Big 12 Power Rankings: Kansas, Kansas State moving in opposite directions
The Big 12 lost two more unbeaten teams to non-conference games on Saturday, with one of those an upset and the other a relatively expected result. Those outcomes provided some significant shakeups in the Big 12 Power Rankings after Week 3, though.
The biggest surprise? Cruising Kansas State was upended by Tulane after being stumped at home.
A tough loss by Texas Tech on the road at No. 16 NC State and an Oklahoma romp over Nebraska were the only other two results that were all that interesting this week, but we still have plenty of movement.
Let’s dig into this week’s changes below.
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Today we update the Big 12 Power Rankings following Week 3 games.
2022 Big 12 Power Rankings – Week 3
The Sooners continue to look the part of a very well-coached team under first-year headman Brent Venables, who coaches his guys hard even when up big. Nebraska was a mess going into this one, but the Sooners were once again excellent, led by quarterback Dillon Gabriel (two passing touchdowns, one rushing) and running back Eric Gray (two rushing touchdowns) in a 49-14 win.
It isn’t always easy to bounce back after an emotional, close loss to Alabama, particularly with your starting quarterback injured. But with Quinn Ewers out, the Longhorns survived a slow start and ran away with the game in the second half after being tied at the break. The final was 41-20 over UTSA with running back Bijan Robinson rushing 20 times for 183 yards and three touchdowns.
- Oklahoma State (+1)
It was an easy cupcake week for the Cowboys, who made short work of Arkansas-Pine Bluff with a 63-7 win. Quarterback Spencer Sanders threw for 242 yard and four touchdowns as Oklahoma State raced out to a 49-7 halftime lead. It’s still a bit hard to tell what to make of the Cowboys based on quality of competition thus far, but that’ll change in Week 4 with a road trip to Baylor.
- Baylor (+1)
Credit the Bears for getting back in the win column following a tough overtime loss to BYU last week that didn’t allow the team to get back to Waco until the early morning hours last Sunday. Still, that same BYU squad was blown out by Oregon this week, dinging Baylor’s resume a bit in the process. In any case, a comfortable 42-7 win for the Bears against Texas State with three offensive skill players sidelined in concussion protocol was a solid result.
- Kansas (+3)
It looked like the magic might be gone for Lance Leipold‘s surprising Kansas squad coming off an overtime win at West Virginia. Houston quickly raced out to a 14-0 lead before the Jayhawks woke up. Quarterback Jalon Daniels led the charge as Kansas scored 28 straight to take charge, though. He finished with three touchdowns passing and rushed for 123 yards and two more touchdowns, leading his team to a 3-0 start. Next week Kansas clashes with an unranked Duke squad at home.
- Iowa State (+1)
The Cyclones have gotten out to a 3-0 start, it’s just a little difficult to tell how impressive that start is. The “good win” is a road victory at Iowa, but the Hawkeyes have been bad. This week’s 43-10 win over Ohio may be the most telling yet, with a 42-10 win over Southeast Missouri State in the opener not meaning a whole lot. A home game with No. 17 Baylor this week and a road trip to Kansas the following will establish a much more clear baseline for the Cyclones.
- Kansas State (-4)
Take away Kansas State’s run game and the Wildcats are in trouble. That’s been the lesson from the first three weeks. While running back Deuce Vaughn is one of the league’s best, Tulane held him to fewer than 100 yards rushing for the first time in nine games. Quarterback Adrian Martinez couldn’t make a big enough difference to win without as much help from the ground game, and the Wildcats finished 1-for-5 on fourth down in a 17-10 loss to the Green Wave.
- Texas Tech (-2)
The Red Raiders had a challenging task going on the road to NC State, and Texas Tech wasn’t quite able to get it done. A stingy NC State defense limited Texas Tech to just 353 total yards (only 54 on the ground) and an 84-yard pick-six was the difference in a 27-14 win on Saturday. The upcoming stretch for the Texas Tech might make it tough to climb the Big 12 Power Rankings, too: vs. No. 22 Texas, at Kansas State, at No. 6 Oklahoma, vs. West Virginia, vs. No. 17 Baylor.
TCU had a bye week and if we’re being quite honest the bottom of this list is really hard to compile right now. The Horned Frogs are 2-0 but those wins are over a lousy Colorado team and Tarleton. If TCU is better than we’re giving it credit for it should prove it in relatively short order. The next month includes road trips to SMU and Kansas, as well as home dates with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
There’s probably not a team in any of our conference power rankings that feels as harshly ranked as West Virginia. The Mountaineers suffered a tough opening-night loss to a good Pittsburgh team, as well as an overtime loss to unbeaten Kansas. This week resulted in a resounding 65-7 win over Towson. We get the feeling West Virginia will vault up these power rankings sooner than later, either as results in road games to Virginia Tech and Texas the next two weeks come in or some of the teams narrowly ranked ahead right now trip up.
Want to see how this week’s power rankings compare to our previous edition? Check out the 2022 Week 2 Big 12 Power Rankings here!