The Big 12 women’s power rankings for this week are a few days late. But there’s a good reason. With games on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week, the usual Tuesday release date didn’t really make sense.
So, I wanted for this cycle of games to complete to put together our next-to-last-power rankings. The final set will be released before the Big 12 Tournament. But there is one more round of games to go before the action shifts to March.
Here are this week’s power rankings.
Tier 1 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Power Rankings
1. TCU (26-4, 14-3) — (Last ranking: 1)
2. West Virginia (23-6, 13-4) — (Last ranking: 2)
3. Baylor (24-6, 13-4) — (Last ranking: 3)
4. Texas Tech (24-6, 11-6) — (Last ranking: 4)
Entering the final weekend of the season the Horned Frogs, the Mountaineers and the Bears are the three best teams in the conference. West Virginia and Baylor are two games clear of the rest of the field and tied for second place while the Horned Frogs entered the weekend needing only to beat Baylor to win their second straight Big 12 regular season title. Right now, the Horned Frogs look like a lock to be a Top 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Mountaineers and the Bears, based on bracketology, have work to do.
Texas Tech is perplexing. The Lady Raiders have lost three of their last four games. But the Lady Raiders swept Baylor and beat TCU. They’re 3-0 against ranked teams and has a win over WVU on the road. TTU is hanging on this tier by a thread.
Tier 2
5. Oklahoma State (22-8, 11-6) — (Last ranking: 5)
6. Colorado (20-9, 11-6) — (Last ranking: 6)
You’re looking at the two teams that I believe have the best chance to be the dark horses at the Big 12 Tournament. Both the Cowgirls and the Buffs have played the teams on the top tier well this season and can push anyone above them. It’s possible one of them could claim the double bye this weekend, depending upon how things work out.
Tier 3
7. Iowa State (21-8, 9-8) — (Last ranking: 7)
8. Utah (18-11, 9-8) — (Last ranking: 9)
9. Arizona State (22-8, 9-8) — (Last ranking: 8)
10. Kansas (18-11, 8-9) — (Last ranking: 10)
11. BYU (19-10, 8-9) — (Last ranking: 12)
12. Kansas State (15-15, 8-9) — (Last ranking: 11)
This tier is a mess. Iowa State is playing better, but Addy Brown is playing her way back into shape. Utah upset Colorado earlier this week and Kansas is on a nice run late in the season and just beat Texas Tech.
I worry about Arizona State. The Sun Devils should be solidly in the NCAA Tournament with 22 overall wins but they’re right there on the bubble, along with Utah, Kansas and BYU. The Cougars upended the Sun Devils on Wednesday, but they split the season series. That may be something that comes up as the NCAA Tournament committee sifts through those teams.
Tier 4
13. Cincinnati (11-18, 6-11) — (Last ranking: 13)
14. Arizona (12-16, 3-14) — (Last ranking: 15)
15. UCF (10-18, 2-15) — (Last ranking: 14)
16. Houston (7-21, 1-16) — (Last ranking: 16)
A minor flip after Arizona won its third game of the season last weekend and overtook UCF. The Wildcats already know where they will be opening the 2026-27 regular season — in Las Vegas against Stanford on opening night.
