West Virginia’s loss to Oklahoma State shakes up the latest Big 12 power rankings.
Three teams are alive for the Big 12 championship and one team alive for College Football Playoff contention.
The college football season moved one step closer to its conclusion, which included more exciting play from the Big 12 — a conference in flux by the week. It’s due to the question marks around the upcoming title game, with both teams still not confirmed for this pre-bowl dance.
Another upset highlighted this. West Virginia, who projected to reach the conference championship matchup if they won out, lost to Oklahoma State, 45-41. This kept Texas alive, who also won their latest game.
Along with an ever-changing group between No. 5 and 9, it made for an interesting slate of games. Let’s see how it all impacted one of the last Big 12 power rankings.
This marked the latest loss for Kansas, who laid 40 points on a bad Oklahoma defense but still allowed 55 points to Kyler Murray and that prolific offense. Pooka Williams topped 200 yards rushing and looks like a bright spot for the future to play for Les Miles. There’s one more game for the Jayhawks to endure — likely making them a 3-9 team. The season finale takes place against Texas on Thanksgiving weekend. Once that ends, Miles can officially take over Kansas and try to lead this program to its mid-2000’s days, resulting in a top-five spot in the college football rankings.
Kansas State shut down Texas Tech’s potent offense, which did not have quarterback Alan Bowman. They allowed just 34 yards to the Red Raiders’ leading rusher, too, which made it an easy game for head coach Bill Snyder’s squad to control. Running back Alex Barnes delivered 32 carries and 136 yards for the Wildcat ground game. Quarterback Skylar Thompson also added 213 yards through the air and one score. Kansas State will go to Ames, IA to face Iowa State to close the 2018 season. A win means a spot in the postseason. If not, it will end a disappointing run for this group in Manhattan.