Another week, another unpredictable handful of football games designed to baffle, confuse, and utterly befuddle anyone who thinks they know a thing or two about football. This is the Big 12 Conference, and whether you think BYU is undefeated yet fraudulent, Texas Tech is national championship material, or Utah belongs among the elites of the world, you're right. And you're wrong. Everything is nothing, and nothing makes sense.
Did that make sense? No? Good.
This weekend promises some of the most heated competition imaginable, particularly with the Holy War creeping up over the horizon. The top of this league is ripe for destruction just as it was beginning to set, but this is how the world of college sports work. This is why we love to watch.
Week 8 Big 12 football power rankings
Duh. Tech is so far and away the frontrunners, that even a blowout BYU victory against Utah this weekend wouldn't be enough to send the Cougars above the Red Raiders (though I'd love to go back on this point in a week).
BYU is the only non-Texas Tech unbeaten remaining in the Big 12 Conference, though not the only unbeaten in conference play. Cincy will get its shoutout in a minute. BYU faced its first real challenge of the season against Arizona last weekend, in a torrential hurricane that delayed the game by over an hour midway through the second quarter and harshly impacted the passing game.
Despite all this, the Cougars handled business when it mattered and found a way to escape Tucson with a double-overtime win. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: good teams win close games.
The Utes are back, ladies and gentleman, and just in time for the most highly-anticipated Holy War matchup since 2009. Two ranked opponents squaring off under the lights in Provo, and two teams with so much to prove to themselves, the nation, and most importantly to each other. Utah rolled over Arizona State in Salt Lake. The Utes get to prove their worth against the team directly above them in the power rankings.
Are we especially impressed by Cincinnati's nine-point win over UCF? No, not really, but a win is a win, and that's all that the Bearcats seem to be doing lately. Since a season-opening three-point loss to Nebraska, Cincy hasn't dropped a single game, including last week's takedown of Iowa State (a team that has fallen from grace -- hard. Keep winning, and you'll keep climbing.
Though Oklahoma State's fans won in our hearts (shirts off, go nuts) it was Houston who walked into Stillwater and hung 39 points on the Cowboys to continue their dream season. The Cougars dominated once again, and to this point in the season, their only blemish was a blowout against Texas Tech -- a team that nobody can hang with to this point in the year.
Baylor hangs around. What's left really to say about this team beside being just a notch above mediocre all season? Baylor didn't play last week, and the significant shake-up in the middle lifts the Bears to this spot.
Ouch ouch ouch.
Sam Leavitt or no, Utah obliterated an Arizona State team that's finally proved to be a bit fraudulent themselves. Even without their starting quarterback, there is no way the Sun Devils can defend the fact that they allowed 42 points against a Ute offense that hasn't reached that number all season, leading up to the game. Next, they face Tech, and may God have mercy on their souls. Still, they've only lost to Utah in conference play, and that's technically not a bad loss. But wow, that was ugly.
After the rain delay, Arizona hung 24 unanswered points on undefeated BYU in Tucson. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, football games aren't won until the final whistle is blown, and BYU clawed back and gutted out a double-overtime win to stay undefeated on your watch. That was a game you should've won, and you get points for that, but it's still a loss on the schedule, and that's all that truly matters.
Noah Fifita looked great, though.
Don't ask me to make sense of this. One week, they seem like an authentic football team (a double-digit win against TCU ain't nothing), but it's only a matter of time before they remove the mask and reveal that they were a middling football program the entire time. A one-point loss to Baylor was respectable, and what you've done against the Horned Frogs and Knights will not be forgotten, but this is still a team that's lost more games than they've won, even if they're trending in the right direction.
*Flips around the chair like Captain America*
"So... you lost to Texas Tech."
11. Colorado Buffaloes
12. Iowa State Cyclones
13. TCU Horned Frogs
14. UCF Knights
15. West Virginia Mountaineers
16. Oklahoma State Cowboys