Big 12 Rankings: Kansas State holds serve

Around 1:00 PM on Saturday, I and many others surely thought K-State wasn’t one of the three best teams in the Big 12 at the moment. But as the day wore on, it became clear just how small the Wildcats’ problems were compared to others throughout the Big 12. Here is to another week of the KSO crew trying to make sense of a topsy-turvy league.

T-1. OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS (+/- 0 spots)

Mason: 2
DY: 2
Fan: 1
Drew: 1

Oklahoma State was similar to Kansas State, both looked destined for 11:00 AM losses. But the home crowd in Stillwater prevailed and the Pokes found a way to win. There is still plenty of reason to worry about Oklahoma State though. Alan Bowman had to put the ball in the air nearly 50 times and Ollie Gordon managed just 2.9 yards per carry. Plus the Cowboy defense took a major hit with Mike Gundy saying after the game he thought linebacker Collin Oliver would miss the rest of the season.

T-1. UTAH UTES (+1)

Mason: 1
DY: 1
Fan: 2
Drew: 2

Utah got out to an easy lead over Baylor, but then lost quarterback Cam Rising to a throwing hand injury. His status will be interesting to follow and will be the key for Utah’s season. Even with Rising, Utah’s offense hasn’t been overly impressive this season. However, Micah Bernard has inserted himself into the laundry list of talented Big 12 backs.

3. KANSAS STATE WILDCATS (0)

Mason: 3
DY: 3
Fan: 3
Drew: 3

Against Tulane, second half K-State was closer to being the Big 12 title contender that many imagined. Starting fast against Arizona will be key to making a statement and having a chance at the top spot in next week’s rankings.

4. IOWA STATE CYCLONES (+3)

Mason: 4
DY: 5
Fan: 4
Drew: 4

Iowa State looked dead in the water, down 13-0 at halftime in Kinnick Stadium. Rocco Becht and his dynamic receivers took the game over though and secured a last second 20-19 Cy-Hawk victory. Iowa’s passing game is still terrible, but it may still be the most impressive win of the season by a Big 12 team at the moment.

5. ARIZONA WILDCATS (0)

Mason: 5
DY: 4
Fan: 7
Drew: 6

Week 1 it looked like Arizona had the best offense in the Big 12 and would give up points to anybody in a 61-39 win over New Mexico. Week 2 changed the calculus, as the Wildcat offense managed just 22 points against Northern Arizona. They trailed 10-6 at the half to the Lumberjacks, Tetairoa McMillan had just two catches for 11 yards. A win is a win, but it was a less than impressive performance and might make it harder for K-State to know what team they are getting this Friday.

6. UCF KNIGHTS (0)

Mason: 6
DY: 6
Fan: 6
Drew: 7

The Knights love to beat up on bad teams, they did it again with a 45-14 win over Sam Houston. KJ Jefferson played better, but wasn’t asked to do a lot. RJ Harvey and Peny Boone were the real stories. The two running backs combined for 180 yards, five touchdowns and did it on less than 30 carries.

7. BYU COUGARS (+3)

Mason: 10
DY: 8
Fan: 5
Drew: 5

BYU won a nasty Friday night game at SMU. They held SMU to 15 points on five field goals, bending but not breaking to the max. Jake Retzlaff didn’t play well at quarterback, throwing two picks and averaging just 7.2 yards per attempt. The run game had just 3.8 yards per carry. BYU had just four of their 15 possessions get into Mustang territory. Two touchdowns and a field goal. That fourth appearance in Mustang territory doesn’t tell the full story, as SMU muffed a punt giving an extra possession that the Cougars couldn’t capitalize on, turning the ball over on downs. They are 2-0, slightly better than some thought but could have an interesting road trip to Wyoming this weekend.

8. KANSAS JAYHAWKS (-4)

Mason: 7
DY: 7
Fan: 8
Drew: 8

The Jayhawks took a tumble after losing on the road at Illinois. The Illini offense struggled, but were gifted three interceptions from Jalon Daniels , including a bad pick six before halftime. Kansas ran the ball well, but only still threw the ball 32 times on their 65 plays. Kansas stuffed the run, but were burnt through the air. Illinois had two receivers hit over 70 yards on the night.

T-9. ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS (+5)

Mason: 9
DY: 11
Fan: 9
Drew: 9

The Sun Devils raced out to a big lead on Mississippi State and used Cam Skattebo’s 296 total yards to hold on for the 30-23 win. Skattebo earned Big 12 Player of the Week and now the Sun Devils carry the most momentum the program has had since 2019. Arizona State will encounter a prime letdown spot, they go to San Marcos to face Texas State on Thursday night.

T-9. TCU HORNED FROGS (+3)

Mason: 8
DY: 10
Fan: 10
Drew: 10

The Frogs are 2-0 after a road win at Stanford and beating the snot out of a northeast FCS school. A big time matchup awaits the Frogs as they face UCF for their first Big 12 game of the season at 6:30 on FOX this Saturday.

11. WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS (+2)

Mason: 11
DY: 9
Fan: 13
Drew: 11

West Virginia beat Albany 49-14 to bounce back from their loss over Penn State. The only negative of the weekend for West Virginia was probably seeing how close Bowling Green played Penn State in State College, making it a game well into the 4th quarter.

12. BAYLOR BEARS (-3)

Mason: 12
DY: 14
Fan: 11
Drew: 12

Baylor got down big early and allowed a blocked field goal go for a touchdown. They shutout the Utes in the second half, but Cam Rising was injured and out of the game. DeQuan Finn has not been the hero at quarterback that Dave Aranda needed, he was just 9/21 for 115 yards on Saturday.

13. COLORADO BUFFALOES (-5)

Mason: 13
DY: 13
Fan: 12
Drew: 13

Deion Sanders threw his offensive line, that he recruited, under the bus again. His son left the field at the two-minute timeout, leaving his teammates behind to finish off the non-competitive game with Nebraska. He also said they needed to try to get the run game going, despite giving running backs just 11 carries in the game.

T-14. CINCINNATI BEARCATS (+1)

Mason: 14
DY: 15
Fan: 15
Drew: 15

The Bearcats blew a home game to Pitt by shutting down in the second half. They are who we thought they were, terrible.

T-14. HOUSTON COUGARS (+2)

Mason: 15
DY: 16
Fan: 14
Drew: 14

Donovan Smith played a solid game and the defense did enough to have a real chance to upset Oklahoma, but they just couldn’t get it done.

16. TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS (-5)

Mason: 16
DY: 12
Fan: 16
Drew: 16

After a shameful 52-51 win over Abilene Christian, Texas Tech couldn’t bounce back. Joey McGuire went on the road and was never in the game with Washington State. It could be an ugly season for the Red Raiders.

They are likely better than Houston and Cincinnati, but they are easily the most disappointing and embarrassing team in the conference right now. Turns out you can get all the Jimmys and Joes you want, but your coach has to kind of know the X’s and O’s.

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