Welcome to October in the Big 12, where preseason projections go to die and the only constant is total chaos.
If you thought September was unpredictable, Week 4 just blew the hinges off the conference landscape.
We finally entered the teeth of league play, and the results sent shockwaves from Ames to Lubbock.
Utah didn’t just answer the critics who questioned its strength of schedule. The Utes went into Jack Trice Stadium and suffocated Iowa State, immediately establishing themselves as one of the conference’s most complete teams.
Meanwhile, Texas Tech is no longer just scraping by in close games. The Red Raiders are actively destroying opponents with an opportunistic defense that suddenly looks terrifying.
BYU didn’t play, but the Cougars didn’t lose their grip on the top spot.
Down at the bottom, the panic buttons are officially being pressed. Colorado’s offensive line woes have followed the Buffaloes straight into conference play, while Kansas watches from the basement wondering how a season with so much promise stalled out before October even arrived.
And then there’s the middle.
Cincinnati, Oklahoma State, Houston, Arizona State, Arizona and Baylor are separated by a remarkably small margin in the consensus calculations, while Kansas State, West Virginia, Iowa State and TCU continue to fight for relevance.
From dominant statements at the top to a complete logjam in the middle tier, the hierarchy of this 16-team circus has officially been reshuffled.
Let’s dive into the official Week 5 Big 12 Power Rankings.
The Consensus Big 12 Power Rankings
Using our standard scoring system—16 points for first place, 15 for second, all the way down to one point for 16th—here’s how the Week 5 consensus rankings shake out:
| Rank | Team | Points | Caleb | Matt | Zack |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BYU | 47 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| T-2 | Texas Tech | 44 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| T-2 | Utah | 44 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | Cincinnati | 36 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 5 | Oklahoma State | 34 | 6 | 4 | 7 |
| 6 | Houston | 31 | 9 | 7 | 4 |
| T-7 | Arizona State | 27 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| T-7 | Arizona | 27 | 10 | 9 | 5 |
| T-9 | Baylor | 26 | 5 | 10 | 10 |
| T-9 | UCF | 26 | 7 | 6 | 12 |
| 11 | Kansas State | 20 | 11 | 11 | 9 |
| 12 | West Virginia | 16 | 12 | 12 | 11 |
| 13 | Iowa State | 10 | 14 | 14 | 13 |
| 14 | TCU | 9 | 15 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | Colorado | 7 | 13 | 15 | 16 |
| 16 | Kansas | 4 | 16 | 16 | 15 |
There are three ties in the consensus rankings.
Texas Tech and Utah are tied at 44 points for second.
Arizona State and Arizona are tied at 27 points for seventh.
Baylor and UCF are tied at 26 points for ninth.
The Individual Rankings
Caleb
- BYU | BYU has been impressive to start the season and has the conference’s strongest resume right now.
- Texas Tech | The Red Raiders are undefeated and have already picked up a conference win over Houston and looked very good this weekend.
- Utah | The Utes are undefeated and have looked extremely consistent on both sides of the ball.
- Cincinnati
- Baylor
- Oklahoma State
- UCF
- Arizona State
- Houston
- Arizona
- Kansas State
- West Virginia
- Colorado
- Iowa State
- TCU | TCU falls after losing to UCF 21–13. The Horned Frogs are now 0–1 in conference play, and their early loss to North Carolina makes their resume difficult to overlook.
- Kansas | Kansas remains at the bottom after starting conference play with a loss to Arizona State. The Jayhawks need a quality Big 12 win to start moving up the rankings.
Matt
- Utah | You wanted to see them do it against a premium offense, and they answered the call by suffocating Iowa State 31–17 on the road. Wayshawn Parker has completely transformed this offense, racking up 239 all-purpose yards and 3 scores. Morgan Scalley’s defense is as brutal as advertised, and they jump to my top spot based on that massive road statement.
- BYU | The Cougars drop a spot only because they had a bye week while Utah was making a statement. BYU remains the most fundamentally sound team in the league. LJ Martin gives them a reliable ground game that will travel well when they head to Fort Worth this week.
- Texas Tech | The Red Raiders went out and dismantled Sam Houston 49–14. Joey McGuire’s squad showed a lethal defensive spark as linebacker Austin Romaine became the first FBS player in 13 years to return consecutive pass attempts for pick-sixes. If the defense can turn corners like that, their playoff aspirations are very real.
- Oklahoma State
- Cincinnati
- UCF
- Houston
- Arizona State
- Arizona
- Baylor
- Kansas State
- West Virginia
- TCU
- Iowa State
- Colorado | The plummet continues. A 23–13 loss to Baylor in their Big 12 opener exposed the exact same fatal flaws from last year. Julian Lewis spent the afternoon running for his life behind a porous offensive line, and the complete lack of a run game leaves the Buffaloes entirely one-dimensional.
- Kansas | The Jayhawks stay anchored at the bottom for me. Coming off a bye week following their sluggish showing against Arizona State across the pond, Lance Leipold has to find a spark.
Zack
- BYU | The Cougars had the week off, so I’m not bumping them from my top spot. They have TCU up this weekend to open up conference play, which, based on how the Horned Frogs looked against UCF, should be an easy win for BYU.
- Texas Tech | The Red Raiders dominated Sam Houston State as expected, and now they move on to Colorado on the road. This should be an easy win for Tech.
- Utah | The Utes opened up an early lead against Iowa State in Ames and never looked back. Now they get a bye week ahead of a matchup with Kansas, who hasn’t looked that great.
- Houston
- Arizona
- Cincinnati
- Oklahoma State
- Arizona State
- Kansas State
- Baylor
- West Virginia
- UCF
- Iowa State
- TCU
- Kansas | The Jayhawks had the week off, and now they host Middle Tennessee State. That should be an opportunity for a win ahead of a tough conference matchup with Utah.
- Colorado | The Buffs were competitive with Baylor, but that’s not enough to move out of this bottom spot. They host Texas Tech this weekend, which could be a bloodbath.
The Top Tier: BYU, Texas Tech and Utah
The Big 12 has finally developed a consensus top three.
There is one slight wrinkle: Utah has jumped Texas Tech on Matt’s ballot, while Caleb and Zack have the Red Raiders second.
But nobody has moved any of these three outside the top three.
That’s significant.
1. BYU Cougars
Caleb:
BYU has been impressive to start the season and has the conference’s strongest resume right now.
Matt:
The Cougars drop a spot only because they had a bye week while Utah was making a statement. BYU remains the most fundamentally sound team in the league. LJ Martin gives them a reliable ground game that will travel well when they head to Fort Worth this week.
Zack:
The Cougars had the week off, so I’m not bumping them from my top spot. They have TCU up this weekend to open up conference play, which, based on how the Horned Frogs looked against UCF, should be an easy win for BYU.
BYU is the only team that receives two first-place votes and remains the consensus No. 1.
The Cougars didn’t play in Week 4.
The biggest question now is simple: what happens when BYU gets back on the field?
TCU is waiting.
2. Texas Tech Red Raiders
Caleb:
The Red Raiders are undefeated and have already picked up a conference win over Houston and looked very good this weekend.
Matt:
The Red Raiders went out and dismantled Sam Houston 49–14. Joey McGuire’s squad showed a lethal defensive spark as linebacker Austin Romaine became the first FBS player in 13 years to return consecutive pass attempts for pick-sixes. If the defense can turn corners like that, their playoff aspirations are very real.
Zack:
The Red Raiders dominated Sam Houston State as expected, and now they move on to Colorado on the road. This should be an easy win for Tech.
Texas Tech has now gone from surviving games to destroying teams.
That’s an important development.
The Red Raiders have already beaten Houston and now demolished Sam Houston 49-14. The defense is creating game-changing plays, and the question entering October is whether this version of Texas Tech can become the team capable of making a legitimate run at the Big 12 title.
3. Utah Utes
Caleb:
The Utes are undefeated and have looked extremely consistent on both sides of the ball
Matt:
You wanted to see them do it against a premium offense, and they answered the call by suffocating Iowa State 31–17 on the road. Wayshawn Parker has completely transformed this offense, racking up 239 all-purpose yards and 3 scores. Morgan Scalley’s defense is as brutal as advertised, and they jump to my top spot based on that massive road statement.
Zack:
The Utes opened up an early lead against Iowa State in Ames and never looked back. Now they get a bye week ahead of a matchup with Kansas, who hasn’t looked that great.
This is the most important development at the top of the Week 5 rankings.
Utah finally got the premium opponent everyone wanted to see.
And the Utes delivered.
A 31-17 road victory over Iowa State gave Utah the résumé boost it needed, and Matt responded by moving the Utes all the way to No. 1.
Caleb and Zack aren’t quite ready to make that leap.
But all three agree Utah is one of the Big 12’s three best teams.
The First Big Disagreement: Utah vs. Texas Tech
This is a much different debate than we’ve had in previous weeks.
Nobody is questioning whether Utah belongs near the top.
The question is whether the Utes have done enough to leapfrog Texas Tech.
Matt says yes.
Caleb and Zack say no.
The consensus result is a tie at 44 points apiece.
That makes the top of the Big 12 even more interesting heading into the next round of conference play.
Cincinnati Is the Consensus No. 4
Cincinnati quietly emerges as the first team outside the top three.
Caleb has the Bearcats fourth.
Matt has them fifth.
Zack has them sixth.
That’s just a two-position spread.
It’s also one of the strongest examples of agreement outside the elite tier.
Nobody has Cincinnati outside the top six.
That consistency produces 36 consensus points, comfortably ahead of the teams fighting for fifth.
Oklahoma State Makes a Move
Oklahoma State is fifth in the consensus rankings, with:
- Caleb: 6th
- Matt: 4th
- Zack: 7th
That’s another relatively tight range.
Matt is particularly high on the Cowboys, placing them fourth.
Zack is the most cautious at seventh.
But all three voters agree Oklahoma State belongs in the upper half of the conference.
Houston: The Biggest Wild Card Near the Top
Houston is where things get interesting.
Caleb has the Cougars ninth.
Matt has them seventh.
Zack has them fourth.
That’s a five-position range.
Zack’s fourth-place ranking is particularly notable because Houston is the only team outside the top three that he places ahead of Cincinnati and Oklahoma State.
The Cougars’ narrow loss to Texas Tech continues to carry significant weight.
But the question is whether Houston can turn that close loss into momentum once the conference schedule gets deeper.
Arizona and Arizona State: A Tie With Very Different Paths
Arizona State and Arizona are tied at 27 consensus points.
But look at the ballots.
Arizona State
- Caleb: 8th
- Matt: 8th
- Zack: 8th
That is complete agreement.
Every voter has Arizona State eighth.
Arizona
- Caleb: 10th
- Matt: 9th
- Zack: 5th
That’s a five-position spread.
So while the two teams are tied in the consensus rankings, they got there in completely different ways.
Arizona State is the definition of consensus.
Arizona is the definition of disagreement.
Zack clearly believes the Wildcats belong much closer to the top of the league.
Baylor and UCF: Another Consensus Tie
Baylor and UCF are tied at 26 points.
But again, the individual ballots tell the story.
Baylor
- Caleb: 5th
- Matt: 10th
- Zack: 10th
Caleb is dramatically higher on the Bears than the other two.
UCF
- Caleb: 7th
- Matt: 6th
- Zack: 12th
Zack is considerably lower on UCF than Caleb and Matt.
That produces another fascinating mathematical tie.
Kansas State and West Virginia
Kansas State is 11th in the consensus rankings.
All three voters are actually pretty close:
- Caleb: 11th
- Matt: 11th
- Zack: 9th
That’s a two-position spread.
West Virginia is even tighter:
- Caleb: 12th
- Matt: 12th
- Zack: 11th
Nobody has the Mountaineers outside the 11-to-12 range.
Those two teams represent perhaps the most stable portion of the middle-lower tier.
TCU Takes Another Hit
TCU falls to No. 14 in the consensus rankings.
Caleb has the Horned Frogs 15th.
Matt has them 13th.
Zack has them 14th.
The reason is straightforward.
TCU lost 21-13 to UCF and is now 0-1 in conference play.
Caleb’s explanation is blunt:
TCU falls after losing to UCF 21–13. The Horned Frogs are now 0–1 in conference play, and their early loss to North Carolina makes their resume difficult to overlook.
There isn’t much disagreement about the direction of TCU.
The only question is how far the Horned Frogs should fall.
The Bottom Tier
The bottom of the Big 12 has become increasingly clear.
Kansas remains last.
Colorado is right above them.
Iowa State and TCU are now fighting to avoid getting pulled into that conversation.
Matt:
The plummet continues. A 23–13 loss to Baylor in their Big 12 opener exposed the exact same fatal flaws from last year. Julian Lewis spent the afternoon running for his life behind a porous offensive line, and the complete lack of a run game leaves the Buffaloes entirely one-dimensional.
Zack:
The Buffs were competitive with Baylor, but that’s not enough to move out of this bottom spot. They host Texas Tech this weekend, which could be a bloodbath.
Colorado’s three ballots are remarkably close considering how much the Buffaloes have fallen.
Caleb has them 13th.
Matt has them 15th.
Zack has them 16th.
The problem is that Colorado’s next opponent is Texas Tech.
That doesn’t exactly provide an obvious opportunity for a rebound.
16. Kansas
Caleb:
Kansas remains at the bottom after starting conference play with a loss to Arizona State. The Jayhawks need a quality Big 12 win to start moving up the rankings.
Matt:
The Jayhawks stay anchored at the bottom for me. Coming off a bye week following their sluggish showing against Arizona State across the pond, Lance Leipold has to find a spark.
Zack:
The Jayhawks had the week off, and now they host Middle Tennessee State. That should be an opportunity for a win ahead of a tough conference matchup with Utah.
Kansas receives only four total consensus points.
All three voters have the Jayhawks either 15th or 16th.
That’s as close to unanimous at the bottom as we’re likely to get.
Where We Agree
The Week 5 rankings contain some fascinating areas of consensus.
The Big Three
All three voters have the exact same three teams at the top:
BYU
Texas Tech
Utah
The only difference is that Matt flips the order of Texas Tech and Utah.
Arizona State
This might actually be the most impressive consensus agreement outside the top three.
All three voters have Arizona State eighth.
Exactly.
Kansas State
Kansas State is also tightly grouped:
- Caleb: 11th
- Matt: 11th
- Zack: 9th
West Virginia
The Mountaineers are another model of consistency:
- Caleb: 12th
- Matt: 12th
- Zack: 11th
Kansas
All three voters have Kansas at the bottom or one spot above it.
That makes the Jayhawks one of the safest consensus calls on the board.
Where We Were Way Off
Then there are the teams that expose just how differently the three voters see this conference.
Baylor
- Caleb: 5th
- Matt: 10th
- Zack: 10th
That’s a five-position difference.
Caleb is much higher on the Bears than the other two.
Arizona
- Caleb: 10th
- Matt: 9th
- Zack: 5th
Again, a five-position range.
UCF
- Caleb: 7th
- Matt: 6th
- Zack: 12th
Zack is significantly lower on the Knights.
Houston
- Caleb: 9th
- Matt: 7th
- Zack: 4th
Another five-position spread.
Oklahoma State
- Caleb: 6th
- Matt: 4th
- Zack: 7th
Not nearly as dramatic, but it illustrates the crowded nature of the middle.
The Biggest Story: The Big 12 Has a Top Three
After four weeks, we finally have something resembling a consensus at the top.
BYU has the strongest résumé.
Texas Tech has the most impressive recent defensive statement.
Utah just proved it can win a conference game on the road against a team that had earned respect.
Those three have separated themselves.
But the next tier?
That’s where the Big 12 gets weird.
Cincinnati, Oklahoma State, Houston, Arizona State, Arizona, Baylor and UCF are all legitimate candidates to move dramatically up or down over the next few weeks.
And the gap between them isn’t large.
That’s why the middle of this conference remains so fascinating.
The Week 5 Big 12 Board
The top of the conference is becoming clearer.
The bottom is becoming clearer.
Everything in between remains a mess.
BYU is still No. 1.
Texas Tech and Utah are tied for second.
Cincinnati has quietly established itself as the consensus No. 4.
Oklahoma State is knocking on the door.
Houston remains one of the league’s biggest wild cards.
Arizona and Arizona State are heading in very different directions despite landing at the same consensus position.
Baylor is one of Caleb’s biggest bets.
UCF is one of Zack’s biggest disagreements.
And Colorado and Kansas are staring up at a rapidly separating upper tier.
But the most important development may be what happened in Ames.
Utah finally got the test everyone demanded.
And the Utes passed it.
Now the Big 12 has three teams at the top that have legitimate arguments to be considered the conference’s best.
The separation between them is razor thin.
And with October football officially here, the weekly demolition derby is just getting started.