Big 12 Power Rankings: Week One

Happy Labor Day, y'all. For those of you students who have the day off, stop reading this (or writing this...) and go study. Now, on to the rankings.

Reminder: I will not be doing a Top Four or Top Ten until Week Eight or so. Wouldn't want to overreact to an impressive (really, it was) showing by our friends down Highway 6.

1. Baylor Bears (+0)

Seth Russell is elite. Baylor's offense didn't miss a beat and will continue to put up big numbers once again. The defense looked pretty bad to begin the game, but they were also facing an offense no one had ever seen before. We'll see as the season develops if SMU is truly as explosive on offense as they showed in the first half (for Baylor's sake, I hope they are), but Baylor eventually wore down their opponent and won the game by a large margin. A bit of a rough game to begin the season, yet Baylor still won by 35. That's good enough to keep the top spot in the rankings.

2. TCU Horned Frogs (+0)

I am not really sure what to think about this game. TCU was favored by two touchdowns and was supposed to handle Minnesota easily. That clearly did not happen. With a 23-17 win, the Horned Frogs looked pretty good on defense (against a team that ran the ball up the middle a million times). Heisman hopeful Boykin did not look the part in this Thursday night game. I do not want to overreact too much, but TCU did not look like the second-best team in  the nation; Minnesota honestly could have won this game if a couple plays went another way. Minnesota may end up being much better than we...oh, who am I kidding? They're going to be #25 come Week Eight.

3. West Virginia Mountaineers (+3)

West Virginia...has a defense?! And a good one at that! Georgia Southern won the Sun Belt last year (9-3, 8-0 in conference, ranked No. 55 in Bill C's season preview). Unfortunately, I did not get to watch much of this game, so I'm going off of stat lines and the Sunday Morning Quarterback post. The defense wrecked shop and forced five turnovers on the day. Although the offense is still finding themselves, I'm glad we get this game at home.

4. Oklahoma Sooners (-1)

Like Baylor, Oklahoma struggled early and pulled away to cover the spread late (okay, depending on your line, Baylor might not have covered). For being a human tank, Samaje Perine only rushed for 33 yards, which is a bit disconcerting. Nonetheless, the Sooners got their act together and put Akron away.

5. Kansas State Wildcats (+0)

South Dakota is an FCS team. A really, really bad FCS team. They went 2-10 last year. The Snydercats shut them out. The loss of starting QB Jesse Ertz. When the story of the game was the marching band's halftime show, you know this game was a no-contest.

6. (tie) Oklahoma State Cowboys / Texas Tech Red Raiders (-2/+2)

Both of these teams struggled against lesser opponents and still came away with the victory. I honestly do not know what to think of either of these teams. Both have really good quarterbacks who can burn defenses. Both have the gun hand sign. Both have fans that are, well... Anyway, Tech looked, as always, good on offense and horrendous on defense. The Pokes were losing in the third quarter. I need more samples to properly assess these two teams.

8. Texas Longhorns (-2)

I seriously considered ranking Texas lower. Notre Dame completely obliterated the Horns in South Bend. Yes, they are a remarkably young team, but goooood gosh were they bad. I legitimately don't know if they can beat Rice this weekend. Do better, Strong.

9. Iowa State Cyclones (+1)

They didn't lose to an FCS team this year!

10. Kansas Jayhawks (-1)

Losing to an FCS team? Fumbling a snap to prevent the spiking of the ball and consequently running out the clock to lose the game? Kansas Football, y'all! That being said, the Hawks showed fight and never gave up after being down big early on. There is hope, just not for this year.