Big 12 Women’s Basketball Power Rankings for Week 5
The Big 12 women’s basketball season is now five weeks old and, at the moment, we have a “Big Three” at the top of the conference power rankings.
From there, there was some shuffling around based on last week’s results, along with one team dropping from one tier to the next.
Below we present our fifth Big 12 women’s basketball power rankings for the 2023-24 season.
Tier One
1. Texas (10-0) – Last Week — 1
2. Baylor (7-0) – Last Week — 2
3. Kansas State (9-1) – Last Week — 3
Lock it down. After five weeks, these are the three best teams in the conference. All of them have at least one ranked win. They’re a combined 26-1, with the only loss being Kansas State’s loss to Iowa (which came after Kansas State beat Iowa on the road).
Texas got DeYona Gaston back this past week, which means the Longhorns are about as full strength as they’re likely to be this season. If any of these three teams is going to win this conference in the regular season, health will be paramount.
Texas and Baylor are on a collision course for their Big 12 opener on Dec. 30. There is a distinct possibility the Longhorns and Bears could be undefeated when they face each other. But both have hurdles to clear this week (Texas vs Arizona, Baylor vs. Miami).
If you’re thinking ahead, Kansas State starts with three of the new Big 12 teams, but gets Texas twice and Baylor once.
Tier Two
4. TCU (10-0) – Last Week — 5
5. West Virginia (9-0) – Last Week — 6
6. Texas Tech (10-0) – Last Week — 7
7. UCF (7-0) – Last Week — 8
8. Oklahoma (6-3) – Last Week — 4
9. BYU (8-2) – Last Week — 9
10. Houston (6-1) – Last Week — 10
We’ve reached the point where your record is what you are, no matter who you’ve played. Oklahoma has played a quality schedule, but the Sooners have lost three games, and their recent loss to UNLV — an NCAA Tournament team from a year ago — showed the Sooners have improvement to do. So, OU not only drops off the first tier but behind the undefeated teams that remain in the conference but are not on the first tier.
With the four teams that are on this tier, they may reach non-conference undefeated in part because their schedules suggest they should be the favorite in their remaining games. Part of that is how they’re playing. Part of that is the quality of opponent.
BYU recovered nicely from its 0-2 week from two weeks ago, which included a loss to Utah. Houston remains behind BYU because they just haven’t played a high-major opponent, but Houston will get its shot this weekend.
Tier Three
11. Oklahoma State (5-3) – Last Week — 11
12. Cincinnati (5-3) – Last Week — 12
14. Kansas (5-4) – Last Week — 13
13. Iowa State (5-4) – Last Week — 14
All four of these teams still have work to do in order to jump a tier, and that opportunity will likely come in Big 12 play in a couple of weeks (yes, we’re not that far away).
Iowa State drops to a spot after losing to Iowa. Look, the Cyclones played well that game and I think there’s promise there in what they could be in February. But when the rest of the teams on this tier win, then that requires a flip. Right now, I don’t think there’s much difference between the four teams.
iframe src=”https://app.e2ma.net/app2/audience/signup/1986400/1964875/” width=”510″ height=”500″ frameborder=”0″>You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
