Week 4 Big 12 Conference football power rankings
Sorry, Kansas, but this one might sting a little.
Power rankings are a fickle system. If you win like you're supposed to, few are impressed. Even if you're an undefeated group in this conference, climbing this hill doesn't get much easier at the top. Take BYU as an example; the Cougars completed an undefeated stretch for their non-conference schedule last weekend with a 20-point win over Wyoming. Now standing at 3-0, what's their best win? An incredibly ugly win over SMU in which your offense couldn't gain a first down for 90% of the game?
The point is that winning doesn't always translate to climbing to to the top of power rankings, but losing nearly always punts your team off a cliff--especially in games you were expected to win (looking at you, Jayhawks).
Kansas, as already mentioned, fell to UNLV, West Virginia was the recipient of a backyard back-breaker, Arizona was no match for K-State, and TCU collapsed under the weight of their 21-point lead over UCF as the Knights came back in a stunner. And while those were the only outright losses taken in week 3 across the conference, not every win deserves equal praise.
Cincinnati and Arizona State struggled against lesser competition in Miami of Ohio and Texas State, and while they were both road contests, we can't ignore a narrow win over teams without the benefit of power conference resources. Utah also struggled to shake the Utah State Aggies in Logan, and didn't really gain separation until the fourth quarter.
We're giving out no free handouts, and in this week, we're shaking up the standings after a tumultous week in the Big 12 Conference.
Rank | Team | Previous Ranking | Last Week's Result |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kansas State | 1 | W 31-7 vs. Arizona |
2 | Oklahoma State | 2 | W 45-10 @ Tulsa |
3 | Utah | 3 | W 38-21 @ Utah State |
4 | UCF | 5 | W 35-34 @ TCU |
5 | Iowa State | 4 | BYE |
6 | BYU | 7 | W 34-14 @ Wyoming |
7 | Arizona State | 6 | W 31-28 @ Texas State |
8 | TCU | 10 | L 34-35 vs. UCF |
9 | West Virginia | 8 | L 34-38 @ Pitt |
10 | Arizona | 11 | L 7-31 @ K-State |
11 | Kansas | 9 | L 20-23 vs. UNLV |
12 | Baylor | 12 | W 31-3 vs. Air Force |
13 | Colorado | 15 | W 28-9 @ Colorado State |
14 | Texas Tech | 16 | W 66-21 vs. North Texas |
15 | Houston | 13 | W 33-7 vs. Rice |
16 | Cincinnati | 14 | W 27-16 vs. Miami (OH) |
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