baylor. They’ll need to keep this level of play up if they hope to pull off a win against a resurgent Texas.

6. Texas (7)- The season for Texas has had a lot of ups and downs so far. They were able to win against a tricky Iowa State team on the road this week. It almost seems as though UT has had two different teams this year, and they’d better hope the right one shows up against the Wildcats.

7. Texas Tech (5)- TTU had a much better to the season than many were expecting, and were hoping to improve to 4-0 with OSU coming to town. They were behind for most of the game, and despite an impressive 4th quarter, they seemed to get in their own way far too many times to complete the comeback. They’ll look to rebound this week against a lackluster Jayhawks squad.

8. Iowa State (6)- Iowa State has shown a great improvement recently, but seemed to backslide against a rebuiling Texas. Their offense, averaging over 40 points a game, was held to just one touchdown, and their normally dangerous run game was almost non-existant. This next week won’t be any easier for them as they head to Norman to face a Top 5 Sooners team.

9. Kansas (9)- After a disappointing loss to WVU, Kansas had the week off. The extra preparation may serve them well as a high powered Red Raiders offense will be heading to Lawrence looking to rebound from their loss to OSU.

10. Baylor (10)- The Bears have struggled all season, and despite hanging with OU last week, they found themselves down 20-3 at halftime against K-State. Their second half rally fell short, and now the Bears enter the bye week at 0-5, their worst start since 1978. They will face OSU next week, and will need a lot to change over the next two weeks if they hope to avoid a winless first half of the season.