Big 12 Power Rankings: Week Five

What a weekend in sports. The Rangers won the AL West, the Astros are going to (hopefully) beat the Yankees to get the second wild card spot, FC Dallas clinched a playoff spot (and crushed the orange), and Baylor looked unstoppable. Now if only the Stars could find a defense...

Overall, this weekend was quite the exciting one in the Big 12. Of course, this being the Big 12, it was not without controversy. By now, you've heard about and seen the horrendous call that was made in the Oklahoma State - Kansas State game. You've probably seen the apology letter...with the word "Accuracy" misspelled. Who knows if the call cost K-State the game? It probably didn't, but this bad officiating is a stain on the conference. Do better, Big 12.

Now, on to the rankings. Last week's.

1. Baylor Bears (+0)

Show me a team in the nation that is looking better right now. Baylor ran absolutely rampant on Texas Tech and their defense played better than they have all year. Yes, Baylor was lucky on a few Tech drops, and they had some bone-headed missed coverage plays, but overall I was very pleased with the defense. Special teams coverage improved after the first kickoff; I liked how we kicked it all over the field so that no Tech player could really return it. If we can't kick it out of the endzone every time, I'll happily take that option. Special teams receiving however... First, I've never heard of a "wedge penalty". Leave it to Baylor to commit an unheard-of penalty! Blocks in the back are incredibly frustrating too. They should, I would think, be easy to avoid.  Still, Baylor had eight penalties for 72 yards, which is an improvement.

Then there's the offense. Oh my goodness, this offense. In the first half, it looked (and was) devastatingly dominant. I wasn't a huge fan of letting off the gas in the second half, given what has happened in the past, but it didn't come back to hurt Baylor this time around. Overall, Baylor looks like one of, if not the, best team(s) in the nation.

2. TCU Horned Frogs (+0)

After a massive scare in Lubbock, the Frogs came out with a vengeance on Saturday. There's not much to say about this game other than TCU's uniform combination was hideous and that they look to be back on track. Of course, they only played Texas, so we can't take too much information out of this game.

3. Oklahoma Sooners (+0)

West Virginia have never been the same team on the road as they are in Morgantown. That being said, Oklahoma looked very impressive against them. Their offense was able to put up a solid 44 points on a West Virginia defense that had given up just over half of that in the previous games combined. Oklahoma very well could contend for the Big 12 title.

4. West Virginia Mountaineers (+0)

The Mountaineers lost a bit of their luster this past weekend, but they still are a good side with the potential to cause some chaos.

5. Oklahoma State Cowboys (+1)

The Cowboys are the most unknown 5-0 team ever. I still have no idea what to think of them.

6. Texas Tech Red Raiders (-1)

After nearly pulling off the upset of the year, the Red Raiders came out and shot themselves in the foot...with a bazooka. Their offense is one of the best in the country, but (again...) their defense needs to improve if they want to compete for the Big 12 title.

7. Kansas State Wildcats (+0)

K-State nearly beat OSU in Stillwater with a fifth-string QB. A fifth-string QB. Never doubt The Wizard.

8. Iowa St. Cyclones (+1)

They have more wins than Texas. That is not a falsehood.

9. Texas Longhorns (-1)

Let's check in on the Longhorn locker room...

Texas safety Dylan Haines just spent 10 full minutes calling out teammates for not working and not preparing.

— Mike Finger (@mikefinger) October 5, 2015

10. Kansas Jayhawks (+0)

Eesh, y'all.

11. Big 12 Refs

smh

That's all for this week. #SicKansas