Big 12 Week Six Power Rankings

16. Houston (Previous Ranking – 16)

Houston has played two Big 12 conference games. They have scored as many points as they have victories. For those doing the math, that means there is only one possible outcome: zero. For those who have been paying attention from the beginning, the season is unfortunately regressing into what we thought it would be for the Cougars. Those expectations included very few wins.

15. Kansas (Previous Ranking – 15)

Houston being bad isn’t a surprise. Kansas reverting back to 2010’s level of Kansas bad was not on the bingo card. Even with TCU committing three turnovers, the Jayhawks could not take advantage in a 38-27 defeat. Quarterback Jalon Daniels continues to struggle (15-for-34 passing for 179 yards, one touchdown, and one interception). The defense, which looked formidable early in the season, appears to be breaking down as well. Lance Leipold will look for answers next week at Arizona State.

14. Baylor (Previous Ranking – 13)

Credit to Baylor for not just rolling over against BYU. But the game started as ugly as it could have. The home crowd was sparse at kickoff. BYU was up 21-0 with just under four minutes left in the first quarter. Ultimately, Baylor still fell to the Cougars by a score of 34-28. Dave Aranda has yet to find a sustainable spark for this team in 2024. With his seat getting hotter by the week, a trip to Ames this week to take on Iowa State is about the last place to find help for this team.

13. TCU (Previous Ranking – 14)

We come to the first team on the Big 12 week six power rankings who won a game this week. TCU took care of business against the struggling Jayhawks. The victory did not inspire a ton of confidence in the way of thinking this team is going to make any serious pushback to the top of the conference. Sonny Dykes has got the offense clicking, but the defense leaves much to be desired. But they have a chance to stack back-to-back conference wins this week with a Friday night visit from Houston.

12. West Virginia (Previous Ranking – 12)

The Mountaineers were on a bye week last week. They resume Big 12 play this week against a reeling Oklahoma State team.

11. Oklahoma State (Previous Ranking – 6)

Possibly the biggest mystery of the Big 12 season is how in the world Oklahoma State brings back a Doak Walker award-winning running back and cannot run the football. Has the offensive line regressed that much? Or did we underestimate how good the offensive line was last year? Or both? Either way, Mike Gundy adjustments normally have happened through five games. So it is clear that this rushing attack simply will not be the same this year as Ollie Gordon has yet to rush for 100 yards against a FBS opponent. Mix in an Alan Bowman 26-for-50 passing performance that included two interceptions will not beat top-tier Big 12 opponents this year.

10. Cincinnati (Previous Ranking – 11)

Even without their two top running backs, the Bearcats offense showed it will be potent all season if they continue to get high-level play from Brendan Sorsby. However, despite an offense that gained 555 yards of offense, Cincinnati fell short against Texas Tech. A few costly turnovers and two missed field goals were ultimately the difference in that one. The good news for Cincinnati is they should be able to use the bye week this week to get their running backs healthy.

9. Arizona State (Previous Ranking – 10)

Kenny Dillingham’s team had the week off last week. They welcome a visit from the Kansas Jayhawks this week.

8. UCF (Previous Ranking – 4)

UCF was on the wrong side of possibly the most shocking stat of the weekend. Colorado averaged 4.4 yards per rush on 25 rushing attempts while UCF averaged 4.0 yards per rush on 44 attempts. UCF entered this game as the number-one rushing attack in the country and got outrushed by a team that has not shown any interest in running the ball all year. With Big Noon kickoff in town, the Knights laid a big egg at the Bounce House. But they could quickly erase that bad taste out of their mouth with a win down in Gainsville this weekend against the Gators.

7. Texas Tech (Previous Ranking – 9)

Joey McGuire has mentioned multiple times in the past two seasons that defending “The Jones” was one of his top priorities in order to bring Texas Tech back to relevance. They have always been sweat-free, but this team continues to demonstrate the ability to win games. With their 44-41 victory over Cincinnati, the Red Raiders have now won six straight home games. It also pushes McGuire’s home record to 14-3. The home winning streak is the longest since 07-09 when Texas Tech won 12 straight. While the 4-1 start is great, they have their work cut out in a second round of #Pac12AfterDark traveling to Arizona this week.

6. Utah (Previous Ranking – 2)

It appears to be the same song different verse for the Utes. If Cam Rising can’t play/isn’t healthy, this team will go 8-4. Kyle Whittingham demonstrated that in 2023. And now through three games without Rising, the offense has stalled. They are averaging 16 points per Big 12 contest. Utah struggled against an Arizona defense that gave up 39 points to New Mexico and 24 to Kansas State’s offense. We also know Whittingham will never reveal real injury information on Rising (again see 2023). But it is clear this team has two different ceilings with Rising and without him.

5. Arizona (Previous Ranking – 8)

Speaking of Arizona, they were one of the biggest risers in the Big 12 week six power rankings because of their 23-10 road victory over Utah. Arizona was able to do so while stand-out wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan was held in check (five receptions for 50 yards and zero touchdowns). Coming into this game, it set up to play out exactly like the Kansas State game did. However, the Wildcats used their bye week effectively to make the necessary adjustments and get the massive road win. Hosting Texas Tech this week will keep the scoreboard operator busy with two teams loaded with offensive skill talent.

4. Colorado (Previous Ranking – 7)

This is a message to the masses (as well as myself). DO NOT TAKE TRAVIS HUNTER FOR GRANTED. What he is doing is borderline incomprehensible. He had another game with both a receiving touchdown and an interception. Hunter broke out the full Desmond Howard Heisman after his second-half interception. While Hunter is getting well-deserved praise, the Big 12 better note that this Colorado team has rattled off three straight wins after getting humbled by Nebraska. Shedeur Sanders is orchestrating a very powerful passing attack while the defense has continued to get better. The Buffs have a chance to throw themselves into the Big 12 title race conversation in two weeks when they host Kansas State.

3. Kansas State (Previous Ranking – 5)

It was the exact type of bounce-back performance one Last Word correspondent failed to see coming. The Wildcats had 559 yards of total offense in a dominating win over Oklahoma State. Kansas State wants to lean on their ground attack and did just that to the tune of 300 rushing yards from four different ball carriers. DJ Giddens led the way with 15 carries for 187 yards. With the win, the Wildcats are still very much firmly in the Big 12 conference race. Chris Klieman’s team, just like Colorado, are on bye this week so both teams will have two weeks to prepare for a massive clash in Boulder.

2. Iowa State (Previous Ranking – 3)

Trying to find issues with a 20-0 win is pretty hard to do. After all, they dominated time of possession by nearly 10 minutes and had zero turnovers. But if we are going to view Iowa State through the Big 12 championship-type lens, the offense could have finished drives better. Iowa State is currently the only 4-0 team in the Big 12. A visit from Baylor this week should not present much of a test for Matt Campbell and company. In fact, there is a decent chance this team is not really challenged by anyone on their schedule until November.

1.  BYU (Previous Ranking – 1)

While Iowa State is the only 4-0 team in the conference, the only 5-0 team gets to sit atop the Big 12 week six power rankings until they lose a game. The Cougars handled the Bears down in Waco. Thanks to three turnovers, Baylor was able to make it close in the end. The perfect record is far from suggesting that this team is close to perfection. But the defense has been giving teams fits all year, and Baylor was the most recent one. Quarterback Jake Retzlaff has been the spark at quarterback they were missing last season. BYU still has plenty of challenges on its schedule. But as they head into their bye week, they have officially invited themselves into the conversation about a Big 12 championship appearance.