Big 12 Week Eight Power Rankings

16. Kansas (Previous Ranking – 16)

The Big 12 week eight power rankings start unchanged from last week as the bottom four teams were all on the bye week. Kansas resumes play this week against Houston.

15. Oklahoma State (Previous Ranking – 15)

A struggling Oklahoma State team hopefully used the bye week to course-correct. Mike Gundy’s team faces a stiff test traveling to Provo to take on BYU.

14. Baylor (Previous Ranking – 14)

Dave Aranda needs to find answers to cool his seat off. But a trip to Lubbock after the bye week might not be the best place to go find them.

13. TCU (Previous Ranking – 13)

Seeing how far TCU has sunk since its 2022 national title appearance is still amazing. But, after last week’s results, a trip up to Utah to take on the Utes doesn’t appear so daunting this week.

12. Houston (Previous Ranking – 12)

Can Houston continue to exceed the low bar set in Willie Fritz’s first season? They have a great opportunity to do so this week when they play the turnover-prone Jayhawks.

11. West Virginia (Previous Ranking – 11)

Most of the other offense stats were very similar to those of Iowa State. And the Mountaineers were looking sharp in their ode to coal miner uniforms. However, turnovers plagued an upset big for Neal Brown’s squad against the undefeated Cyclones. Because Iowa State limited West Virginia to only eight possessions all game, two Garrett Greene interceptions and a missed field goal were too much to overcome in a 28-16 loss. The up-and-down season looks for a big upswing this week with Kansas State coming to town.

10. UCF (Previous Ranking – 9)

The good news for UCF? They didn’t make it five consecutive weeks of scoring fewer points than the game before. The bad news? They still only put together a season-low 13 points on the board against a Cincinnati team not exactly known for a lockdown defense. The 19-13 loss also included a surprise benching of quarterback KJ Jefferson for freshman EJ Colson (and also had appearances from redshirt sophomore Jacurri Brown). The offense still looked discombobulated as the Knights have now lost three straight. A fourth straight loss appears imminent as they travel up to Ames this week to square off against Iowa State.

9. Cincinnati (Previous Ranking – 10)

When Cincinnati has been successful this season, it has been on the back of great offensive performances. This past week of UCF, the Bearcats offense was held mostly in check. They only had 338 yards against a Knight defense that couldn’t shut down a struggling Gators team the week before. Cincinnati did turn the ball over two times as well. The good news for Scott Satterfield was that they won the ugly game. The bad news is they now host a scorching-hot Arizona State team this week.

8. Utah (Previous Ranking – 6)

“Turn out the lights, the party’s over,” Willie Nelson once famously sang. The first switch to turn off is Cam Rising’s seventh college football season. It was announced on Monday that his hand injury would be a season-ending one. But it doesn’t mean his career is over, he could medically redshirt and come back for an EIGHTH season. The more pressing concern was how bad the offense looked even with Rising as the Utes lost on a Friday night by the score of 27-19. Kyle Whittingham’s defense will keep it in plenty of games down the stretch. But it’s safe to turn off the Utes contender switch for both the Big 12 and the playoff.

7. Arizona (Previous Ranking – 8)

Arizona only got to move up in the Big 12 week eight power rankings because of their head-to-head victory over Utah. Otherwise, they were manhandled by BYU to the tune of 41-19. Wildcat quarterback Noah Fifita was inconsistent (26-for-52 passing with three interceptions). The Arizona defense was put in too many short fields to limit BYU’s scoring. It appears that Arizona will only go when Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan go. And that doesn’t even guarantee a win. The Wildcats look to keep their bowl hopes alive this week against another team looking to rebound.

6. Colorado (Previous Ranking – 4)

That team is the Colorado Buffalos. Colorado had made big improvements since their week two disaster against Nebraska. With Kansas State in town, it appeared Colorado was ready to show they had truly arrived in the conference. But with 2:18 left in the game and Kansas State down four, the defense yielded a 50-yard touchdown pass. While the 31-28 defeat was gut-wrenching, the bigger concern came in the first half with all-world player Travis Hunter left the game with an apparent shoulder injury. But on Tuesday, according to Adam Musterteiger of 247Sports, coach Deion Sanders said “Travis (Hunter) should play for certain on Saturday.” While that is good news in the short term, it is fair to worry if the immense workload Hunter has been carrying will start to have an impact on his availability for the rest of the season.

5. Arizona State (Previous Ranking – 7)

Kenny Dillingham’s team continues to climb in the Big 12 week eight power rankings with the biggest win since 2019. The Sun Devils have adapted their head coach’s personality and no one player is exuding more enthusiasm than Cam Skattebo. In Arizona State’s eight-point victory over Utah, Skattebo ran for 158 yards and two touchdowns. It’s hard to dump pre-season views of this team still to recognize they are right in the thick of the Big 12 race. With three consecutive opponents in the bottom half of the standings, Arizona State could find themselves in a Thanksgiving chase for a conference title.

4. Texas Tech (Previous Ranking – 5)

Joey McGuire’s team spent the bye week getting healthy and looks to stay atop the Big 12 standings this week in a rivalry showdown with Baylor on deck.

3. Kansas State (Previous Ranking – 3)

Chris Klieman’s team keeps answering the challenges put in front of them. It has not always been the most dominating performance. But, outside of a dud performance against an undefeated BYU team, the Wildcats just keep motoring along against the rest of the conference. They stared down the hostile crowd of Folsom Field into the early hours of Sunday morning and did not blink. Even trailing late in the game, the Wildcats made the winning plays when it mattered most to escape with a victory. They now travel to West Virginia to try and pass another tricky road test.

2. Iowa State (Previous Ranking – 2)

However, that road test might not be as daunting as it might seem on paper. That is because Iowa State made sweat-free work of the Mountaineers in a 12-point victory. The Cyclone defense strangled the West Virginia offense. Matt Campbell’s team played a very clean game (zero turnovers and only one penalty) to remain undefeated at the mid-way point of the season. They look to keep the good times rolling this week with a visit from UCF.

1.  BYU (Previous Ranking – 1)

Another week, another impressive victory for the team that has sat atop the Big 12 power rankings for three straight weeks now. The 22-point win over Arizona was never in doubt from the opening kickoff. The defense forced Arizona into four turnovers and quarterback Jake Retzlaff turned in another efficient performance. As much as Arizona State is surprising the conference, the turnaround done by the BYU Cougars takes the top spot for biggest surprise at the halfway point in the season. BYU welcomes a struggling Oklahoma State team to Provo this week as the aim is to remain undefeated.