Big 12 Power Rankings updated after Week 11 of college football
Week 11 was an exciting one around college football and within the Big 12. Now, with that week in the rearview mirror, the On3 Big 12 Power Rankings have been updated.
The Big 12 saw several excellent games during Week 11. That included a couple of near upsets and several very real upsets. There were also blowouts while the Cincinnati Bearcats got their first conference win. So, no team will go winless in Big 12 play this season.
These rankings come from several members of the On3 Staff. They’re also designed to show where teams currently stand, rather than to regurgitate standings. Notably, these rankings are also not predictions of the future. Instead, they show where each team is in the present.
1. Texas Longhorns (9-1, 6-1)
The Texas Longhorns are still contenders for not just the Big 12 Championship Game but the College Football Playoff as well. At the same time, they’re playing with fire. After going to overtime against Kansas State, the Longhorns escaped with a 29-26 win over a struggling TCU team.
On the bright side, Quinn Ewers did return for the Longhorns. Texas needs him and needs him to play well down the stretch. At this point, everyone wants to spoil Texas’ season, and next up is an Iowa State team playing its best football of the season that is still in championship contention itself.
2. Oklahoma Sooners (8-2, 5-2) (+2)
Things haven’t been the same for Oklahoma after winning Red River. The Sooners had a bye week before nearly getting upset at home by UCF. The next week they did get upset by Kansas before losing the final Bedlam game for the foreseeable future. So, Oklahoma needed to get right against West Virginia and they did with a 59-20 win.
Oklahoma is sitting at second in the On3 Big 12 Power Rankings. However, it’s going to be a lot harder to make the Big 12 Championship Game, now. Behind Texas, with one conference loss, there are four Big 12 teams with only two conference losses. Oklahoma is one of them and doesn’t hold the tiebreaker over Oklahoma State. There are also three teams with only three conference losses. With two weeks left, things are gonna get messy.
3. Kansas State Wildcats (7-3, 5-2) (+2)
Kansas State is another school at the top of the Big 12 that recently took a frustrating loss. In the Wildcats’ case, that was an overtime loss to Texas. They got right against Baylor, though, with a 59-25 win. That put Kansas State in a good position moving forward. However, like the Sooners, a loss to Oklahoma State puts Kansas State in a tough position.
Going forward, the Wildcats need to win out. They’ll play Kansas and Iowa State, both of whom are still conference contenders. Kansas State will also need Oklahoma State to drop another game in the final two weeks of the season. Otherwise, the Wildcats won’t be able to repeat as champions this season.
4. Kansas Jayhawks (7-3, 4-3) (-2)
Kansas took a loss at home to Texas Tech in a game the Jayhawks are going to want back over the weekend. It was a 16-13 game. Worse, the Jayhawks tied the game late before letting the Red Raiders get into field goal range to win it in regulation.
At the same time, the loss was pretty understandable. Jason Bean, already Kansas’ backup quarterback, left the game with an injury. That forced Cole Ballard into the game and the third-string quarterback struggled to run the offense. That let Texas Tech key in on Kansas’ running game and slow it down enough to put themselves in a place to win.
5. Oklahoma State Cowboys (7-3, 5-2) (-2)
Oklahoma State is still in a good position to make the Big 12 title game. At the same time, taking a loss to UCF gave the Cowboys a second conference loss and killed any room for error going forward this season. Worse than that, losing by six touchdowns is completely demoralizing, especially to an unranked team.
So, how did Oklahoma State lose 45-3 in Orlando? There was probably some hangover after winning an incredibly emotional Bedlam Game. It also didn’t help that the Cowboys didn’t bring rain gear and it downpoured during the game. Still, those things might contribute to a letdown game, not one of the biggest losses a ranked team has had to an unranked team in recent memory.
6. Iowa State Cyclones (6-4, 5-2) (+1)
Iowa State made a road trip to BYU over the weekend. There, the Cyclones dominated the Cougars 45-13. From start to finish it was a blowout in what was probably the most dominant effort that Iowa State put up all season long. It came at a great time too, as Iowa State is still in Big 12 title contention.
Next week, the Cyclones will take on Texas. A win there would throw the conference into chaos and put Iowa State in a great position to go to the Big 12 Championship Game. A loss would all but eliminate Iowa State, especially with Kansas State down the road.
7. West Virginia Mountaineers (6-4, 4-3) (-1)
Coming into the season, there was an assumption that West Virginia would move on from Neal Brown. With six wins, he’s probably safe. However, if there is any doubt about the future of the football program in Morgantown, it didn’t help to get blown out by Oklahoma. That was an ugly loss for both Brown and the Mountaineers.
Luckily, for West Virginia and Brown, the schedule is pretty light in the last two weeks. The Mountaineers will play Cincinnati and Baylor to end the season. Based on what’s happened to this point in the season, it’s pretty likely that West Virginia will win both of those games, and winning those will definitely be expected of West Virginia by fans.
8. Texas Tech Red Raiders (5-5, 4-3) (+1)
Coming into this season, there were massive expectations for Texas Tech. Between injuries and those expectations being a bit unfair, the Red Raiders haven’t come close to meeting those expectations. However, that doesn’t mean that the season has been wasted on the Red Raiders. Clearly, Texas Tech is still fighting after getting a win on the road at Kansas.
Beating UCF next week is going to be massive if Texas Tech wants a sixth win. After that, the Red Raiders are going to play the Texas Longhorns, and given how last season went and what’s going to be on the line for Texas, it’s safe to say that won’t be an easy win.
9. UCF Knights (5-5, 2-5) (+1)
UCF doesn’t lose during the Space Game. An annual tradition since 2017 where UCF wears alternate uniforms to honor the school’s connection to NASA and Cape Canaveral, UCF has never lost the game. Those good times kept rolling with a dominant 45-3 win over one of the Big 12’s championship contenders in Oklahoma State.
The Knights are now just one win away from becoming bowl eligible in their first Big 12 season, something that didn’t seem likely during their five-game losing streak. A massive positive sign was how the UCF defense was able to shut down Oklahoma State’s vaunted running game, something they hadn’t done all season to that point. For head coach Gus Malzahn, this was his 100th career win. For UCF, this was the program’s first top-15 win since beating Gus Malzahn and Auburn in the Peach Bowl.
10. BYU Cougars (5-5, 2-5) (-2)
For much of this season, BYU has seemed like the new Big 12 team that has transitioned the smoothest to the conference. However, now at .500 with just a 2-5 conference record, that may have changed. It also hasn’t helped that BYU is on a three-game losing streak where the Cougars haven’t been competitive in any of the games.
Most recently, that showed up in a 45-13 loss at home to Iowa State. Quarterback Kedon Slovis being injured hasn’t helped, but the entirety of the loss can’t be blamed on his absence. Next week, BYU will try and rebound against Oklahoma. That’s not an easy assignment.
11. TCU Horned Frogs (4-6, 2-5)
After playing in the College Football Playoff and the National Championship Game last season, TCU is one loss away from missing a bowl this season. It’s an incredible drop-off that the sport rarely sees. Now, it’s quickly becoming a reality for TCU with games against Baylor and Oklahoma remaining.
It’s not like TCU hasn’t shown life this season. The Horned Frogs nearly upset Texas on Saturday. However, they came up short. With that, TCU fell to 0-4 in one-score games this season. That’s after going 5-1 in one-score games in 2022. It’s not everything, but winning those close games has been a massive part of the change from year one to year two for Sonny Dykes.
12. Cincinnati Bearcats (3-7, 1-6) (+2)
There are officially no winless teams in Big 12 conference play. The Cincinnati Bearcats went to Houston 24-14 in an excellent defensive effort for Scott Satterfield‘s team. It’s too late for Cincinnati to make a run at a bowl game, but it did show the Bearcats are still playing hard this season.
With games against West Virginia and Kansas left, the Bearcats won’t be making a bowl. However, a winning streak to end the season would build momentum going into the off-season and help how the program feels about the decision to hire Satterfield to replace Luke Fickell in the first place.
13. Houston Cougars (4-6, 2-5) (-1)
Things have to be getting tense for Dana Holgorsen and Houston. The loss to Cincinnati was a big blow in a season of blows. Now, sitting at six losses, Houston has no margin for error in the final two weeks if the Cougars want to go bowling this season.
The problem for Houston is that the schedule isn’t going to be a pushover to end the season. First, Houston will host Oklahoma State. The Cowboys have dreams of winning the Big 12 and after their loss to UCF, they have no margin for error. Then, Houston will travel to UCF, which is also fighting to make a bowl but looks to be a step ahead of Houston.
14. Baylor Bears (3-7, 2-5) (-1)
Rounding out the On3 Big 12 Power Rankings is Baylor. The Bears started slow, showed a spark coming back to beat UCF, and then fell off the map again. Now, with their loss in Week 11 to Kansas State, making a bowl game is officially off the table for the Bears.
Changes are likely coming to Waco in the off-season. The question, for now, is about what type of changes. Head coach Dave Aranda has won there before but the Bears, particularly on offense, have been bad this season. The standard is to be better than that and neither the school nor the fans are happy with how things have gone.
At this point, there are two weeks left in the season. The Big 12 title race is tightening up and tiebreakers look like they’ll play a major role in that race to make the title game. Among the games to keep an eye on in Week 12 include the Kansas-Kansas State game, the Texas-Iowa State game, and the Oklahoma State-Houston game.