Big 12 Week 6 Power Rankings

By Marshall Weber 

Five weeks into the season, the plot thickens in the Big 12...and it's completely up in the air. 

1. Baylor (3-0) 

Previous: 2 (+1)

This Week: West Virginia 

Why They're Here: Even in a bye week, Baylor still put up 70 points. 

The second (possibly the best) offense in college football...ok we're beating a dead horse here aren't we? Baylor's played (and demolished) some garbage teams,  but the ease with which they did it should scare the rest of the Big 12. 

Averaging almost 70 points a game will get you noticed. In fact, Baylor has a higher scoring average than 26 other teams COMBINED. Ouch. 

Lache Seastrunk may not putting on Heisman numbers at first glance. But he's only getting 12-13 carries a game. With only 38 touches, Seastrunk has accumulated 417 yards...which is almost exactly 11 yards per carry. Yeesh. He also already has 6 rushing scores...he had seven last year. 

2. Oklahoma (4-0)

Previous: 5 (+3)

This Week: TCU 

Why They're Here: Ok, ok...you beat Notre Dame in South Bend. Great win in a game between two of the most storied franchises in college football. That being said, I'm still not sold on the Sooners. They seem good enough to maybe get to the Cotton Bowl again. I don't think Blake Bell or the "failed" experiment Trevor Knight are the answer for the Sooners in 2013. 

3. Oklahoma State (3-1)

Previous: 1 (-2) 

This Week: Kansas State 

Why They're Here: Playing in Morgantown is no easy task. Not only because you feel like you're in the Deliverance sequel or a Bruce Springsteen song off of Nebraska or The River. Amidst the burning couches, the Pokes went home with a loss Saturday. 

Luckily it's still early in the season and the Pokes  have plenty of time to get their momentum back. 

4. Texas Tech (4-0)

4 the ladiez

Previous: 3 (-1) 

This Week: at Kansas 

Why They're Here: Kliff Kingsbury plain and simple. Remember when Baker Mayfield was all the hype for a couple of weeks? Well, fellow Freshman Davis Webb has shown to be equally effective. It's clear no matter who Tech has in quarterback, they're going to do pretty well in the Kingsbury system. 

Their defense has also done surprisingly well. No Red Raiders, that's not an insult. Like I said above...as long as Kliff is at the helm, Tech will have a brilliant offense and score lots and lots of points. But the defense will be the defining characteristic of Tech this year. If they play like they've been playing, Tech has a legitimate shot at winning the Big 12. 

5. TCU (2-2) 

Previous: 6 (+1) 

This Week: at Oklahoma 

Why They're Here: Why They're Here: The Horned Frog team that came out in the second half of the Iron Skillet was the team most expected TCU to be in 2013. Their defense was as dominant as it's been all year and the offense, led by the newcomers, finally found a groove. TCU's had a pretty rough schedule so far as they've played 3 games in 13 days, two of them against really good teams. 

Despite their 2-2 record, there's still hope for the Frogs. Their defense is still keeping them in check. Jason Verrett is looking as great as advertised and while we haven't seen enough of Fields (due to injury, suspension, GTA V addiction) to make the same statement, his impact will almost be guaranteed. 

But the defensive MVP this year has been Sam Carter. A lot of fans and those who write on the Big 12 had Carter as a Dark Horse All-American candidate and he isn't proving them wrong. Against SMU on Saturday, Carter had two interceptions, one of which completed shifted the tone of the game, forced fumble and a sack. 

The trouble though is still with the Offensive line and Offensive play calling. Boykin doesn't always make the greatest decisions, but having a very poor offensive line doesn't help. Defenses are getting to him quicker and forcing him to make snap decisions, most of which haven't been favorable for the Frogs. Jarrett Anderson and the offensive line could very well be the death of TCU football this year.

6. Texas (2-2) 

All but official now. 

Previous: 7 (+1) 

This Week: At Iowa State

Why They're Here: Because, hey. They won! Texas looked great in parts two Saturdays ago against Kansas State, a team that's flirting with being abysmal. Jonathan Gray is really starting to come into his own and has matured into the great back Texas intended him to be. Last Saturday night against Kansas State was probably one of his finest displays since coming to Texas. 

While Texas showed glimpses of greatness two Saturdays ago, they also showed why they got beat by BYU and Ole Miss. When they face another team that has any sort of good running game especially a team that runs the read or any option well...all hell will break loose. The exception last week was K-State's atrocious offensive line. Hubert is a great running back and showed off some great moves, but simply couldn't get anything going with his shitty line. 

Texas also has a rough road schedule and if you count the Red River Rivalry, they don't have a home game until November 2nd against Kansas. I

njuries are also going to raise a lot of concerns as David Ash, Mike Davis, and Da'je Johnson's statuses are all pretty ambiguous at this point.    

With Deloss Dodds leaving and Mack likely on the way out as well...Ozzy Manny Diaz continues. But Hey! SABAN 2014!

6. West Virginia (2-2) 

"Country Roads" soon to be replaced by the Coldplay classic, "Yellow"

Previous: 8 (+2)

This Week: At Baylor 

Why They're Here: I'm not sure what to make of the Mountaineers. Mainly because knowing how good/bad they are unlocks a lot of the ambiguous mysterious of the Big 12 so far...as well as determining whether or not Maryland is a legit team. Coming off of an embarrassing 37-0 loss to the Terps in Baltimore two weekends ago, the Mountaineers were able to pull themselves together and come up with the biggest upset of the Big 12 season thus far. 

Junior Clint Trickett took over for the injured Ford Childress, and while the stats may not indicate it, Trickett was the MVP of that game. He threw for just over 300 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions and a completion percentage just under 50%. Like I said, fairly mediocre...but Trickett's leadership and ability to come up big when the Mountaineers needed it most. For a team that's already tried out two other quarterbacks, West Virginia should stick with Trickett until he royally shits the bed. 

But the biggest upside for West Virginia this year has been their defense. What was predicted by most (including myself) to be God-awful, has been the shining characteristic for West Virginia. Who knows what West Virginia could've done with this defense last year...maybe lived up to the hype? The d will get as big of a test as anyone can this weekend when they play Baylor. 

But what does this say about the Big 12? West Virginia kept it competitive with Oklahoma, beat OSU, nearly lost to an FCS team, and got completely dominated by a mysterious Maryland team. Is this all the proof we need that the Big 12 is an inferior conference this year? The Pac-12 and SEC are tied for first in my opinion (BLASPHEMY), the ACC is an easy third...so that leaves the Big 12 slightly ahead of the insanely boring B1G...which sidenote: looks like a stylized synth-pop band. 

8. Kansas State (2-2)

This Week: At Oklahoma State 

Previous: 7 (-1) 

Why They're Here: Despite their overall mediocrity, Kansas State is at least showing some hope at being a bowl eligible team. Jake Waters isn't a bad quarterback by any means and Hubert and Locket are good enough offensive weapons to at least get them to a bowl game. 

Their defense also shows some promise and Ty Zimmerman is demonstrating that he's still one of the best corner backs in the conference.  

The nail in the coffin for the Wildcats this year will be the weak lines on both sides of the ball. They made a struggling Texas defense look like the 2005-06 Longhorns at times...which I think we can all agree that they're not. 

9. Kansas (2-1) 

Previous: 9 (even) 

This Week: Texas Tech

Why They're Here: WHA? The Jayhawks are 2-1? Is too early to start talking Fiesta Bowl? All joking aside, Kansas is making the (small) steps in the right direction. Their win against Louisiana Tech was their first win against an FBS team since 2010. 

To put that into perspective...that was pre-Game of Thrones. A lot's happened since then, Charlie Weis is now their coach, Ned got his head cut off, Dayne Crist was a failed experiment, Robb Stark had the worst wedding ever, and Kansas almost beat Texas for their biggest win in years. 

It's extremely unlikely that Kansas will get to a bowl game this year, but winning 4 games (or even GASP--5) games would be major for the Jayhawks. 

10. Iowa State (1-2) 

Previous: 10 (even) 

This Week: Texas

Why They're Here: Their win against Tulsa was huge. Tulsa isn't a terrible team by any means, and the Cyclones desperately needed to win that game on the road. They were horrendous in their loss against Northern Iowa, and just as bad against a very mediocre Iowa team. 

The road win against Tulsa may give Iowa State the momentum they need to at least get back into a bowl game. I'm still not selling Paul Rhoads quite yet, but if he were to get fired, at least I get to use the tagline "Where We're Going We Don't Need Rhoads"