Big 12 Football: Ranking the 10 Most Exciting Conference Games so Far in 2014

Last week delivered one of the greatest Big 12 games of all time—a thrilling comeback victory from the Baylor Bears over the TCU Horned Frogs, then one of college football's hottest teams after upending Oklahoma. 

But that's not the only exciting game this season has delivered us. 

From TCU's upset of Oklahoma to Kansas State's come-from-behind win over Iowa State, the Big 12 has already delivered plenty of drama. 

With that, let's check out the top 10 Big 12 games so far in 2014-15. 

10. Iowa State vs. Oklahoma State

Iowa State actually led this game 6-0 and then was within striking distance, trailing just 20-13 in the third quarter. 

What made this game exciting was that Oklahoma State struggled to pull away until the fourth quarter, adding to the fact that it was the Cyclones who ruined the Cowboys' perfect season in 2011, spoiling their chances at a national title. 

This game had its exciting moments, but the 37-20 final in favor of the Cowboys shows why this game is No. 10 on this list. 

9. Baylor vs. Texas

Baylor won this game 28-7, which is why it's ranked ninth. 

But through three quarters, the Bears were only clinging to a 14-0 lead over the Texas Longhorns. 

A 14-0 run to start the fourth quarter led by Heisman Trophy candidate Bryce Petty, who finished the game with just 111 yards but two scores through the air, ultimately buried the Longhorns.

8. Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma State

A Thursday night prime-time showcase featured two of the highest-flying teams in the Big 12—Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. 

The Cowboys walked away with the 45-35 win, but it was Texas Tech that took the lead in the first quarter, then again in the second quarter off of two Davis Webb touchdown passes. 

Twenty-one unanswered points by the Cowboys allowed them to take a 28-14 lead in the third quarter, which they never relinquished. 

While Oklahoma State ultimately controlled the game throughout most of the second half, there was still plenty of pins and needles to go around with how fast both these offenses worked throughout the night. 

7. Texas vs. Oklahoma, the Red River Shootout

The Red River Shootout was ultimately won by the superior in nearly every way—the Oklahoma Sooners won 31-26—but some late-game shenanigans led to an exciting finish. 

Despite holding a 31-13 lead in the fourth quarter, two touchdowns by Tyrone Swoopes—one through the air, one on the ground—brought the Longhorns to within five points. 

The game wasn't even over until the Longhorns' final play—where laterals ran wild—was finally stopped. 

This rivalry's history book always seems to get better each and every chapter, and this year was no exception. 

6. Oklahoma vs. West Virginia

With the score tied at 24-24 as both teams headed to the locker room at halftime, the battle between Trevor Knight and Clint Trickett looked like it was going to go down to the wire. 

That is, until a 21-3 run to open up the second half let the Sooners pull away from the pesky Mountaineers, who also gave Alabama all it could handle in Week 1. 

A late touchdown by the Mountaineers made the final 45-33 score more respectable, but for one half, it looked like WVU could knock off the Big 12 favorite. 

5. Oklahoma State vs. Kansas

The Oklahoma State Cowboys must have thought they were in Manhattan and not Lawrence, Kansas, last Saturday, because the Kansas Jayhawks gave the Pokes all they could handle. 

Despite taking a 20-7 lead into halftime, the Jayhawks responded with 13 straight points to knot the score up at 20-20. 

However, immediately after tying the game, the Cowboys finally woke up, as Tyreek Hill took the ensuing kickoff 99 yards to the house, finally burying the Jayhawks. 

It was the Jayhawks' first game under interim head coach Clint Bowen, and he seemed to make an impression on the few Jayhawk faithful who skipped out on a Kansas City Royals playoff game and made their way to the stands.

4. West Virginia vs. Texas Tech

A 69-yard touchdown run by Justin Stockton gave the Texas Tech Red Raiders a 34-20 lead with just over seven minutes left to play. 

It seemed like, finally, Kliff Kingsbury and Co. would get off the schneid in 2014. 

But Clint Trickett had other ideas. 

The Mountaineers responded with two touchdowns on consecutive drives to knot the score at 34-34. 

Then, as time expired, the Mountaineers completed their rally, as Josh Lambert booted a 55-yard field goal through the uprights to complete the improbable 37-34 win for Dana Holgorsen's bunch. 

When the going's good, the going's good. And for WVU this season, a team widely believed to reside at the bottom of the conference by most prognosticators, the going's been good. 

3. Kansas State vs. Iowa State

Kansas State took a 13-0 lead early in this game, played in Week 2, and it looked like the Wildcats were going to cruise to victory in Ames. 

But the Iowa State Cyclones responded in a big way, thanks largely in part to Jarvis West, and hung 28 unanswered points on the Wildcats to take a 28-13 lead. 

The Wildcats stormed right back, cutting the lead to eight with a one-yard touchdown run by Jake Waters at the end of the half, set up by a controversial catch by Tyler Lockett at the pylon. 

In the fourth quarter, the Wildcats scored again off a Charles Jones touchdown run but failed the two-point conversion, keeping the score at 28-26. 

Waters refused to be denied that day, though, rushing for a career-high 138 yards and passing for 239 more. He scored the game-winning touchdown on an eight-yard run with just 90 seconds left on the clock, allowing K-State to escape the death trap that is Ames with a 32-28 win. 

2. TCU vs. Oklahoma

Despite the TCU Horned Frogs upsetting the Oklahoma Sooners by a slim 37-33 margin, Trevone Boykin and Co. actually only trailed less than three minutes throughout the game. 

But with neither squad taking more than a two-possession lead throughout, this ballgame was a thriller through and through. 

The Horned Frogs opened up with two straight touchdowns, but the Sooners responded with two of their own to take a 14-14 tie into the second quarter. 

In the second quarter, both TCU and Oklahoma tacked on a touchdown and a field goal to bring the halftime score to 24-24. 

That's when Oklahoma took its only lead of the game off a touchdown run by Samaje Perine. But a touchdown pass from Boykin on the ensuing drive tied the game back up. 

The fourth quarter belonged to Paul Dawson, whose interception of Trevor Knight—which was taken to the house—ended up being the nail in the coffin for the Sooners. 

1. Baylor vs. TCU

Was there any doubt that this game would be No. 1 on this list? 

A 61-58 win for Baylor, which saw it overcome a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit to TCU, ranks as quite possibly the best college football game of the season so far, and it kept Baylor's hopes of repeating as Big 12 champs alive. 

Both teams combined for 856 passing yards, 1,267 total yards and 119 points. 

But the day belonged to Bryce Petty, who accounted for six touchdowns through the air and solidified himself as a Heisman Trophy leader. 

The game also proved who owns the Big 12—the Baylor Bears.