Oklahoma Sooners Football | Big 12 Power Rankings: Baylor Keeps Falling

Last Week’s Rankings

1. Oklahoma (8-2, 7-0) - The Sooners keep chugging along with a high-octane offense and an injured/inconsistent defense, but the real test of OU’s mettle begins this week. They’ll be dealing with a high-quality team, a hostile environment and potentially some rough weather, so it’ll be extremely important to establish the running game this Saturday. With a win this weekend, the Sooners can clinch the Big 12 title if OSU loses at TCU (which is definitely a possibility).
2. Oklahoma State (8-2, 6-1) - I’m not gonna judge OSU for being in a close one against Texas Tech, but they were very, very fortunate to come away unscathed in that one. Had Tech not missed an extra point, OSU potentially would’ve had to out-duel Patrick Mahomes in overtime, which doesn’t sound like much fun.
3. West Virginia (8-1, 5-1) - Like OSU, West Virginia salvaged OU’s playoff hopes with a narrow victory on Saturday (since the Sooners desperately need quality wins). I never need much reason to root against Texas, but the Texas hate was in full-swing on Saturday.
4. TCU (5-4, 3-3) - There’s a pretty steep drop-off after No. 3 on this list, but the Horned Frogs were quite impressive in their last game against Baylor. The remaining schedule consists of Oklahoma State, Texas (in Austin) and Kansas State, so a bowl invitation is not a certainty.
5. Kansas State (5-4, 3-3) - The Wildcats travel to Waco this week to face a dysfunctional Baylor squad, and a win will put them in good position to play in a halfway-decent bowl game (since they still haven’t played KU).
6. Texas (5-5, 3-4) - I’ll give Texas some credit — they haven’t looked terrible lately. It’s apparent that this team loves Charlie Strong, and they’ve proven me wrong by not throwing in the towel this year.
7. Baylor (6-3, 3-3) - Both Baylor and Texas lost on Saturday, and Baylor was ranked ahead of Texas in last week’s rankings, so why is a 5-5 Texas squad ahead of a 6-3 Baylor squad? Well, Seth Russell’s career is now over, and the rest of the players aren’t really putting up a fight anymore. This team is dead.
8. Texas Tech (4-6, 2-5) - Tech plays at Iowa State this weekend before playing Baylor at Jerry World over Thanksgiving break. 4-8 and 6-6 finishes are equally in play for the Red Raiders.
9. Iowa State (2-8, 1-6) - Matt Campbell’s squad finally broke through in Big 12 play, but it unfortunately came against...
10. Kansas (1-9, 0-7) - They damn near did it, didn’t they? The Jayhawks led in the fourth quarter of a conference game, but it just wasn’t meant to be. Maybe Kansas can beat Texas this week in Lawrence. They won’t, but how glorious would that be?