Big 12 football power rankings: Texas tumbles far after BYU blowout

Texas takes an absolute smack in the Big 12 power rankings, plus why Iowa State is higher and Texas Tech is lower than most people have them.

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Here are the Clones Confidential Big 12 football power rankings after the second week.

1. Oklahoma Sooners (LW: 1 — Next: vs Tennessee)
2. Baylor Bears (LW: 2 — Next: at Buffalo)
3. Kansas State Wildcats (LW: 3 — Next: BYE)
4. Oklahoma State Cowboys (LW: 5 — Next: vs Texas-San Antonio)
5. West Virginia Mountaineers (LW: 6 — Next: at Maryland)
6. TCU Horned Frogs (LW: 7 — Next: vs Minnesota)
7. Texas Tech Red Raiders (LW: 8 — Next: vs Arkansas)
8. Texas Longhorns (LW: 4 — Next: vs UCLA – neutral)
9. Iowa State Cyclones (LW: 9 — Next: at Iowa)
10. Kansas Jayhawks (LW: 10 — Next: at Duke)

I know there will be some flack for it, so here’s why I have the 0-2 Cyclones over the 1-0 Jayhawks — Look at how Kansas played against Southeast Missouri State, and then think about how they would have played against NDSU and Kansas State. KU QB Montell Cozart only completed 50 percent of his passes, and the team just didn’t look sharp when you look past the quick start against SEMO.

Texas takes the obvious big fall after not being competitive in their home loss to BYU. Getting smacked around by the Cougars in two straight seasons is embarrassing, but there is a lot of turnover in Charlie Strong’s first season. It looks really bad, but they can still work their way to a bowl game this season. Hell, it looked bad last year and they still were in contention to win the Big 12 until the final week of the regular season.

I think the top three are pretty solidified, but any variety of Okie State, WVU, and TCU can be in spots 4-6. We haven’t seen enough of them yet, and the Cowboys aren’t a strong fourth as they do have a lot of rebuilding to do.

Texas Tech doesn’t belong in that mix yet despite starting 2-0. Just as some of us suspected, the Red Raiders may be in for a tough year if that’s all they can do against very soft opponents. If they struggle against Arkansas, one of the SEC’s two worst teams, then they better get ready for a long season ahead.

National championship talk

Right now, there are five teams that control their destiny to reach the college football playoff, and it’s the top five in the AP poll — Florida State, Oregon, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Auburn. Why the Tigers? The schedule presents itself to move up, and there’s the regular season finale between Auburn and Alabama — the loser would be left out if the other three teams go undefeated.

The Tigers have an extremely tough road ahead. Seven of their next opponents are all ranked in the top 25 — five of them in the top 15 — and Kansas State is next.