Big 12 football power rankings: Week five

Sep 21, 2013; Waco, TX, USA; Baylor Bears wide receiver Robbie Rhodes (3) and cornerback Josh Benenoch (37) and running back Lache Seastrunk (25) and linebacker Travon Blanchard (48) and safety Collin Simpson (32) celebrate the win over the Louisiana Monroe Warhawks at Floyd Casey Stadium. The Bears defeated the Warhawks 70-7. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Where exactly do the Baylor Bears and West Virginia Mountaineers belong?

The Bears pounded another weak opponent, dismantling Louisiana-Monroe 70-7. It’s the third consecutive shellacking given out by Baylor that, regardless of opponent, is downright impressive. This team glides down the field in what looks like little effort, and they easily look like the best team in the Big 12 after four weeks.

Still, while Baylor’s defense has looked fantastic and even brought back some touchdowns of their own last week, there’s still a concern if it can hold up against the more potent offenses in the Big 12. By potent offenses, I guess I just mean Oklahoma State and Texas Tech at this point.

So many offenses in the Big 12 look meager, but nothing looks quite as atrocious as West Virginia’s attempt against Maryland. It took a lot of will not to plant WVU at the bottom of the rankings, but as far as we know the Iowa State Cyclones’ offense could be just as bad.

Once we head into the middle of October, we’ll finally have a good pulse on all the teams and power rankings should be a little more uniform around the blogosphere. Until then, I’ll save my judgements (like Baylor being the best and West Virginia being the worst) until we see that action on the field.

1. Oklahoma Sooners (3-0, 1-0) – at Notre Dame (3-1)
2. Oklahoma State Cowboys (3-0) – at West Virginia
3. Baylor Bears (3-0) – BYE
4. Texas Tech Red Raiders (4-0, 1-0) – BYE
5. TCU Horned Frogs (1-2, 0-1) – vs SMU (1-2)
6. Texas Longhorns (2-2, 1-0) – BYE
7. Kansas State Wildcats (2-2, 0-1) – BYE
8. Kansas Jayhawks (2-1) – BYE
9. West Virginia Mountaineers (2-2, 0-1) – vs Oklahoma State
10. Iowa State Cyclones (0-2) – at Tulsa (1-2)