Big 12 Power Rankings: Week 13

After an entire season spent wondering who was actually good and who the best teams are in this conference, it’s finally settled. It’s not settled in a way that many expected, but Iowa State and Oklahoma are indisputably the best 2 teams. Whether they meet in Dallas in 2 weeks is still to be determined, but it would be a shock if it’s not them. Iowa State fans are having the time of their lives. Oklahoma fans are drooling over next season’s CFP push. And everyone else is kind of pinning their hopes on basketball season.

1. Iowa State (Last: 1, Beat Texas 23-20)

The Texas win has been well covered on this website, so let’s just play it again for the people:

2. Oklahoma (Last: 2, Bye)

We’re not sure if a bye week is exactly what Oklahoma needed after all the momentum they’ve carried into this part of the schedule, but time off is never all bad at this point in the season. A trip to Dallas to avenge the loss to Iowa State (I can’t enjoy typing that enough) feels inevitable. The big question at this point is, how many points do they put on Baylor this Saturday?

3. Oklahoma State (Last: 5, Beat Texas Tech 50-44)

A hearty welcome back to Mike Gundy’s offense is in order. Last weekend’s tilt with Texas Tech was the perfect 11:00 Big 12 game. Tons of points, an onside kick returned for a touchdown, another onside kick recovered, a weird play late that swung the gambling line, everything was there. The Cowboys have the best shot at the championship game outside of the top 2, but neither of the remaining road games are a guaranteed win, and they’ll still need some outside help.

4. West Virginia (Last: 4, Bye)

West Virginia holds firm despite some movement around them. They could shoot all the way to the top with the closing two games, or take a bit of a tumble. The conference championship game is most likely out of reach, but they are 1 win away from being a huge spoiler. Let’s hope for Iowa State’s sake that win comes on December 12th.

5. Texas (Last: 3, Lost to Iowa State 23-20)

Texas blew a 10 point lead at home against Iowa State and now they are ready to fire Tom Herman. To that I say, go for it. Good luck finding a new coach willing to put up with this Friday Night Lights parody of job security. (This statement will be redacted if they hire Urban Meyer)

6. TCU (Last: 7, Beat Kansas 59-23)

TCU got exactly what they needed to kick start their offense. They’ve been middling for weeks, and we don’t want to overrate a win over Kansas, but it could be the building block for a nice finish to the season. Oklahoma State is entirely beatable, and a 5-4 finish plus a bowl game gives this fanbase a lot to look forward to next year.

7. Baylor (Last: 9, Beat Kansas State 32-31)

Whew. 2-5 Baylor takes a step up. The bottom of the Big 12 is not holding up their weight. But credit where it’s due. On a night where they didn’t have it, they pulled a win out of nowhere. Hopefully the nation is ready to watch the unholy beatdown waiting for them in Norman this weekend.

8. Kansas State (Last: 6, Lost to Baylor 32-31)

That’s three straight losses for the Wildcats. This one particularly hurts because the offense looked competent and the defense surprisingly let them down. They might be the biggest winners in the bottom half of the league in that they only have 1 regular season game to go.

9. Texas Tech (Last: 8, Lost to Oklahoma State 50-44)

We’ve hit the basketball school portion of the rankings. Texas Tech’s offense may be able to outscore their basketball team based on this week’s results. Who knows who will play QB and if Tech will score 10 or 60 points against Kansas. All I know for sure is, despite these guys being the most fun bad team in the conference, we won’t be watching.

10. Kansas (Last: 10, Lost to TCU 59-23)

Not much defense to go around with TCU and Gonzaga both torching the Jayhawks over the weekend.