Big 12 Football Power Rankings: Week 3
Ah yes, it’s that time of year when the Big 12 Football Power Rankings return to Heartland College Sports. A reminder that these can change drastically from week to week. These are not supposed to be a mirror image of a given week’s standings. It’s based on the previous week’s performance and the opponent when compared to the rest of the conference.
So with the 2020 season through Week 2, let’s get into this week’s Big 12 Power Rankings
1. Oklahoma Sooners (Last Week: 1)
There is little reason to move Oklahoma off the top spot. OU did not play this past weekend after demolishing Missouri State in Week 1. But there’s little reason to believe this is anyone but OU’s conference once again this season, at least until proven otherwise.
2. Texas Longhorns (Last Week: 2)
We are moving Texas up a spot as they smoked UTEP in Week 2 and the Longhorns were also off in Week 2. But them moving up is more about the lackluster performance by the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Saturday. Texas has every reason to believe it can make a Big 12 Championship this season and with the way some other Big 12 teams have looked thus far, it’s hard to see how Texas shouldn’t feel even better.
3. Baylor Bears (Last Week: 4)
Baylor had its game postponed (likely cancelled) for a second-straight week after it had some positive COVID-19 tests. Frankly, the Big 12 could’ve used a solid non-conference win from a team like Baylor over Houston. But it’s just not meant to be in what’s been a bizarre season so far for Baylor. If things click, I remain optimistic about Baylor this fall, not repeating last season’s success, but not falling off as much as some expected.
4. West Virginia Mountaineers (Last Week: 5)
The Mountaineers can to slide up a spot after not playing in Week 2. But that’s once again thanks to what happened with the team below them. We will get a much better look into how good WVU can be this fall when they take on Oklahoma State this weekend, which is now a lot more interesting of a game than I thought it would be three weeks ago.
5. Oklahoma State Cowboys (Last Week: 3)
Well they won the game over Tulsa. That’s the nicest thing you can say. What took Gundy so long to turn to true freshman QB Shane Illingworth? I don’t know. But once he did, it became clear he should’ve moved on from Ethan Bullock much earlier. The status of QB Spencer Sanders remains up in the air, but let’s look at a bright spot: this OSU defense did a great job not letting this game get out of hand to allow the Pokes to make a comeback.
6. TCU Horned Frogs (Last Week: 6)
TCU has yet to play a game, but they did receive some votes in the AP Poll this past week, ranked 29th, when counting those who received votes. The Horned Frogs have a lot of uncertainty, most notably on offense, and boy this weekend against Iowa State will be very telling.
7. Texas Tech Red Raiders (Last Week: 7)
The Red Raiders had a week to sit on their two-point win over FCS Houston Baptist, which might as well have been a loss. It was as bad a game as one could have imagined without it actually being a loss. The Red Raiders host Texas this weekend.
8. Kansas State Wildcats (Last Week: 8)
The Wildcats were one of three losses by the Big 12 to a Sun Belt team last week. And there are things to clean up for Chris Klieman on both sides of the ball. However he doesn’t have much time to turn things around, as K-State hosts a likely more motivated Oklahoma team than usual, as the Wildcats pulled off an upset last year.
9. Iowa State Cyclones (Last Week: 9)
Iowa State lost to Louisiana last week and you hope Charlie Kolar is back for this weekend’s game against TCU. He was sorely missed, but regardless, Iowa State needs to get its offense figured out, and fast. Breece Hall needs the rock more and the wide receivers need to work on their hands, otherwise, this season that began with such high hopes will go downhill quickly.
10. Kansas Jayhawks (Last Week: 10)
KU was down 28-0 to Coastal Carolina at one point. Les Miles is doing things the right way by recruiting high school kids and not filling with all JUCO’s, but after a lot of seniors left following 2019, this could be a long season for KU football, which is saying something considering how bad the last decade has been.
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