Big 12 power rankings, Week 5: TCU gets big win over Oklahoma State
How do the Big 12 power rankings look heading into Week 5 of the college football season?
Week 4 of the college football season was the first for Big 12 play, which saw eight teams clash across four games (Texas and Kansas State had bye weeks).
The conference almost saw an earth-shattering shakeup when Baylor nearly knocked off Oklahoma. It could have changed the landscape of the conference, but it remained status quo after the Sooners had a late-game surge and won, 49-41.
Oklahoma State also suffered their first loss of the season. TCU came to Stillwater and won, 44-31.
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All of this transpired in Week 4, which will impact how things look in Week 5. Let’s go over every Big 12 team’s standing in the latest power rankings.
Baylor Bears 0-4
Last week: Loss vs Oklahoma, 49-41
Last rank: 10th
Baylor lost games to Liberty, UTSA and Duke in the first three weeks of the season. Then came Saturday’s game against Oklahoma, which was nearly the biggest upset of the year. The Bears led at multiple points in the game, but were outdone by Baker Mayfield’s play in the fourth quarter.
It looked like a completely different Baylor team. Quarterback Zach Smith had his best game of the year (463 passing yards, four touchdowns) and carried them. The running game wasn’t helpful (35 carries for 60 yards). If it was, would the final score be different?
Even with the close game, Baylor can’t be bet on to keep the momentum up. They will travel to Manhattan, KS to face Kansas State on Saturday, followed by Oklahoma State, West Virginia, and Texas. They can easily be 0-8 at the end of October.
Kansas Jayhawks 1-3
Last week: Loss vs West Virginia, 56-34
Last rank: 9th
Remember the glory days when Kansas had a 1-0 record to start the season? So much for that.
The Jayhawks fell down to earth over the past three weeks. Central Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia blew them out by double-digit points to quickly send their record to 1-3.
The Kansas rushing game had a spectacular outing against the Mountaineers, however. Kahlil Herbert had 291 rushing yards and two touchdowns, with the team total of 367 yards. Quarterback Peyton Bender struggled, with 197 passing yards and two interceptions, which hurt the team as it attempted to stay close with WVU in the fourth quarter.
The high-powered Texas Tech offense will face them next. Can they keep up?