Week two wasn’t a great week for Big 12 football, and week three could be even worse.
Big 12 Week Two – The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
The Good
We’ve got to start with the Kansas Jayhawks here. Racking up an unprecedented 31-7 road win at Central Michigan was exactly what the Big 12, and even more specifically David Beaty, needed.
Oklahoma rolled UCLA, as expected, and TCU got the weekend kicked off by smashing SMU 42-12. Despite the slow start, West Virginia rolled Youngstown State 52-17, and Texas Tech wrecked Lamar 77-0.
The Bad
For the second week in a row the Texas Longhorns find themselves in this category. Despite winning 28-21 over Tulsa, the Longhorns played some bad football. In a seven-point loss, the Golden Hurricane missed three field goals and got stuffed at the goal line on fourth down.
After having their opener cancelled due to lightening, Iowa State officially got their season underway against Iowa. The Cyclones only managed a field goal in their 13-3 loss which brings up a lot of questions about the ISU offense as they prepare for Oklahoma this Saturday.
The Ugly
Kansas State, what has happened to you? Bill Snyder was the wizard to found crazy ways to pull off victories as a heavy underdog. Now it just looks like the Wildcats are resigned just to be heavy underdogs.
Power Rankings
Our top four remains intact after the second week of football but that’s likely to change next week with TCU and Oklahoma State hosting ranked opponents. The Mountaineers slipped a point after their second slow start in as many weeks. TCU also dipped a point from last week and Oklahoma State gained one.
There’s a bit of a shakeup at the bottom of our power rankings where the Kansas Jayhawks remain at the bottom spot but it isn’t unanimous.
Baylor was the big winner this week. The 2-0 Bears moved up three spots, to #5, and have a chance to remain there or even move up further if they take care of Duke this weekend.
| Heartland Sports Week Three Big 12 Power Rankings | |
| Ranking | Points |
|---|---|
| 1. Oklahoma | 40 |
| 2. West Virginia | 35 |
| 3. TCU | 33 |
| 4. Oklahoma State | 28 |
| 5. Baylor | 21 |
| 6. Texas | 20 |
| 7. Texas Tech | 17 |
| 8. Iowa State | 10 |
| 9. Kansas State | 10 |
| 10. Kansas | 6 |
Zack
1. Oklahoma | The Sooner got off to a slow start against UCLA, but they did what they needed to do to pick up a solid win. Rodney Anderson is out for the season, which is a huge blow to the Oklahoma offense, but they have a talented backfield, so they should be able to recover.
2. West Virginia | The Mountaineers took care of business against Youngstown State, and now they look ahead to a potential trap game as the travel to take on NC State.
3. TCU | The Horned Frogs got off to a slow start against SMU trailing 9-0 in the first quarter, but they quickly rallied and blew the game wide open. The saying goes “It doesn’t matter how you start; it matters how you finish.” In this case, it rang true.
4. Oklahoma State
5. Texas Tech
6. Texas
7. Iowa State
8. Baylor
9. Kansas | For the first time in as long as I’ve been doing this, I’ve got the Jayhawks moved up from their typical 10-spot. They started off slow, but they ended up blowing Central Michigan out, which is worth something after losing to Nichols State, an FCS school.
10. Kansas State | The Wildcats have been the most unimpressive team so far in the Big 12. After narrowly defeating FCS opponent South Dakota State last week, Mississippi State came into Manhattan and laid the smack-down. K-State should pick up an easy win over UTSA this weekend, though.
Rich
1. Oklahoma | Even with Rodney Anderson, the Sooners looked impressive. However, it’s the strides the defense is making that should have other programs worried. Until someone knocks OU off the rocker, they’ll remain at the top.
2. West Virginia | Behind a balanced attack, WVU quickly put away another opponent. If the trend continues this offense could prove impossible to stop consistently. It’s the defense that must prove it’s worth in conference play.
3. TCU |The Horned Frogs looked out of sorts to begin the contest with SMU. Able to shake off the rust, the group bounced back providing a convincing win. The biggest test is next week for this group though.
4. Oklahoma State
5. Baylor
6. Texas
7. Texas Tech
8. Kansas State
9. Kansas | Securing a road win is truly a feat for this program! For that reason alone I’m refusing to put them in the cellar this week.
10. Iowa State | The bubble may have burst for the Cyclones who mustered little offense in a rivalry game. Scoring just three points, I expect ISU to improve but numerous questions abound. In a what have you done for me lately mentality, Iowa State is at the bottom of the heap.
Craig
1. Oklahoma | The Sooners remain number one in my rankings this week. Call me biased, but I’m not sure anyone else is even close to where Oklahoma is at right now. A couple questions still remain, but the Sooners have answered just about everything. Injuries might be the only thing to hold this team back in 2018.
2. West Virginia | The Mountaineers have looked solid in each of their two games. There’s no doubt the offense will be deadly, but defense is the biggest concern for this team. I’ll need to see West Virginia’s defense get truly tested before I’m sold on them being an elite team.
3. TCU | After a very slow start on Friday night, TCU bounced back for a huge win against SMU. To me, it says something about a team that can overcome adversity this early in the season. We will find out just how good they are when they play Ohio State this weekend.
4. Oklahoma State
5. Baylor
6. Texas
7. Kansas State
8. Texas Tech
9. Iowa State | The Cyclones played their first game last weekend and it didn’t go very well. They lost a low scoring rivalry game to Iowa. The defense for Iowa State looked incredible, but the offense forgot to show up. I have no doubt that the Cyclones will move up the rankings as the season goes on, but for now they are at the bottom.
10. Kansas | Kansas actually had a solid win last weekend. However, it wasn’t enough in my opinion to prove they aren’t the worst team in the conference. That being said, a win over Central Michigan was huge for this program.
Matt
1. Oklahoma | Yes, the offense has been impressive under Kyler Murray but the defense and special teams have been exceptional. The Sooners will face their first road test this weekend when they open up conference play at Iowa State.
2. TCU | I’m boosting the Frogs to #2 in my rankings this week and they’ll either live up to the hype of totally blow it against Ohio State this Saturday. I’m not sold on the TCU offense yet but I am impressed with their defense.
3. West Virginia | Back-to-Back slow starts is what dropped the Mountaineers behind TCU, for me, this week. They’ll have the opportunity to move back up but for now I’ve got them in a holding pattern.
4. Oklahoma State
5. Baylor
6. Texas
7. Texas Tech
8. Iowa State
9. Kansas State | This may be the worst Bill Snyder team we’ve seen in a long, long time. I’m kind of ashamed to have had the Wildcats as one of my preseason dark horses.
10. Kansas | The Jayhawks picked up a win at Central Michigan last Saturday. It doesn’t move KU out of the basement for me, but it does make me wonder just how bad Central Michigan is.
Week Three Schedule
#5 Oklahoma at Iowa State
Rutgers at Kansas
#17 Boise State at #24 Oklahoma State
Duke at Baylor
UTSA at Kansas State
Houston at Texas Tech
#4 Ohio State vs. #15 TCU
#22 USC at Texas