After 12 weeks, we finally have some serious upheaval in the Big 12. The state of Texas went 0-4, and gets an honorary last-place spot in this week’s rankings. Also, Kansas moves out of the basement because the Jayhawks finally won a game. (And, because honestly, they didn’t look like the worst team in the conference this week.) The Oklahoma schools get a week off next week, but then it’s Bedlam for the conference title.
Week 12 Big 12 Power Rankings
1. Oklahoma (LW: 1) — Just in case anyone forgot that Oklahoma is this conference’s most talented team, the Sooners shellacked West Virginia. The West Virginia offense actually had a lot more success than the scoreboard showed, but Oklahoma tore that vaunted Mountaineer defense to shreds.
2. Oklahoma State (LW: 2) — The Cowboys had a potentially-tough test against TCU, but passed it with flying colors. The officiating mistake against Central Michigan could end up coming back to cost Oklahoma State a Playoff spot. How’s that for a storyline?
3. West Virginia (LW: 3) — Where am I going to drop the Mountaineers to? They’ve beaten every non-Oklahoma school they’ve played so far. They have one of the best defenses in the conference. And the rest of the conference is just not that good. The Big 12 is way down this year, with the Oklahoma schools at the top. But West Virginia is the clear No. 3.
4. Kansas State (LW: 6) — This is not a great team, but Bill Snyder has quietly done another good job here. The Wildcats are going bowling, and a December 3rd meeting with TCU will probably be for the fourth slot in the conference’s bowl order.
5. TCU (LW: 4) — I wish there was a way to drop the Horned Frogs further, but there isn’t. Let’s make this very clear. TCU being in the top half of the conference is just proof that the conference’s bottom half is bad. I thought maybe TCU was resurgent a few weeks ago. It turns out that Baylor was just already in free-fall before we knew it.
6. Iowa State (LW: 9) — No, Iowa State’s bump has nothing to do with its explosive performance against Texas Tech. This is actually a statement about how bad the bottom four teams in the conference look right now.
7. Baylor (LW: 8) — Baylor is in free-fall. The program is in turmoil and the team lost too much to injury. The good news is that there might be a win left on this schedule with how abysmal Texas Tech looked this week.
8. Kansas (LW: 10) — Yay! The Jayhawks may still be in the basement in the conference standings, but judging by how teams are playing now, they get moved out of the basement. It would take a miracle to win the season-ender against Kansas State, though.
9. Texas (LW: 5) — You lose to Kansas, you move below Kansas. If you don’t want to be behind Kansas, don’t turn the ball over six times.
10. Texas Tech (LW: 7) — There were lots of people calling for Charlie Strong’s job on Saturday night. Well, one look at this box score should lead to Kliff Kingsbury’s immediate firing. Seriously, how can this result be even close to acceptable at Texas Tech? You were just outgained by Iowa State. By 300 yards!!
