Big 12 Baseball Power Rankings: Red Raiders Remain On Top
Baseball is in full swing as conference play has arrived. Each week I will release my Big 12 baseball power rankings and here are this week’s rankings.
1.) Texas Tech Red Raiders
Although they did drop their game on Sunday to Kansas, Texas Tech still won the series in the first two games. In those two wins, the Red Raiders outscored the Jayhawks 36 to 4 as their bats continued to stay hot over the weekend. I have said it before, and I will say it again because there is no better offensive team in the country than this Tech team.
2.) Oklahoma State Cowboys
They didn’t get the sweep over Kansas State but winning a series on the road is always a tough thing to do in this conference. Their pitching still needs some work, but I thought the Cowboys really did an excellent job at the plate last weekend. When they hit the ball like they did against Kansas State, they are one tough team to beat.
3.) Texas Longhorns
It wasn’t pretty and it took a near miracle comeback on Sunday to win the series against Oklahoma, but they got the job done. Tristan Stevens was great on Friday evening and the offense for Texas continues to shine. When a play needed to be made with their backs against the wall, this team dug deep and found a way to get it done.
4.) West Virginia Mountaineers
I will admit that I didn’t think West Virginia could beat TCU in Fort Worth, yet, they did. They did just enough offensively to win the series, but it was the pitching that impressed me the most. Jacob Watters did his thing on Friday night and Zach Bravo was solid on Sunday. It is going to be interesting to see what this team does moving forward but for now, they belong in my top four.
5.) TCU Horned Frogs
It was a tough week for the Frogs last week. Dropping a midweek game to Abilene Christian and UTSA and then losing two out of three to West Virginia at home was tough. They made a lot of mental errors and oddly enough the offense just wasn’t there this past weekend which was a bit shocking because West Virginia’s pitching hasn’t been the greatest.
6.) Baylor Bears
There isn’t a lot for me to say here and I felt like it was the right thing to move them up a spot from last week’s rankings. The Bears handled ETSU with ease but that is what they should have done. This weekend Baylor will travel to Morgantown to take on the Mountaineers and that is going to be a series to keep an eye on.
7.) Oklahoma Sooners
This team was so close to taking the series against a top ten Texas team if not for a huge meltdown on Sunday afternoon. I am still trying to figure this team out because sometimes their pitching struggles and sometimes their bats are just flat cold. However, they have managed to string together a few good games over the last week but just couldn’t win the series against the Longhorns. With that said, they do have a big opportunity ahead this weekend against their in-state rival.
8.) Kansas State Wildcats
Just when I thought this team had turned the corner, I was wrong. They got swept by TCU and then dropped their first two games against Oklahoma State this past weekend. Unfortunately, their schedule doesn’t get any easier as they will travel to Lubbock to take on a top five Texas Tech team.
9.) Kansas Jayhawks
While they did get their first conference win of the season, they still got pummeled in their first two games against Texas Tech last weekend. I think they show flashes of great offense at times but lack the pitching necessary to win key games.
10.) Iowa State Cyclones
Please bring baseball back to Ames.
