The week nine Big 12 power rankings were about three plays away from looking radically different this week. Upset scares from UCF and Houston ultimately fell short, so the top two remained unchanged. But that doesn’t mean the rest of the pack stayed stuck in the mud as one team is getting especially hot in the second half of the season. Where does everyone find themselves having played more than half of their season?
Week Nine Big 12 Power Rankings
14. Cincinnati
It has been an ugly first year in the Big 12 for Scott Satterfield and his Bearcat team. After starting the season 2-0, they saw their losing streak extend to five games with a 32-29 home defeat at the hands of the Baylor Bears. The final score is not indicative of how one-sided the game was as Baylor was in control for most of this game. While Cincinnati does not have any powerhouse remaining on their schedule, the dark and lonely path ending in a 2-10 season is suddenly a real possibility.
13. Houston
The Cougars upset big of Texas fell just short, just like the missed third down spot of the ball on their final drive attempting to tie the game. It was shocking that the booth didn’t auto-review and even more so that Dana Holgorsen didn’t use a timeout to see if it would facilitate a booth review. Houston has been playing better the last two weeks. But the path to bowl season still remains a difficult one with Kansas State and Oklahoma State still remaining on the schedule. If Houston can remain competitive, Holgorsen should survive the season even if they don’t get to six wins.
12. Baylor
The Baylor Bears won the Big 12 pillow fight of the week, but almost let it slip through their fingers. They had a 15-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. But there Cincinnati was marching the ball to mid-field with just under two minutes left in the game with a chance to tie or take the lead. Ultimately, Dave Aranda’s defense got the game-winning stop it needed. The Bears have a chance to make a good jump in the power rankings next week as they host a surging Iowa State team on Saturday.
11. Texas Tech
It’s painfully clear at this point those preseason expectations on Joey Mcguire’s Red Raider squad were a gross misfire. Yes, Texas Tech had to start a true freshman third-string quarterback in their latest loss to BYU in Provo on Saturday. It’s clear Jake Strong simply isn’t ready to be a starting quarterback, because most true freshmen aren’t ready to play Big 12 football as a starter. But it’s still a bit of a surprise to see Texas Tech this low in the week nine Big 12 power rankings given what this team was bringing back. This included having a running back in Tahj Brooks who currently is second in the country in total rushing yards. They have plenty of time to do some soul-searching as the Red Raiders are on bye this coming week.
10. UCF
Just like Houston, UCF had a chance to deliver a major blow at the top of the week nine Big 12 power rankings. However, a very questionable two-point conversation play at the end of the game was squashed by the Oklahoma defense as the Knights fell 31-29. UCF has yet to win a Big 12 game in its debut season, but they have been knocking at the door a few times. Maybe they should be down a few spots because they have lost four straight after starting 3-0. That said, the teams living in the 9-13 range have margins razor-thin between them. None of them are very good football teams at this point in the season.
9. TCU
The last of the down teams include Sonny Dykes team which has had a very interesting season. It started with, at the time, a shocking loss to Colorado in front of a national audience. Fast forward to the end of October and both teams look like nothing more than a fringe-bowl team. The offense has been wildly inconsistent this year, regardless of who has been playing quarterback. After scoring only 21 and 14 points in consecutive losses to West Virginia and Iowa State, they exploded for 44 against what appears to be a tough BYU team. Then, just one week later, the Horned Frogs can’t find the endzone one time in a lopsided loss to Kansas State. TCU is on bye this week before traveling to Lubbock next Thursday.
8. West Virginia
The next tier up of Big 12 teams begins with a West Virginia who is actually slumping a bit in the last two weeks. Neal Brown watched his team cough one up against Houston and ran into the emerging buzzsaw that is the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The Mountaineers have exceeded preseason expectations, but still need to snap this losing streak before they build the wrong type of momentum. With a trip to the Bounce House in Orlando on deck, facing a team desperate to get its first Big 12 win, it could be a tricky spot to break this losing streak.
7. BYU
Is this the most undervalued 5-2 team in college football? Losing to a very average TCU team by 33 points probably is the main reason why. Their best win to date is against…a 3-5 Texas Tech team? BYU also has an SEC win over a 2-6 Arkansas team. So kudos for the Cougars winning the games that they appear they need to. BYU has an opportunity to prove that they are as good as their record suggests. The ending stretch of the season has all four of the teams currently in front of them in the Big 12 standings.
6. Kansas
The Jayhawks were on bye last week. They host Oklahoma this week in what should be a classic Big 12 shootout.
5. Iowa State
Matt Campbell’s team was also on bye week last week. They take on Baylor in Waco this week.
4. Oklahoma State
There is no team that has made a more drastic turnaround than the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Fueled by running back Ollie Gordon II, the Cowboys won their third straight game over West Virginia by a score of 48-34. As long as Mike Gundy continues to feed Gordon, Oklahoma State should extend their winning streak to four as they host Cincinnati this week. That would be months’ worth of momentum that Oklahoma State could bring to the final edition of Bedlam the following week.
3. Kansas State
The week nine power rankings no longer have a major gap between the edge of “Tier Two” and “Tier One” thanks to the Wildcats power ground game. The old saying goes, “If you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have any.” Early returns suggest that Chris Klieman has found the perfect balance between Will Howard and Avery Johnson. All eyes are now focusing on their matchup with the Longhorns in two weeks. Assuming they can handle their business against Houston this week, Kansas State will get a chance to challenge for a spot in the Big 12 championship game.
2. Texas
Texas made things unnecessarily difficult on themselves after climbing to a 21-0 lead against Houston on Saturday. Houston quarterback Donovan Smith came just one drive short of the massive upset as the Longhorns escaped Houston by a score of 31-24. However, they left with a significant injury to quarterback Quinn Ewers. Head coach Steve Sarkisian said Ewers is “week-to-week” with his shoulder injury. Maalik Murphy will be the starter as long as Ewers is out. Can Texas still finish the job and get to Arlington at the end of the season with an unproven quarterback?
1. Oklahoma
The Sooners find themselves in an interesting spot. While they still occupy the top spot in the week nine Big 12 power rankings, the schedule is going to get tricky in a hurry. The last Bedlam game for the foreseeable future is in two weeks. With it being in Stillwater, there is no doubt the game is on the minds of the Sooner fans. But before that, they have to travel to Kansas to take on a Jayhawks team that can score with anyone. The latest performance against UCF is another head-scratching one where the Sooners did not dominate a team they have a decided talent advantage over. Brent Venables better have his team focused on Kansas and not on the rivalry game on the horizon.
