Oklahoma Sooners Football - Big 12 Football Power Rankings: Texas is back, folks!

On Saturday, Tom Herman’s Texas Longhorns lost to the Maryland Terrapins for the second time in as many seasons.

Sorry, had to get that out of my system. In all seriousness, the Big 12 didn’t look too flashy this week, with the Oklahoma Sooners and West Virginia Mountaineers sort of saving the league from a disastrous overall showing. There’s really not too much to take away from the tiny sample size, but let’s talk about where these teams appear to stand:

1. Oklahoma (1-0) - This is a deep and talented team that is certainly capable of running the regular-season table if it doesn’t trip over its own feet. The defense’s ability to bottle up Devin Singletary was nothing short of impressive, and OU’s front seven (sometimes six) indeed appears to have improved. There were a few times in which a better QB would’ve made this secondary pay for some breakdowns, but the group still did quite well as a whole. Offensively, OU might have the the best overall rushing attack in the country, which makes things a hell of a lot easier for Kyler Murray, who is trying to follow up a legend.

2. TCU (1-0) - The Frogs looked fine from what I saw, but there’s obviously not much to take away from a 55-7 victory over an FCS school (Southern). Up-and-coming starter Shawn Robinson showed off the arm and the wheels, throwing three TD passes and scoring two more on as many carries.

3. West Virginia (1-0) - The Mountaineers looked downright dominant in the second half against Tennessee. Having said that, I’m not quite ready to put them ahead of TCU at the moment. The defense did look good, but I also didn’t expect Tennessee to roll out the type of offense that would really expose that unit. So while there’s reason for optimism on that front, it’s still cautious optimism at the moment. Offensively, Will Grier absolutely reaffirmed himself as one of the early frontrunners for the Heisman after his exceptional performance.

4. Iowa State (0-0) - Iowa State’s game against South Dakota State was cancelled, so the Cyclones are a scrappy, well-coached team with a really good running back until further notice.

5. Oklahoma State (1-0) - The QB situation doesn’t really appear to be completely settled, as Taylor Cornelius looked shaky at times against a bad FCS opponent in Missouri State.

6. Kansas State (1-0) - The Wildcats were in serious danger of losing at home to the University of South Dakota, trailing 24-12 entering the fourth quarter before a pair of Isaiah Zuber touchdowns (punt return, 10-yard reception) saved the day. The team looked much sloppier than one might expect of a Bill Snyder-coached group. In a roundabout way, that’s almost kind of encouraging, because I’m confident that Snyder & Son can fix it. This team can be pretty solid if and when that happens, even without exceptional QB play.

7. Texas (0-1) - Bobby Hill is beginning to understand what it means to be a Texas fan.

8. Baylor (1-0) - The Bears allowed something called an “Abilene Christian” to rack up 466 yards of total offense.

9. Texas Tech (0-1) - Tech was favored to win against Ole Miss and was instead flat-out embarrassed. I think it’s safe to say that Kliffy is in deep doo-doo. For those wondering, here’s some info on his contract/potential buyout.

10. Kansas (0-1) - A few weeks ago, I joked about the potential of a loss to Nicholls State, and apparently I spoke it into existence. Oh, who am I kidding? This isn’t a surprise to anyone at this point.

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