Big 12 Baseball Power Rankings: Oklahoma State Takes The Reins
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. Oklahoma State Cowboys 34-14 (13-5) (Last Week: 2)
Oklahoma State capped off a great weekend against a good Southeast Missouri State team by completing a three-game sweep. Justin Campbell has been excellent on the mound and the bats are really starting to come alive with Jake Thompson leading the way. Whenever the Cowboys are hitting bombs at the plate like they have been they will be tough to beat. Right now, they are my favorite to win the Big 12.
2. Texas Tech Red Raiders 32-16 (11-7) (Last Week: 3)
The Red Raiders had the past weekend off and yet they still ended up going up a spot on the list. While I do have some questions about their pitching depth, there aren’t many questions about their high-powered offense. Tech has a team batting average of .300 and has hit over 70 home runs this season.
3. Oklahoma Sooners 29-17 (11-7) (Last Week: 5)
A few weeks ago, I thought this team may be done for. The Sooners lost some really close games and blew some leads earlier in the season. However, those appear to be the old Oklahoma Sooners because the team I have watched over the last three weeks has been really good. Peyton Graham has been phenomenal along with Blake Robertson and Tanner Tredaway. Those three have combined for a whopping 127 RBIs this season and have been on fire as of late. This team has now won three series in a row and their latest series win was against a good TCU team. Watch out because these Sooners are red hot.
4. TCU Horned Frogs 29-18 (13-8) (Last Week: 1)
Despite being on a recent slide, I still think this team can make some noise in the postseason. It really hurt dropping a series to Oklahoma at home, but they do have a chance to make up for it as they take on a bad Kansas team this upcoming weekend. Tommy Sacco and Brayden Taylor have been the go-to guys on this team when it comes to hitting but their pitching staff has really taken a nosedive over the last few games. This team really needs to get it together sooner rather than later.
5. Texas Longhorns 35-17 (11-10) (Last Week: 6)
Going into last weekend, I was worried about this team. In fact, I still am even after they took two out of three from West Virginia last weekend. I know the Longhorns have some great hitters with Ivan Melendez, Murphy Stehly, and Skyler Messinger but the pitching staff has been a mess. If Pete Hanson and Tristan Stevens can’t be the players they were earlier in the season then this team won’t go very far.
6. West Virginia Mountaineers 29-18 (10-8) (Last Week: 4)
At one point the Mountaineers were sitting at the number two spot on this list but that feels like it was a long time ago. After winning five of their first six conference games, this team has now dropped three out of their last four series. They aren’t a great hitting team and they have been struggling at the mound over the past few weekends as well. This team is tough to read at times, but they will need to take care of business over the next few games and make some noise in the Big 12 tournament this month if they want a taste of the postseason.
7. Kansas State Wildcats 25-22 (6-12) (Last Week: 7)
Let me start by saying that I love some of the bats this team has in their lineup. Dominic Johnson has been one of the best hitters in the conference and Dylan Phillips is a true homer run threat at the plate. That is a really solid duo offensively but much like some of these other teams the pitching just hasn’t been consistent.
8. Baylor Bears 23-22 (5-13) (Last Week: 8)
I was never high on this team and my opinion remains the same. The Bears had last weekend off and they will need to win the Big 12 tourney to make the postseason.
9. Kansas Jayhawks 20-29 (4-14) (Last Week: 9)
I don’t think there is much to say here. Every week I say the same thing and it is not going to change this week. Maui Ahuna and Nolan Metcalf are talented players. Other than that, this team doesn’t have much going for them.
