Big 12 Football Power Rankings Week 5: Texas on top, but look out for the Jayhawks and Sooners

Big 12

14) Oklahoma State Cowboys

Oklahoma State allowed 34 points against an anemic Iowa State offense in Week 4, just days after suffering its third home loss to South Alabama (33-7). Head coach Mike Gundy risks having his team ultimately break apart.

13) Baylor Bears

I fought hard against placing Baylor at the bottom of my rankings, but Saturday’s performance revealed a team that isn’t doing their fundamentals correctly. Baylor certainly has potential, yet their struggles will likely persist until they figure out how to become technically sound again.

12) Houston Cougars

Houston won on Saturday but failed to prove anything except they lack the experience to compete against Power Five opponents.

11) Texas Tech Red Raiders

Texas Tech football team members were seen in the offseason making bold comparisons between themselves and Alabama’s storied program; this season has shown there is a big difference between confidence and reality. Unfortunately, Texas Tech is performing poorly through four games. While we believe they can turn things around eventually, proof must come from experience before any change can occur.

10) Iowa State Cyclones

Iowa State’s defense has been consistently impressive this season. On Saturday, however, we saw promising signs from their passing game as starting quarterback Rocko Becht completed 27 of 38 passes for three touchdowns and 348 yards to lead his team to victory.

9) Cincinnati Bearcats

The Bearcats displayed impressive defensive abilities against the Oklahoma Sooners this past Saturday. On that day, their explosive offense was held to just 20 points and several unproductive possessions; unfortunately for them, however, their offense could not capitalize on significant opportunities, and that offense will limit how well they can do this season.

8) West Virginia Mountaineers

West Virginia may have suffered a bad road defeat at Penn State in week one but has since shown they can be an excellent football team. Since that point, they’ve won three straight, including an impressive win against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

7) BYU Cougars

BYU may have fallen to Kansas by 11 points during Week 4, but their team remains far from finished after an 11-point setback. Their offense can keep games close and keep BYU competitive in most contests.

6) UCF Knights

Central Florida’s potent offense was limited on the road against Kansas State. Yet, we still see them as potential Big 12 title contenders if John Rhys Plumlee returns from injury quickly enough.

5) TCU Horned Frogs

TCU beat the SMU Mustangs 34-17 on Saturday to continue its three-game win streak since losing the season opener to Colorado. Soon enough, we may forget all about that loss – TCU’s offense has kept rolling along, while their defense has made headlines over their past two contests.

4) Kansas State Wildcats

On Saturday, the Wildcats posted a 44-31 win against UCF Golden Knights without starting quarterback John Rhys Plumlee – they are a good offensive team, while their defense leaves a lot to be desired.

3) Oklahoma Sooners

Consistency on defense has been the cornerstone of the Oklahoma Sooners’ success this season; when given they get into a rhythm on offense they are almost unsioppable.. On the other hand, their offense can be effectively neutralized when given negative or neutral plays – this makes Oklahoma’s offense less effective as an opponent can limit run tempo opportunities with negative and neutral plays. While Oklahoma are excellent, their offensive consistency will ultimately define their success this season. The Sooners are capable of being contenders; consistency on offense will determine just how good they can become this season.

2) Kansas Jayhawks

The Kansas Jayhawks improved to 4-0 with an emphatic victory against BYU on Saturday afternoon, becoming one of three unbeaten Big 12 teams after four weeks. We noted earlier in the season that Kansas and Texas both returned a high amount of talent from last season; now, four weeks in, both remain undefeated!

1) Texas Longhorns

Texas showed why they’re one of the nation’s premier teams when they traveled to Baylor last weekend and looked outstanding, only allowing two deep shots and mishandling three returns. Next up for Texas is Jalon Daniels and Kansas’s offense.