Big 12 power rankings: Oklahoma is back to claim its throne

The Oklahoma Sooners trail Iowa State in the Big 12 standings but there’s no debate who the top team is in this week’s Big 12 power rankings.

It was never in doubt. There were only two games on the Big 12 schedule, but it made it clear who the top two teams in the conference are without a shadow of a doubt. Oklahoma and Iowa State had just dominant wins against quality competition, and now they fly up the Big 12 Power Rankings.

The real question is where do Oklahoma State and Kansas State fall? The rest of the conference had the week off (which was unscheduled for Kansas and Texas). Is it fair to knock them far below the teams that literally didn’t play?

The week ahead will be telling. Every team is back on the schedule for Thanksgiving weekend, and the teams at the top have some very interesting matchups ahead of them. Both Iowa State and Oklahoma go on the road against tough opponents.

Big 12 power rankings entering Week 13

Kansas was supposed to play this week, but their game with Texas was postponed. Despite the postponement, someone still lost during the Jayhawks bye week. Les Miles announced that offensive line coach Luke Meadows had been fired. The Kansas offensive line has been dreadful, so it’s not a huge surprise. It’s hard to find any wins on Kansas’ schedule. They might be the worst team in all of college football.

Baylor had a scheduled off week this week. The Bears have a lot of soul-searching to do after a lost season. Charlier Brewer is going to spend his final season with the Bears just filling out the stretch. It’s a first season to forget for Dave Aranda.

There could be an extra game on the schedule for TCU. It would give the Horned Frogs an outside chance to make a bowl game if there are all the traditional bowl games this year. They won’t get to six wins, but it could put them on the radar for some of these lesser bowls. Hopefully, TCU can also figure out the issues on the field during the off week. There is a lot to fix with a ho-hum offense and a defense that isn’t living up to expectations.

The Red Raiders had two weeks to prepare for Oklahoma State. Oklahoma gave the world the easy way to dominate the Cowboys, but Texas Tech doesn’t exactly have the talent that the Sooners have. Texas Tech needs to spend the final games of the season setting up success for 2021. Alan Bowman should be the sole quarterback. The defense needs to continue its improvement to show who should be on the team next year. Matt Wells has a lot on his plate.

How can the Wildcats stay in the same spot after getting destroyed by Iowa State? The teams under Kansas State are quite bad for the most part. Meanwhile, they just can’t compete with the best teams in the conference. Chris Kleiman has to get the train back on the tracks after getting destroyed 45-0. They’ve now lost three-straight games. The season can fall off the rails even further with Baylor and Texas left on the schedule. Next week should be a bounce-back win, but Kansas State wasn’t beating anyone with how they played on Saturday.

There is an extreme difference between the top five and the bottom five of the conference. Kansas State seems like they are falling while WVU is heading in an upward trajectory. West Virginia is just a different team at home, and they welcome Oklahoma to Morgantown this week. It should be a barn burner like the West Virginia-Oklahoma games often are. The Mountaineers haven’t beaten the Sooners since the 2008 Fiesta Bowl when they were still a member of the Big East. It should be a fun matchup seeing if the West Virginia defense can slow down Spencer Rattler and the Oklahoma offense. The big question is whether WVU’s inconsistent offense can do anything on Saturday.

What else can be done with Oklahoma State? It’s a huge fall from the top of the rankings, but the Cowboys were hanging by a thread, and then they got destroyed by their in-state rival in the biggest game of the season. The Sooners were down by three touchdowns less than 10 minutes into the game. They were never in it. The big question here is what is happening with the game plan. Chuba Hubbard hasn’t been the best running back in football, but giving him eight carries, even when the team is down, will lead to a huge loss every time. LD Brown ended up getting more carries, despite averaging 2.3 yards per carry. OSU needs some things to go their way if they want to get back to Big 12 Championship Game contention.

Texas was hoping that they were going to get an easy win this past week, but their game against Kansas was postponed. Still, Texas actually controls how the rest of the season goes despite two losses in conference play. They take on Iowa State on Friday. If they win that game and then beat Kansas and Kansas State, then everything comes down to how the rest of the league plays out. Somehow, through this very weird Texas season, they can still win the Big 12 for the first time in more than a decade.

Iowa State just straight rolled over Kansas State this past week. A 45-0 victory is something that’s usually reserved for Kansas, not Kansas State. The offense gave the Cyclones a 35-point lead at halftime. With Brock Purdy and Breece Hall, it was clear the Cyclones’ offense was really good. This game showed their defense can take over as well. Kansas State had one drive that went over 30 yards. Right now, Iowa State is leading the Big 12 with a 6-1 conference record. They can lose one of their remaining two games and still find themselves in the Big 12 Championship Game. That’s good because their next two games are against Texas and West Virginia.

Oklahoma looks like the unstoppable force they were supposed to be coming into the season. They have been destroying everyone in their path since a triple OT win in the Red River Rivalry. Oklahoma still needs to win out to make it to the Big 12 Championship Game. If they can beat the West Virginia defense this week, then an easy Baylor matchup at home is all that stands between that championship game and the Sooners. Things might end like they were supposed to all along. With a Texas-Oklahoma rematch with everything on the line.

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