With only three weeks remaining in the Big 12 season, more than half of the league is still mathematically alive to play in the Big 12 title game. However, just like everyone holding a lotto ticket has a mathematical chance of winning, we can safely assume that no more than six teams have a realistic chance of grabbing one of two invites to Arlington in December. Last Saturday’s results shook up the week 11 Big 12 power rankings pretty significantly, so where does everyone stand with the dust having settled?
Week 11 Big 12 Power Rankings
14. Cincinnati
There is only one chance remaining for the Bearcats to avoid going winless in Big 12 play. It does come this week as they travel down to Houston. They wasted a 515-yard performance by the offense against UCF as they fell to 2-7 with a 28-26 defeat. It has gone as bad as year one possibly could have for Scott Satterfield, but it still has the potential to get worse with three weeks left in the season.
13. Baylor
I am asking that the sports media stop sending pictures of an empty stadium 10-15 minutes before a game. I get it. When a fan base becomes apathetic, things are at their worst. Send a picture during the opening kickoff to really drive home an accurate message. That said, the scene in Waco for the Baylor v. Houston game did not look good. On top of that, Dave Aranda’s Bears played a game that usually is reserved for the Big 10 West division. While the final was a 25-24 defeat in overtime, with minutes left in the game, this game was tied 10-10. Things don’t get any easier for Baylor this week traveling to Kansas State.
12. Houston
As ugly as the game was in Waco, it’s better to be on the winning side than the losing side. Dana Holgorsen still has an opportunity to get his Cougars bowling with both Cincinnati and UCF still remaining on his schedule. Houston has been riding the wildest roller coaster ride through their first season in the Big 12. Out of the four new members, his team is the only one with more than one victory against the legacy Big 12 members. His team hasn’t been impressive at any point this season, but a bowl birth should keep him around for at least one more season.
11. UCF
Continuing the trend of “winning your clunkers” as Dan Rubenstein would say, UCF finally secured a Big 12 victory this season. The victory over Cincinnati snapped a six-game losing streak. The non-conference play by the Knights suggested that this team was ready to compete this year in the Big 12. Yet, it took until November for them to break through in the conference win column. UCF’s road to a bowl birth is significantly harder than Houston’s, but a late-season push could salvage an otherwise bitter start in their Big 12 home.
10. BYU
BYU represents the last of the basement dwellers in the week 11 Big 12 power rankings. Much like UCF, BYU’s non-conference performance shown signs of promise. However, since a 4-1 start to open the season, the Cougars are now 1-3 in their last four games. The latest loss was a game in which they were losing 37-0 before scoring a garbage-time touchdown to avoid a shutout loss to West Virginia. They also could be in a full-on tailspin after this week. Iowa State appears to be the last realistic chance to get that sixth win. Otherwise, they will likely end the season on a five-game losing streak to close out the season and miss going bowling.
9. TCU
The Horned Frogs did not play a bad game against the Red Raiders last Thursday. They outgained Texas Tech and had fewer penalties. However, the two interceptions thrown by quarterback Josh Hoover were devastating. And while the offense still moved the ball to the tune of 440 yards, there were plenty of times that the offense ground its gears trying to move the ball against a very average Texas Tech defense. If Sonny Dykes’ team is going to play past November, it still needs two more victories with Texas, Baylor, and Oklahoma remaining on their schedule. A step back was expected by all after playing for the national championship last year, but to miss bowl season was worse than the most pessimistic projections in the preseason.
8. Texas Tech
Is there going to be a new mascot in Lubbock? The wild possum took the college football internet by storm and the Red Raiders saved their post-season hopes with a 35-28 victory over TCU. In an injury-plagued season for Joey McGuire, this season has been a disappointment for just about the entire fan base. Progress in building a program is not always linear, which is something Texas Tech is experiencing. This win was much needed, and with a healthy Behren Morton back at quarterback, this team still is very much alive for a bowl game. The real question is can they build any real momentum going to face a very hot Kansas team this week?
7. Iowa State
Matt Campbell and his Cyclone team ran into one of the hotter teams in the conference this past week. While they did fall behind three scores in the game, they fought back in the fourth quarter only to come one defense stop short of possibly getting the game to overtime. Campbell’s coaching job is going to get overlooked by other coaching storylines in this conference. But let’s not forget just two weeks before the season started, he lost multiple offensive and defensive starters due to the gambling scandal. They could have packed up the season after losing back-to-back games against Iowa and Ohio. Instead, this team has competed hard all year and can clinch a bowl game this week with a win over BYU.
6. Oklahoma
We now enter the contender’s portion of the week 11 Big 12 power rankings with a team that has lost two straight games. Getting beat in a highly charged rivalry game on the isn’t anything to panic about in a vacuum. Texas lost to Oklahoma earlier this year and see what they have done since. However, this isn’t just a loss to the rival Cowboys that Brent Venables is staring at. That said, it also marks the first time since 1998-1999 in which Oklahoma has lost consecutive games in consecutive seasons. This Sooner’s team has had plenty of lackluster performances against lesser opponents, and those issues have finally shown up in the last two weeks. They better re-focus quickly with a tough West Virginia team coming to Norman this week.
5. West Virginia
Speaking of that tough West Virginia team, Neal Brown’s team is riding high after dismantling BYU. Brown’s coaching job, much like Campbell’s, won’t get a lot of attention within the conference or nationally. But this was a team picked to finish dead last coming into the 2023 season, and they are one upset victory away from looking at a 9-3 season. They might not play the most aesthetically pleasing football. However, there is nothing prettier than winning when each one continues to exceed previous expectations.
4. Kansas State
On the surface, seeing Kansas State at 6-3 at this point in the season might be viewed as a step back for the program. However, their three losses are to teams ranked 7, 15, and 16th in the latest AP poll. It is true that Texas was the better team for most of the game this past Saturday in Austin. But Chris Klieman’s team will always be signed up for 60 minutes. The overtime decision to go for it in the “home” half of the first overtime period was questionable, but not egregious. Kansas State had three plays to win the game from the four-yard line, hard to just settle for extending the game (especially with kicking issues in the game). Because of who they have lost to, it’s all but guaranteed they won’t be defending their title. Don’t expect that to bring down the Wildcats over the last three weeks.
3. Kansas
If Kansas goes 10-2 and goes to a New Year’s Six bowl game, give the national coach of the year to Lance Leipold. Full stop. Kansas is sitting at 7-2 after defeating Iowa State and has done so essentially playing the entire season with its backup quarterback. Yes, Jason Bean is playing his sixth season of college football so he isn’t a stereotypical backup quarterback. But does anyone remember that absolute dumpster fire that was Kansas football before the start of 2022? They had 12 consecutive seasons of three wins or less and 13 seasons without appearing in a bowl game. And now, Kansas being 7-2 is hardly registering on the college football Richter scale in less than two full seasons.
2. Oklahoma State
After getting run out of their own building in week three against South Alabama, there was zero chance Oklahoma State was going to find itself near the top of the week 11 Big 12 power rankings. Yet, here is Mike Gundy pulling off possibly his best coaching job ever. He has a Bonafide Heisman trophy candidate in Ollie Gordon II. The quarterback play, ever since Alan Bowman was named the full-time starter, has continued to progress. And with what is likely the sweetest victory ever over Oklahoma, the Cowboys have to really stub their toe to not play for a Big 12 title.
1. Texas
The Longhorns proved without a shadow of a doubt that this team is different from previous Texas teams with their win over Kansas State. It hasn’t always gone smoothly for Texas, but they keep winning games. There isn’t a daunting task in front of them over the last three weeks of the season. However, this team needs to get Quinn Ewers back if they are going to do more than just hang on for victories. Ewers is the piece this team needs to secure a Big 12 championship and possible birth in the college football playoff.
