Power Ranking Big 12 Football Teams Heading into Week 7
By this time next week, we'll have reached the halfway point in the 2015 college football season.
Flies by, doesn't it?
Though there's still plenty of football to be played and plenty of rankings to sort out, let's take a look at what has been one of the most wide-open conferences: the Big 12. While the top (Baylor, TCU, Oklahoma State) and the bottom (Kansas, Iowa State) of the Big 12 are fairly ordered, spots 4-8 could go in a variety of ways.
The best part is that conference play is only getting started. Things could get clearer, or weirder, within the next month.
How do Big 12 teams stack up through the first six weeks? You can check out the power rankings based on all the results this year—not just what happened in Week 6—in the following slides.
10. Kansas
1 of 10
Since South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier announced he is retiring resigning, we'll honor him by starting things off with a big ol' "Waylp."
There's not much more that can be said about the Jayhawks that hasn't already been uttered. Any win from this point forward would be nothing short of a major upset. Quarterback Ryan Willis had some nice moments against Baylor, including a 36-yard touchdown to Steven Sims Jr., but there's so much for head coach David Beaty to rebuild.
A winless season was on the horizon anyway, and there hasn't been much to change that. Beaty is an eternal optimist and a charismatic interview. He'll need all of that to recruit capable players to Kansas.
9. Iowa State
2 of 10
For a little more than a quarter, Iowa State went step-for-step with Texas Tech. Then, things got out of hand, and the Cyclones lost 66-31. That's sort of been the theme for Iowa State this year. Paul Rhoads' team came close to beating Toledo, a legitimate top-25 team, and in-state rival Iowa but came up short in both games.
Unfortunately, that means Iowa State has to win four of its next seven games to become bowl eligible, and there simply aren't many winnable games in that stretch—if any. Could Rhoads survive another sub-.500 season? Perhaps if the record was 5-7, but there's not much room for error.
Iowa State isn't completely lacking in talent. Running back Mike Warren is the Big 12's third-leading rusher, and receiver Allen Lazard is a stud. But unless Iowa State can finish off what it starts, it looks like another long season in Ames.
8. West Virginia
3 of 10
This probably seems harsh given the Mountaineers were 3-0 just two weeks ago, but it's been a tough stretch with losses to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in back-to-back weeks. West Virginia lost to the Sooners by double digits and to the Cowboys in overtime.
In both games, West Virginia overcame slow starts to make things interesting, but head coach Dana Holgorsen hasn't been able to get this team to finish yet—at least not in conference play. In fact, many of the same things that plagued the Mountaineers last year—turnovers, penalties, mental errors and the like—are beginning to show up again.
The defense continues to play well, even without star safety Karl Joseph, who is out for the year with a knee injury. Interestingly, Holgorsen questioned his team's defensive effort after the loss to Oklahoma State, asking rhetorically if it was "good enough to get the win? I think we'd all agree not," per 247Sports' Chris Anderson.
Yet, WVU held Oklahoma State to 4.47 yards per play. That seems more than good enough while the offense, for the second straight week, was hurt by mistakes and had to play catch-up. To avoid a goose egg in the month of October, the Mountaineers have to beat either Baylor, TCU or both. WVU has an easier road in November, but right now, it's going backwards.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
7. Texas
4 of 10
Texas' 24-17 upset over Oklahoma is the Big 12 win of the year by far. That's what gives the Longhorns an ever-so-slight edge over struggling West Virginia. Texas didn't do anything fancy against Oklahoma, it just out-executed the Sooners and won in the trenches.
It's fair to say Texas could just as easily be 3-3 or 4-2 if close losses against Cal and Oklahoma State had gone differently. After all, the Horns lost those games by a combined four points. In that sense, 2-4 isn't strictly what it seems. But, ultimately, Texas is 2-4, and more has gone wrong than right this year.
Texas has to turn its win over OU into a strong second half of the season. As Mike Finger of the San Antonio Express-News tweeted, the Horns' schedule was ridiculously front-loaded. That schedule eases up with games against Iowa State and Kansas. That still means that Texas has to go 2-2 against Kansas State, West Virginia, Baylor and Texas Tech.
That seems far more doable now than before, but the Longhorns aren't where they need to be yet. Not by a long shot.
6. Texas Tech
5 of 10
Texas Tech's best win is against Arkansas, which now only says so much. Texas Tech's best game, however, came in a 55-52 loss to TCU.
Okay, maybe that's Texas Tech's best offensive game. Either way, the Red Raiders played extraordinarily well against one of the Big 12's two best teams and were this close to pulling off a finish that would have rivaled the "Kick Six" and Cal-Stanford game of 1982.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is a bona fide star. He's currently tied with TCU signal-caller Trevone Boykin atop the Big 12 stat sheet in total offense (411.5 yards per game). The next-closest player is Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield with 345.2 yards per game.
The defense still isn't anywhere close to being great, but so long as it can win in areas like turnover margin or red-zone defense, it'll give the offense a chance to win games.
5. Kansas State
6 of 10
Perhaps Kansas State is being overestimated here, given that the Wildcats have lost their last two games. However, those two losses have come to TCU and Oklahoma State—two of the Big 12's top three teams—by a combined nine points. K-State had the lead in both games, as well. The point being, Bill Snyder's team has played surprisingly great football in the wake of numerous injuries to its quarterbacks.
Then again, maybe it shouldn't be all that surprising. It just goes to show once again, regardless of the year, that the SnyderCats are going to make every opponent on its schedule miserable.
Week 7's game against Oklahoma is an opportunity for K-State to finish what it started. And with the Sooners hurting from their Red River loss to Texas, now might be a good time to catch this team when it's down.
K-State's defense isn't proving to be as stingy as it was in the first couple of weeks, but the offense is better than previously thought. All in all, K-State remains the one Big 12 opponent nobody ever wants to play.
4. Oklahoma
7 of 10
Wait...didn't the Sooners just lose to Texas? How are they ahead of the Longhorns, then?
It's a valid question, but Oklahoma's overall body of work is better than Texas'. This time last week, if you had asked who was the No. 1 team in the Big 12, the Sooners would have had a legitimate argument.
But Oklahoma got beat, straight and simple. Texas didn't run crafty schemes or "oopty oops" (NSFW language). "You can blame this all on me, but I don't play," head coach Bob Stoops said on the loss, per Trevor Rogers of 247Sports.
The Sooners' Big 12 title hopes aren't dead, but their playoff ones have taken a major, if not insurmountable, hit.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield is still one of the top players in the league, and linebacker Eric Striker is the same force he always was on that side of the ball. However, offensive line play has been subpar, and running back Samaje Perine, who led the Big 12 in rushing in 2014, hasn't been able to get going.
3. Oklahoma State
8 of 10
Somehow, some way, Oklahoma State keeps finding ways to win. The Cowboys needed a go-ahead touchdown to beat Kansas State in Week 5 and overtime to fend off West Virginia in Week 6.
It hasn't always looked great, but it's better than the alternative. The Cowboys are 6-0, and if you want to look at it this way, control their own destiny in the conference title race.
Quarterback Mason Rudolph hasn't always been sharp, but he's responded well to adversity. Head coach Mike Gundy continues to show why he's one of the most underrated coaches in college football. When the Cowboys need to make plays, Gundy and his staff have drawn up some creative ways to win.
Like Baylor and TCU, Oklahoma State has an eventful November (note the Cowboys get both teams at home). Of anyone else in the Big 12, it feels like the Cowboys could be the team to break the two-team title race wide open.
2. Baylor
9 of 10
Baylor is the only Big 12 team that hasn't lost and/or had its life flash before its eyes yet. While that's a great start for Art Briles' squad, it also says a lot about who the Bears have played so far. Its best win by a wide margin is against Texas Tech in Arlington. Nothing else comes close.
For that reason, we'll put Baylor at No. 2. In all likelihood, the Bears are the Big 12's most complete team, but there haven't been many opportunities to show it, yet. That'll change in time. Road games against Kansas State, Oklahoma State and TCU, plus a home game against Oklahoma, make up the month of November. A revenge game against West Virginia, which kept Baylor out of the playoff last year, has the Bears playing with an edge.
"Mentally, I feel the same as 2012 when we were unranked," Briles said, per Shehan Jeyarajah of the Dallas Morning News.
Quarterback Seth Russell is a legitimate Heisman contender, according to Oddsshark.com. Receiver Corey Coleman is among the best receivers in the conference. There's talent on talent on talent—like you'd expect anything else.
Baylor is taking care of its business. It'll have plenty of opportunities to show more in the coming month and a half.
1. TCU
10 of 10
Like Oklahoma State, it's been a, shall we say, nerve-racking ride for TCU at times. The Frogs' three closest games—against Minnesota, Texas Tech and Kansas State— have all come on the road.
Yet, TCU has won all three, making it the most battle-tested team in the Big 12. What else should anyone want? If you're going to ask teams to play in tough road games, you have to reward them when they win.
Quarterback Trevone Boykin has been off at times, but he's as good as anyone in college football with the game on the line. The pairing of Boykin and receiver Josh Doctson is arguably the best anywhere. "There aren't many people playing much better," head coach Gary Patterson said, per the Dallas Morning News' Chuck Carlton.
The injuries and attrition, specifically on defense, are worrisome. It's a fair question to ask if/when that'll finally catch up to TCU. But it's played its best football when tested on the road. That has to count for something.
Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All quotes cited unless obtained firsthand. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
