This was not a good week for the Big 12. The conference’s Playoff hopes this season have been all but dashed, though Oklahoma is still unscathed in conference play. At this point, the conference may very well be hoping that the selection committee rewards Oklahoma’s aggressive non-conference scheduling and gives the Sooners the benefit of the doubt if they win out.
1. Oklahoma (LW: 2) — Did I jump the gun on dropping Oklahoma below West Virginia last week? Probably not. After all, the Sooners didn’t look great against Texas Tech, and West Virginia’s defense looked impenetrable. Both of those changed. Quickly. Then again, there’s no cure for an ailing defense like playing Kansas.
2. Oklahoma State (LW: 4) — If I was ranking the whole season, I would still have the Cowboys behind the Mountaineers. But I’m not ranking the whole season. This is a power ranking about who is playing better right now. Oklahoma State proved, quite convincingly, that right now it is playing better than West Virginia. I wonder if this is how the top two will stay until Bedlam?
3. West Virgina (LW: 1) — The Mountaineers’ increasingly-realistic Playoff dreams came crashing down to Earth this week. The Playoff might still be in reach, but that would require running the table and looking good while doing it. Another game like the one against Oklahoma State will end that dream. Still, this team has a good defense, and Skylar Howard runs a strong offense. This is the team I want to see face off against a good SEC team in the Sugar Bowl.
4. Baylor (LW: 3) — There are two clear groupings of teams in the Big 12. Okay, three, but only because Kansas is in a grouping by itself. Baylor may have lost to Texas, but it’s still clearly in the conference’s top grouping, while Texas is second-tier this season.
5. Texas (LW: 6) — If Texas manages to end this season strong and Charlie Strong turns the program back around — and saves his job — look back on this week as how that happened. Texas played a tough, hard-fought game against Baylor and came out on top. Much like the Oklahoma game last year, this was the one time that Texas put it all together. If Charlie Strong wants to keep this job, though, he has to get his teams to do that more than once per year.
6. Kansas State (LW: 5) — A close win against Iowa State isn’t the greatest of results, but the Cyclones have come closer and closer to knocking someone off this year. Matt Campbell might not be winning games yet, but he has the program moving in the right direction. There’s no shame in barely escaping Ames with a win anymore. There would still be shame in actually losing it, though.
7. Texas Tech (LW: 7) — The Red Raiders needed two overtimes, but they took down the Horned Frogs in Fort Worth. What impressed me this week was the defense, though. Yes, it may have had a lot to do with TCU’s offensive ineptitude, but Texas Tech only gave up 17 points in regulation. The only other team it’s held to that few points this season? FCS Stephen F. Austin.
8. Iowa State (LW: 8) — This team has four conference games remaining it. It won’t beat Oklahoma, even in Ames. It will beat Kansas, even in Lawrence. It closes the season with Texas Tech and West Virginia, both at home. This Cyclones team will surprise one of those two. The only question is which one.
9. TCU (LW: 9) — Sometimes I don’t like being right. I had this team pegged as having serious problems after the opener against South Dakota State. Those problems weren’t fixed, and now this team is looking at possibly missing only its second bowl since 2005.
10. Kansas (LW: 10) — If the game only lasted one quarter, Kansas’ loss to Oklahoma would have been by only four points. That’s not bad.
