With one week of Big 12 play in the books, let’s look at how things stand in the updated Big 12 power rankings.
One week of Big 12 play is in the books, meaning it’s time to look at the best and worst of what happened, as well as a preview of what’s to come in Week 2. This saw Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Kansas State look strong, while Texas and Baylor fell flat and had embarrassing losses in the debuts for their new head coaches, Tom Herman and Matt Rhule, respectively.
It was only one game, however, with 11 left on all the Big 12 team’s respective schedules. Time remains to improve and follow through with positive starts to the season or climb back from a tough first outing.
Through one week, let’s look at how all the Big 12 power rankings and see how things stack up.
Baylor free falls from No. 7 to 10 with its loss to Liberty. It was a game the Bears should have won, even with the 2017 season as a rebuilding one for the program. However, this game showed that the process will be slow for head coach Matt Rhule to turn this program around.
Liberty put up nearly 600 yards of offense, 447 of which came from quarterback Stephen Calvert. Bears quarterback Anu Solomon had a completion percentage under 50 percent, too, which didn’t help this offensive showdown.
The next game will be against Texas-San Antonio, which is another one Baylor will be expected to win. If they fall again, then 2017 may turn into something worse than expected.
Kansas slides up a spot after its win over SEMO, 38-16. A strong performance from quarterback Peyton Bender led the way, as he threw for 364 yards and threw four touchdown passes. Wide receiver Steven Sims Jr. had a big day from this, going for 142 yards and two touchdowns.
The win is an early bright spot for Kansas, who will be in danger of struggling once Big 12 play begins. However, they can take advantage of games like this and the next one against Central Michigan and Ohio.
If Kansas starts the year 3-0, it could build to a promising .500 season. That may not seem like much, but for a program that’s been at the bottom of the Big 12 for years, it’s a trend in the right direction.