Big 12 power rankings: Tom Herman stays, Chuba Hubbard goes, Iowa State-Oklahoma for conference crown

Tom Herman stays at Texas, Chuba Hubbard leaves Oklahoma State and Oklahoma and Iowa State are set to play the Big 12 Championship Game.

It was going to be at least an interesting weekend of Big 12 football. Oklahoma State went to Baylor for Charlie Brewer’s last game of his Bears career. West Virginia was going to test their home record as they welcomed a red hot Oklahoma team after they already clinched a spot in the title game. Texas looked to put a whooping on a reeling Kansas team as they found themselves ranked again. The OU-WVU and KU-Texas games were both canceled and Oklahoma State-Baylor turned out to be a blowout.

TCU also played this weekend, crushing Lousiana Tech. Not a ton will change from the last week’s power rankings, but this will show where teams stand for bowl games. Technically, every team is eligible this season. However, as many as six have a legitimate shot at actually playing in these games.

Big 12 power rankings entering the final week of the season

This is no surprise, especially since Kansas’ final game of the season was canceled against Texas. The Longhorns had issues with COVID-19 cases, so this ends what might be one of the worst seasons in Kansas history, and that’s saying something. As bad as Kansas has been, they’ve ended a season with zero wins just one other time in the past 50 years. Les Miles goes into the all-important third recruiting class of his tenure in Lawrence in 2021. It has to be better than this.

Baylor got destroyed and Charlie Brewer entered the NCAA transfer portal in one day’s time. It is a rough end for his Baylor career after he had so much promise after last season. Baylor was a mess in Dave Aranda’s last season, and his inability to get his team hyped for a game against Oklahoma State is not a good look. It’s one season, and the former LSU coordinator has time to get this group back on track. This was a bad team that must be happy this season is finally over.

Kansas State’s season is likely over as most of the bowl predictors have the Wildcats on the outside looking in. They ended the season losing five-straight games. Players are going to transfer. New ones will come in. This is one of the most important offseasons for head coach Chris Klieman. He needs to get talented players to replace those leaving for other schools, and he needs to find some diamonds in the rough on the transfer market.

Texas Tech is another team on the outside looking in for bowl games. They don’t have the name recognition of some of the teams ahead of them, and now that they have a fresh new COVID outbreak, they may decide to just end the season and start again in the spring. This is a big offseason for the decision-makers at Texas Tech. Is Matt Wells getting another chance at coach? Are they really considering Art Briles? There’s a lot the Red Raiders still need to decide, and they need to make these decisions by the new year.

TCU ended their season on a positive note, and with six wins they will almost definitely make it to a bowl game of some kind. They will find themselves in either the Guaranteed Rate Bowl or the Liberty Bowl. They ended the season with more wins than West Virginia, but they got destroyed in the head-to-head matchup. The Horned Frogs showed what they were made of towards the end of the season, and they have a lot to build off of for next season.

West Virginia missed out on the chance to beat Oklahoma for the first time since they joined the Big 12. Now, their regular season is over, and they are looking ahead to a bowl game. If they get their COVID cases in check by the end of the month, they will play in the bowl game TCU does not. WVU has a decent core of players, but top defenders Darius Stills and Tony Fields will be hard to replace. WVU is one of the few teams that will learn a lot from their bowl game if they choose to play it.

The Oklahoma State Cowboys ended the season on a great note, but that head-to-head loss to Texas was a killer for them. Chuba Hubbard decided to end his season on his own, so any bowl game Oklahoma State plays in will be a test for who the main back will be next season. Spencer Sanders needs to use the bowl game and the spring to learn how to take care of the football. Oklahoma State still has a group that can win a conference title if everything goes its way, but this was really their year. Oklahoma had two losses, Iowa State was trying to put it all together, Texas had a couple of bad losses, and everyone else was far behind. The Cowboys could have easily been the top team here, but they lost when it mattered most.

The biggest question surrounding Texas was answered this weekend. Tom Herman will remain head coach despite another season missing expectations. Many experts have the Longhorns playing in the Texas Bowl. It’s not a New Year’s Six Bowl Game like they probably hoped for, but it’s something. Sam Ehlinger has not said what his future will be at Texas, but his decision will fuel what the future holds for the Longhorns. The de-commitment of Jalen Milroe really hurt their future under center. They should be begging their current quarterback to give one more year in burnt orange.

Nobody is happy when games are canceled, but Oklahoma likely didn’t hate the fact they got an extra week off before the Big 12 Championship Game. The West Virginia game is often a barnburner, even if Oklahoma always wins. Still, they look ahead to the game they’ve been in every single season since the Big 12 Championship Game returned four seasons ago. A win here has Spencer Rattler taking the Sooners to the New Year’s Six.

Iowa State beat Oklahoma in a regular-season game at home in the middle of the season. Can they do it again when everything is on the line? The Cyclones have been one of the hottest teams in college football. They look to take that momentum into Saturday’s matchup with Oklahoma. With Florida’s loss to LSU, Iowa State should be ranked in the top six in the College Football Playoff Rankings. Forget just the Big 12, does Iowa State have a chance to crash the Playoff’s party? Probably not, but it’s definitely possible.

For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.