This week’s rankings feature a new number one, a tie at the thirteenth spot, and significant movement throughout the conference.
While Utah has experienced a drop from the top, Houston remains the unanimous choice for the bottom spot. The competition within the Big 12 remains insanely close , with teams constantly vying to move up a position.
Let’s dive into the rankings and see how our writers assessed the teams this week.
2024 Heartland Sports Big 12 Power Rankings, Week 6
| Ranking | Points |
| 1. Iowa State | 64 |
| 2. Kansas State | 55 |
| 3. BYU | 54 |
| 4. Arizona | 52 |
| 5. Utah | 51 |
| 6. Oklahoma State | 43 |
| 7. Texas Tech | 42 |
| 8. Colorado | 32 |
| 9. West Virginia | 30 |
| 10. UCF | 29 |
| 11. Arizona State | 20 |
| 12. Baylor | 19 |
| 13. TCU | 18 |
| 13. Cincinnati | 18 |
| 15. Kansas | 13 |
| 16. Houston | 4 |
Individual Thoughts
Caleb
1. Iowa State | Utah’s defense played lights out. Without their QB1 their offense proved they are still a top 10 team.
2. BYU | ISU has been a sneaky good team. They go to Houston next week which they should win pretty handily and find themselves 4-0 and 1-0 in Big 12 play.
3. Arizona
4. Utah
5. Kansas State
6. Texas Tech
7. Oklahoma State
8. Arizona State
9. West Virginia
10. Colorado
11. Cincinnati
12. UCF
13. Baylor
14. TCU
15. Kansas | The once top 25 team starts the season 1-4. Which I don’t think anyone expected to happen. Jalon Daniels had early Hesiman hype then has just disappeared from the spotlight due to his poor performance.
16. Houston | Houston had 102 yards of offense Saturday night. Houston is looking very likely at a 1-11 season.
Craig
1. Iowa State | The Cyclones are sneaking up as one of the better looking teams in the Big 12. They’ve only given up 29 points all season. However, they do have one of the lowest scoring averages in the conference. Can the defense continue to carry this Iowa State team?
2. BYU | The Cougars nearly allowed Baylor to come back and win last week, but they found a way to come out with the win. BYU is definitely a surprise team through the first couple weeks of conference play.
3. Kansas State | The Wildcats found a way to bounce back from their beat down two weeks ago with a big win over Oklahoma State. I’m still not sold on this squad, but they showed that they can’t be counted out just yet.
4. Arizona
5. Utah
6. Oklahoma State
7. Texas Tech
8. Colorado
9. UCF
10. Baylor
11. TCU
12. Arizona State
13. West Virginia
14. Cincinnati
15. Kansas | I keep thinking that Kansas is going to get the ball rolling. They simply can’t find a way to put together four quarters of football. It’s shaping up to be a long year for the Jayhawks.
16. Houston | How much worse can it get for Houston? They’ve only managed to score 52 points all season. Not the start that Willie Fritz was looking for in Houston.
Matt
1. Iowa State | The Cyclones have a Top 10 scoring defense and a strong running game. It’s time to start talking about them as contenders for the Big 12 championship.
2. Kansas State | The Wildcats dominated Oklahoma State’s defense on Saturday, gaining 559 yards.
3. Utah | Utah had its most explosive first half of the season with 219 yards against Arizona, but only scored three points.
4. Texas Tech
5. Arizona
6. Oklahoma State
7. UCF
8. BYU
9. West Virginia
10. Colorado
11. Kansas
12. TCU
13. Arizona State
14. Baylor
15. Cincinnati | The Bearcats finished with 555 total yards against Texas Tech, but still lost the game by a field goal.
16. Houston | Houston was 1 of 10 on third downs and committed seven penalties for 77 yards in Saturday’s loss at Iowa State.
Zack
1. Iowa State | The Cyclones move up to the top spot, but it’s more for lack of consistency from other teams. They struggled in the first half against Houston, but they remain undefeated, so here they are.
2. BYU | The Cougars are the other undefeated team in the Big 12, and they’ve looked pretty good so far.
3. Kansas State | The Wildcats are back in the Big 12 title hunt with a big win over Oklahoma State. They get a bye week this weekend before 6 straight weeks of currently unranked teams.
4. Arizona
5. Utah
6. Oklahoma State
7. West Virginia
8. Colorado
9. Texas Tech
10. Cincinnati
11. UCF
12. Baylor
13. TCU
14. Kansas
15. Arizona State | With no game last week, the Sun Devils stay where they are .
16. Houston | The Cougars’ struggles continue as they really might not get a win the rest of the season.
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