After the spring, the Big 12 power rankings were painted with hope for most teams. Now with one week of 2024 football in the books, has anyone made enough of a statement to move up or down? With the conference going 14-2 overall in week one, is it possible that no one has moved in the Big 12 week two power rankings?
Big 12 Week Two Power Rankings
16. Houston (Previous Ranking – 15)
Coming into this season, the Willie Fritz rebuild had low expectations for year one. But after getting dominated at home in a 27-7 defeat at the hand of UNLV, the threat of a one-win season appears to be a concern. Next up for the Cougars; the Oklahoma Sooners.
15. Cincinnati (Previous Ranking – 16)
Good news for the Bearcats, the offense finished drives! They had 658 yards of total offense. Bad news, they turned the ball over three times and still allowed 438 yards to Towson. But the Bearcats won their season opener by a score of 38-20. A home matchup with Pitt next week will better indicate how much they have improved.
14. Baylor (Previous Ranking – 13)
Dave Aranda’s seat is the hottest in the Big 12, but they got off to the exact start they needed. A dominating 45-3 win over Tarleton State was not perfect (quarterback Dequan Finn threw two interceptions), but they took care of business. We will find out quickly if they have made any real progress with a trip up to Utah in week two.
13. Texas Tech (Previous Ranking – 8)
No team fell further in the Big 12 week two power rankings than the Red Raiders. Head Coach Joey McGuire watched as his team took it down to the very last play of overtime to survive against Abilene Christian 52-51. The offense looked very explosive, but the defense gave major 2010s vibes. How many of those errors can they clean up this week before traveling to Washington State?
12. Arizona State (Previous Ranking – 14)
Perhaps no team in the Big 12 week two power rankings turned more heads than the Sun Devils. Wyoming could just be a bad team, but a clean 48-7 win with 499 yards of offense and zero turnovers is the type of positive performance to show signs of life. Can they build on this performance with an SEC opponent (Mississippi State) coming to town this week?
11. BYU (Previous Ranking – 11)
BYU struggled mightily on offense in 2023. So going for over 500 yards (527) offense and cruising to a 41-13 victory over Southern Illinois was the first step Kalani Sitake needed to see from his team. They now travel to SMU this week. Will an angry SMU team stop any offensive moment from building?
10. Colorado (Previous Ranking – 12)
There is a good chance no team will be more “must-see” than the Buffalos this year. Travis Hunter only came off the field for two plays the entire game and had a catch-of-the-year candidate for his third touchdown catch of the game. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders finished with 445 yards passing and it appears this passing attack will be potent all year. The problem is the defense still looked bad, even in a 31-26 win. Will Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola have a coming-out party this week against the Buffs?
9. TCU (Previous Ranking – 10)
TCU controlled their Friday night game against Stanford all night. They outgained Stanford 457-286. The issue was they had too many costly penalties and turnovers which allowed the Cardinal to stay in the game. But they did win the game 34-27. This week they have another tune-up game against Long Island.
8. West Virginia (Previous Ranking – 6)
Last Word picked West Virginia to spring a big upset in week one against Penn State. It turns out Penn State might be as good as advertised. West Virginia always needed to play close to perfect to win, but after the first quarter, this game was in full control by the Nittany Lions. The Mountaineer rushing game never got going and Garrett Greene only had 161 yards on 15 completions. The 34-12 defeat was more about Penn State than West Virginia.
7. Iowa State (Previous Ranking – 7)
In what is becoming a tradition in Ames, the Cyclones had a very lackluster performance in week one. North Dakota did take the air out of the ball (time of possession favored the Fighting Hawaks 37:51-22:09) but never threatened to score. A sleepy 21-3 win for Matt Campbell doesn’t inspire excitement. But this can all be forgotten with a win over in-state Iowa this week.
6. UCF (Previous Ranking – 9)
Sure, the UCF completion may be feeding a slight overaction in the Big 12 week two rankings. But was it fun to watch a rushing attack go for 454 yards, with an average rush of 8.4 per carry? A dominating 57-3 win of New Hampshire was exactly the start the Knights needed to kick off a potential Big 12 title chase. We will know just how deadly this rushing attack is (and if the defense is fixed) this week when they play Sam Houston State.
5. Arizona (Previous Ranking – 5)
Breaking news; Tetairoa McMillan is really good at football. He might be better than we even realized. McMillan set a school record with 304 yards receiving and four touchdowns in a 61-39 shootout with New Mexico. Yielding 39 points to the Lobos is concerning, but they have one week to figure it out. After a game against Northern Arizona, they travel up to the Little Apple for their first true test of the season.
4. Kansas (Previous Ranking – 4)
Dawning some wonderful powder blue jerseys, the Jayhawks cruised to a 48-3 victory in their home-away-from-home. Kansas is playing its home games in Kansas City this year while their stadium undergoes renovations. It was great to see a healthy Jalon Daniels back, but how long can he stay healthy this year? Kansas will be tested more this week with a trip up to Illinois.
3. Kansas State (Previous Ranking – 2)
Quarterback Avery Johnson was not asked to do much in a comfortable 41-6 victory of UT-Martin. He only had 153 yards passing on 14 completions. But the rushing attack (as will be the case for the season) carried the way with 283 total yards. They face a potential trap game this week by traveling to Tulane. Kansas State slid back in the Big 12 week two power rankings not because of anything they did, but because of the impressive performance of the team in front of them.
2. Oklahoma State (Previous Ranking – 3)
While Colorado struggled against one of the best teams from the FCS, Oklahoma State dispatched the back-to-back FCS national champions without a sweat. Once Oklahoma State took a 17-3 lead in the second quarter, the Jackrabbits never got it closer than two scores. A 44-20 final included an average day from Ollie Gordon (27 carries, 104 yards, two touchdowns). It was a very crisp performance by Mike Gundy’s squad and the best team performance from any Big 12 squad. They get no rest this week with a visit from Arkansas.
1. Utah (Previous Ranking – 1)
Utah, with its roster finally fully healthy for the first time in a year, coasted to a 49-0 victory over Southern Utah. The pre-season favorites did just enough to hold onto the top spot in the Big 12 week two power rankings. Cam Rising was efficient (five touchdown passes on only 10 completions) and the defense was swarming (only allowed 150 yards of offense). The Utes are primed to sit in the top spot with more performance like that.
