Big 12 Power Rankings: Week 10
By Ross
1. Oklahoma State – The Pokes are rolling through everybody now. It it isn’t just their offense doing the damage, the defense held Baylor’s prolific offense to only 3 points in 3 quarters. They were up 49-3 going into the fourth against a decent team with one of the best QBs in the land. They are without a question the best team in the Big 12 right now. Last week I said that they are still behind LSU and Alabama but I would put my money on OSU now.
2. Oklahoma – The loss at home against Texas Tech was a fluke. Oklahoma went back to their winning ways with a 58-17 pummeling of Kansas State in Manhattan. Landry Jones threw for over 500 yards and 5 touchdowns. The Sooners still control their own destiny when it comes to the Big 12 championship race and maybe still have a chance at the national championship. However, they are going to have to win out without Dominique Whaley, their best running back, as he is out for season after an ankle injury against KSU.
3. Kansas State – Truthfully, I think A&M and Texas are both better and will beat the Wildcats when the time comes. They got hammered by Oklahoma and play Oklahoma State next. I put them third due to the fact that they haven’t slipped up anywhere like A&M and they still only have one conference loss. We’ll see how good they are in the two weeks after the Oklahoma State game as they play the Horns and the Aggies.
4. Texas – The Horns absolutely demolished KU this past week. Freshmen running backs Joe Bergeron and Malcom Brown rushed for a combined 255 yards and 4 TDs. With Oklahoma and Oklahoma State already behind them, the Horns have a decent chance to finish the year with 10 wins.
5. Texas A&M – I think I would have committed suicide after Saturday if I was an Aggie fan. For the third time this year, A&M blew a large lead in the second half. This time they had an 11 point lead on Mizzou going in at halftime but could only muster up 3 lousy points for the rest of the game. A&M should be leading the Big 12 right now and maybe ranked in the top 3 of the country but instead they are fourth in the conference.
6. Missouri – Mizzou came back to beat #16 A&M at Kyle Field in overtime this past weekend. Tiger RB, Henry Josey, ran all over the Aggies as he racked up 162 yards on 20 carries including a touchdown. Missouri has already played the top teams in the conference and has Texas, Kansas, Texas Tech, and Baylor left on the schedule. I wouldn’t be surprised if they finish the season by winning all those games.
7. Texas Tech – The Red Raiders had a major letdown against Iowa State. As you know, they got pounded by the Clones, 41-7. Tech couldn’t do anything against the Cyclones offensively and could not stop the run on defense. How they beat Oklahoma, I still don’t know. It doesn’t get much easier for them as they travel to Austin next week and then host Oklahoma State.
8. Baylor – Baylor has lost three of the last four but they’re still a good team. They only lost by a point at Kansas State due to a late and rare RGIII interception. If they were in the Big East or Big Ten, they would be competing for a conference championship. They’ll try to bounce back against Mizzou this Saturday.
9. Iowa State – The Clones kept their bowl hopes alive with the upset win at Texas Tech. We all know Jared Barnett had a phenomenal game and James White was unstoppable. Hopefully Iowa State doesn’t pull a Texas Tech and have a huge letdown against Kansas on Saturday. If (and by all means they should easily) they beat KU, they’ll need one more win to be bowl eligible. The bad news, they play Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and finish off the regular season at Kansas State.
10. Kansas – The Jayhawks were God-awful against the Longhorns. Look at their stats. They had three first downs the whole game, rushed for -2 yards, had 46 yards of total offense, and they allowed the Horns to gain close to 600 yards of offense. However, I think they will be really fired up and play a tough game against Iowa State because it is their only chance at a conference win.