The way I figure, ten games into the season is about the right time to post WRNL's first set of power rankings for the Big 12. We'll be running this weekly feature every Friday (provided I don't hit the bottle too hard on Thursdays).
1. Missouri - Do I think Baylor has more talent than Missouri? Yes. Do I think Baylor has played anyone worth a shit? No. Mizzou has beaten Notre Dame by 29, Cal by 39 and Villanova by 10, all at neutral sites.
2. Baylor - To Baylor's credit, they did handle San Diego St. and a not-so-terrible Northwestern team. We'll find out a lot more about Baylor as they take on BYU, Saint Mary's, West Virginia and Mississippi St. before opening the conference season.
3. Kansas - Okay, Ohio State didn't have Jared Sullinger and Allen Fieldhouse is one of the toughest places to play in the country, but it was still a very good win for KU. I'm not entirely sold on this team offensively though. Jayhawk PG Tyshawn Taylor is dishing out a solid 4.7 assists per game, but he's also turning it over 4.3 times a night as well.
4. Texas A&M - By resume, the Aggies are no better than Kansas State, but having watched both teams play, it's easy to see which squad has more horses (it's not K-State). Now that talented F Kris Middleton is back in action, we'll get to see if A&M can live up to the preseason hype, that had them as a B12 contender.
5. Kansas State - Going into this season, I had serious doubts about what type of production the Wildcats were going to get inside. Enter freshman F Thomas Gipson. Gipson has been a 250 pound beast on the block and is leading the 'Cats in scoring and rebounding.
6. Texas - The 'Horns best win is over a UCLA team that's in disarray, but they don't have an ugly loss to Drake on their resume like Iowa State does, so UT gets the nod at #6. Freshman PG Myck Kabongo has been as good as advertised, and J'Covan Brown can really score, but I'm underwhelmed by this team inside.
7. Iowa State - Those losses to #18 Michigan and Northern Iowa are starting to look not so bad. Drake on the other hand...(slams head into keyboard). Regardless, since moving Michigan State transfer Chris Allen to a primary ball handler role (I still can't call him a PG), the Cyclones have looked much better. ISU finishes the non-conference schedule with a couple pushovers, but things heat up real quick as they open with Texas, @Texas A&M, Missouri and @Kansas to kick off conference play.
8. Oklahoma State - The pokes are 6-3 and only have one win that you could even consider quality (Missouri State, and even that's debateable). All of OSU's losses are at neutral sites and two of them are against good teams (Stanford and Pitt), while the other came down to the wire against Virginia Tech. Freshman F LeBryan Nash has shown glimpses of how good he can be, but he's not going to fall into the Kevin Durant/Michael Beasley category like many projected he would.
9. Oklahoma - I really wanted to put the Sooners at #8, but they just haven't played, let alone beaten anyone that's any good. Sure they have "BCS" wins over Washington State and Arkansas, but both teams are going to finish at or near the bottom of their respective leagues. That being said, I do like what Lon Kruger has going on in Norman and I think he was a terrific hire. OU is going to spring an upset or two this year.
10. Texas Tech - Get comfortable Red Raiders fans. I don't really see this changing all year.