Only one Big 12 lost a football game over the weekend and that was to a conference opponent. Baylor and Kansas officially kickoff conference play over the weekend with the Bears rolling to a victory over the Jayhawks. TCU sat out week three and the other seven teams that took the field won over non-conference opponent. With that, we finally see things taking shape a bit as the full conference slate begins on Saturday.
Holding Steady
Only Oklahoma and Kansas are in the same spot as last week. The Sooners and Jayhawks held steady at the top and the bottom of our power rankings.
Moving Up
Following their win over #15 Virginia Tech, West Virginia takes the biggest move up in this week’s rankings. The Mountaineers are up six spots this week to tie Iowa State at #3. Kansas State also moved up a spot this week, jumping Iowa State to take the #2 spot in the rankings.
Moving Down
When you break up a logjam the size of what we had last week it sends ripples, and teams, down the rankings. That’s certainly the case this week as six teams slide down at least one spot. Despite not playing over the weekend, TCU drops the furthest. The Horned Frogs went from being tied with three other teams at #3 a week ago to standing alone at #7 this week. Texas broke away from that tie and dropped three spots to #6 and Oklahoma State dropped two spots to #5. Texas Tech, Iowa State and Baylor each dropped one spot.
2021 Heartland Sports Big 12 Power Rankings
| Ranking | Points |
| 1. Oklahoma | 40 |
| 2. Kansas State | 32 |
| 3. Iowa State | 27 |
| 3. West Virginia | 27 |
| 5. Oklahoma State | 24 |
| 6. Texas | 23 |
| 7. TCU | 21 |
| 8. Baylor | 11 |
| 8. Texas Tech | 11 |
| 10. Kansas | 4 |
Individual Thoughts
Craig
1. Oklahoma | The Sooners held off Nebraska this week to keep their perfect record intact. It wasn’t pretty, but they did have a very solid game defensively. Is the biggest question about Oklahoma right now their offense? Lincoln Riley is going to need a bit more from Spencer Rattler and his offense with conference play set to begin.
2. Iowa State | Iowa State finally got the offense moving with 48 points in their victory over UNLV. This should make Cyclones fans happy after the team only scored 33 points combined in their first two games. Matt Campbell’s team hasn’t looked too impressive through three games, but they took a step in the right direction on Saturday.
3. West Virginia | The Mountaineers have the best win out of any Big 12 team after their impressive victory over Virginia Tech. They’ll get an opportunity to show out again as they travel to Norman to face the Sooners in their first conference game of the season.
4. Kansas State
5. Texas
6. Oklahoma State
7. Baylor
8. TCU
9. Texas Tech | I definitely think the Red Raiders have potential to finish higher up in the conference rankings. That being said, as of now I’m just not sure who I’d put them ahead of. They have a big opportunity this week against Texas.
10. Kansas | The Jayhawks got destroyed by Baylor this week. It’s just a sign of how things will be all season long. I’m struggling to find another win on the schedule this season for Kansas.
Rich
1. Oklahoma | The Sooners remain the favorites in the conference, however they’ve looked beatable. Still, the thought is this is a team that will continue to improve throughout the course of the year. Knowing that, the Sooners stay put at the top once again this week.
2. Kansas State | In a game without Skylar Thompson, the Wildcats proved they can run the ball effectively despite being an underdog at home. Playing with physicality, this team remains on track to appear in the title game come December. It’s hard to knock a team that simply finds a way to win regardless of the circumstances.
3. TCU | The Horned Frogs drop a spot even though the team did not take the field. It will likely happen again next week as TCU will not start conference play while the rest of the league will have at least one in the bag.
4. West Virginia
5. Iowa State
6. Texas
7. Oklahoma State
8. Baylor
9. Texas Tech | Tyler Shough had a big individual game and the defense held the opponent to 1.9 yards per carry. Still FIU found a way to put 21 points on the board. There’s still plenty of room for improvement at 3-0 on the year. This coming week will be a tell-tale sign of exactly where the Red Raiders fit in to the power rankings. For now, I’m not impressed.
10. Kansas | After taking yet another loss, the Jayhawks simply couldn’t get anything rolling on either side of the ball. This program is in for a long season…
Zack
1. Oklahoma | The Sooners struggled with the Cornhuskers, but Nebraska is better than a lot of people thought. It doesn’t really matter how you win, as long as you win, and that’s why Oklahoma stays up top.
2. Iowa State | The Cyclones bounced back in quality fashion with a 48-3 shellacking of UNLV. Iowa State has a couple of easy ones the next 2 weeks as conference play begins, so they’ll likely stick at number 2 for a while.
3. Oklahoma State | The Cowboys caught a couple of lucky breaks against Boise State on Saturday, but they were missing a lot of key players, and a win is a win. The defense looks legit, so it’ll be fun to see if they’re the real deal as conference play begins.
4. Kansas State
5. West Virginia
6. TCU
7. Texas
8. Texas Tech
9. Baylor | The Bears just slapped Kansas, but that’s not really that impressive. Someone has to be ranked 9th, and everybody ahead of Baylor has been more impressive so far.
10. Kansas | I don’t see the Jayhawks winning a game the rest of the year. So sad.
Matt
1. Oklahoma | The Sooners have yet to drop the wow factor on offense this season but they certainly are dropping some jaws with the way they’re playing defense.
2. Kansas State | I can’t overstate how big that win was over Nevada. Not only did the Wildcats remain undefeated with Skylar Thompson sidelined, they also made an appearance in the AP Top 25 this week.
3. Texas | The Casey Thompson experiment paid huge dividends. It’ll be interesting to keep an eye on this situation as the Longhorns start conference play.
4. Oklahoma State
5. West Virginia
6. TCU
7. Texas Tech
8. Iowa State
9. Baylor | The only thing that the Bears proved last Saturday is that they’re lightyears ahead of Kansas in the rebuilding process.
10. Kansas | Looks like the Jayhawks are finished winning football games in 2021.
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