Big 12 Football Power Rankings, 9.29.2022

Sep 29, 2022 - 3:23 PM

So week 4 brought fun results that allowed me to shuffle the order of the middle 8 teams in the conference. The top team in the conference won and remained in the top spot, and is there any argument over that top spot? No. Jalon Daniels and his offensive weapons put on another show. New revelations this week include Jalon can punt and Hishaw can do a good Beast Mode imitation.

I also left West Virginia in the bottom spot after their non-conference win over Virginia Tech. I was tempted to move them out of the cellar but did not. Instead, I opted to let them earn their way out in this week’s match-up with the number 9 team, Texas. Yes, isn’t it glorious, Texas lost again and this time it was not to a top 3 in the country team, it was to a team I had ranked in the bottom 4 of the conference last week. The Longhorns jumped out to a nice lead before halftime and led by 10 going into the second half. From there it was a glorious story of the Fighting Bevos collapsing. A story of collapse that include what looked to be a moment of redemption that would lead to victory, but no it led only to more Longhorn anguish as the Fighting Bevos lost in overtime instead of regulation.

In another conference game involving a team defecting to the SEC, the team from the Little Apple provided the conference with more reason to be hopeful about the future of the Big 12. In what can only be described as Adrian Martinez’s M.O., the former Husker followed up last week’s dud with a great performance and did what his former team could not. He took it to OU, won the game, and took home Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors. Did we all see Martinez slide down at the three and have the OU cheerleader yell at Martinez like the play had not just sealed the Sooners' fate? Glorious! If it is not Texas losing, what I love best is seeing OU lose.

In other games influencing the ranking, Baylor beat Iowa State as I suspected they would, so both teams saw only a little movement, but mainly due to the performance of others, not their own. TCU beat SMU which was mildly surprising because it was a TCU road game. One team did have a bye, Oklahoma State, and they moved up two spots because of the OU and Texas losses.

As a reminder, this power ranking is my opinion swayed by stats only when I see fit to use them to bolster my argument for or against a particular team. The other factor I consider is your input so let me know your thoughts below.

1. KU: 4-0, enough said. #RankThemCowards
2. Baylor: Win on the road over the Hawkeyes is good when those above you lose.
3. OSU: Patients is a virtue and in this case worth a two-slot bump up.
4. K-State: Correction from last week: Where Adrian Martinez goes inconsistency follows.
5. Texas Tech: Red Raiders rank in the SEC? Same place, above OU & Texas.
6. OU: So Tulane got it done on the road, and the Sooners did not get it done at home.
7. Iowa St: Hunter Dekker’s interceptions doom the Hawkeyes
8. TCU: A win is a win in the battle for the skillet, it just doesn’t move you up much.
9. Texas: Horns down.
10. West Virginia: I didn’t believe in Va. Tech. A battle for the basement looms this week.