Big 12 Power Rankings Week 12: Oklahoma continues to stand tall

Texas has had their own up and down season throughout the fall. They started well by beating the then No. 10 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but proceeded to lose four of their next five games. This led to all the talk of Charlie Strong being fired, but he never got let go.

With two weeks to go in the season, the Longhorns stand at 5-5 and haven’t clinched bowl eligibility. If they miss out, there could be a decent change of Strong being let go. The school had wanted him to go 8-4 anyway, which isn’t possible now. He could still finish the year with eight wins, though, if Texas can beat Kansas, TCU, and whoever their bowl opponent would be.

Just a few weeks ago, Baylor stood atop the Big 12 power rankings and had the top spot in the conference. They had looked sharp through six games, but never played anyone of quality. Once the deeper part of the conference schedule came up, though, things changed. They have now lost three consecutive games to Texas, TCU, and Oklahoma. Starting quarterback Seth Russell is also done for the season after suffering a gruesome leg injury.

Baylor now has three games left, but without their quarterback and the declining play before that, they could easily finish 6-6. Kansas State, Texas Tech, and West Virginia are all opponents capable of beating them, so the once top ten team may barely be bowl eligible by the beginning of December.