Big 12 Power Rankings updated after Week 7 of college football
By Dan Morrison,
10 hours ago
Week 7 of the college football season is in the books. With that, the Big 12 Power Rankings have been updated, with help from the On3 Massey Ratings.
The On3 Massey Ratings – which were officially used during the BCS era and have generated high school sports team rankings since 1995 – rank sports teams by analyzing game outcomes, strength of schedule, and margin of victory.
The college football season is now at the midway point of the season for most schools. So, by now, the power rankings have taken a good amount of shape and it’s relatively clear what teams belong where in these rankings.
The top of the Big 12 Power Rankings and conference standings for that matter is full of surprise teams. That includes the Iowa State Cyclones who are unbeaten through the midway point in the season. That’s caught plenty of people by surprise but this team undeniably deserves its spot atop the conference.
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Iowa State is coming off a road trip to Morgantown where they beat West Virginia. Like most of Iowa State’s games this season, they won it on the back of an excellent defensive effort. Only giving up 11 points per game this season, the Cyclones are tied for fifth in the country in scoring defense . If they can continue to play at that level, they’re going to be incredibly difficult to beat.
The BYU Cougars are another major surprise in the Big 12 this season. Sitting at 6-0 a season after the Cougars didn’t make it to a bowl game, for a while BYU has flown under the radar. However, as time has gone on, more and more people have started to notice just how good and well-rounded this team is.
This past weekend, BYU dominated Arizona, blowing out the Wildcats by a score of 41-19. It was the second time they’ve blown out a conference opponent at home this season, with Provo quickly becoming one of the toughest road environments in the conference. Forcing three interceptions and four turnovers total was a major reason for that success, but the play of Jake Retzlaff at quarterback also can’t be ignored.
It’s been a few weeks now since Kansas State lost to BYU and since then the Wildcats seem to have settled down. Since then, they’ve won two games, including a road test against the Colorado Buffaloes on Saturday. That ended up being an exciting game in Boulder but one the Wildcats won on the back of 182 yards from DJ Giddens .
Kansas State expects to be a competitor to win the Big 12 this season. With that, the Wildcats also expect to be a competitor to make the College Football Playoff . However, it’s still a crowded field at the top of the conference this season. So, there’s not much room for mistakes moving forward. Next week, on the road against West Virginia, could be tricky.
The Texas Tech Red Raiders have been quietly winning this season. Since the bad loss to Washington State in non-conference play, the Red Raiders have started to figure things out. That includes going unbeaten in Big 12 play, with each of their conference wins coming in one-score games.
After beating Arizona to start October, the Red Raiders had a bye week to regroup for the second half of the season and prepare for their next game. That’s coming on Saturday against a struggling Baylor team. So, the expectation is going to be that Texas Tech keeps on winning. Still, down the line, there are some difficult games ahead.
The Arizona State Sun Devils have been a feel good story in the Big 12 to this point in the season. Now in his second season as the head coach, Kenny Dillingham has already surpassed his win total from year one and made the team look much more impressive. With that, there’s a burst of excitement about the future of the program under his leadership and in a new conference.
The Sun Devils got a very impressive win on Friday night, taking down the Utah Utes, who came into the season as a favorite in the Big 12. That game saw the Arizona State defense shut down the Utah offense, and in particular Cam Rising who returned from injury for the game. Meanwhile, running back Cameron Skattebo went wild, rushing for 158 yards and two touchdowns.
The Colorado Buffaloes have shown some clear improvement from 2023 and at the halfway point have already matched their win total from last season. Much of that goes back to star players like Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter . So, even with a close loss to a good Kansas State team, there’s a lot to like in Boulder.
The major concern going forward for Colorado is, obviously, the health of Travis Hunter. A two-way star, he’s a legit Heisman Trophy candidate. However, he left the game against Kansas State with an injury. It appeared to be a shoulder injury, but the severity is unknown at this point. Add in injuries to wide receivers Omarion Miller and Jimmy Horn Jr. and the Colorado offense looks very thin all of a sudden.
The Cincinnati Bearcats are quietly 4-2 and are coming off a win over UCF. That came in odd circumstances, with questions about travel and if the game would even be played due to Hurricane Milton. It was played, though, and Cincinnati beat a team they always really want to beat on the back of a strong defensive effort and converting nine of 16 third downs on offense.
Next up for Cincinnati is a game against Arizona State. That’s going to be an important game in determining how the Big 12 race shakes out moving forward with both teams already having a conference loss. A major key to that for the Bearcats is finding a way to stop the run in a season where they’re 91st in rushing defense , giving up 164.83 yards per game on the ground.
Head coach Neal Brown was frustrated with the officiating in West Virginia’s loss to Iowa State over the weekend. The seven penalties on West Virginia compared to one on Iowa State was certainly a factor in the loss, but so was the Iowa State defensive effort and the Mountaineers walking away from the game -2 in turnovers.
It was a frustrating loss to drop the Mountaineers back to .500 for the season. Still, they’re right in Big 12 contention with only one loss at this point in conference play. At the same time, the schedule is going to stay tough moving forward, so West Virginia will need to turn things around quickly.
The Utah Utes finally got quarterback Cam Rising back from injury and it went poorly. He completed just 16 of 37 pass attempts for 209 yards and three interceptions. That came in a game that the Utes lost by just eight points and likely would have won with better quarterback play. So, Rising playing poorly, has led to some concerns about the Utes.
Beyond the quarterback position, Utah is clearly a talented team. The defense remains excellent for Utah and Micah Bernard is a very capable running back. Still, with two Big 12 losses, Utah will need to turn things around quickly. That starts with a game against TCU next week.
The Arizona Wildcats through one half of the season have had some highs and lows. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, they’re coming off a pretty major low after losing to BYU by 22 points. That’s now part of a stretch where they’ve lost three of their last four games. That includes quarterback Noah Fifita throwing nine interceptions to eight touchdowns on the season, with five of those coming in the last two weeks.
Arizona needs to turn things around quickly to try and salvage any hope of competing at the top of the Big 12 in their first season in the conference. That starts with a tough game against Colorado. Finding an offensive weapon outside of Tetairoa McMillan is going to be a key to having more consistent offensive success.
Week 8 is set to be an exciting one in the Big 12 with all 16 teams playing one another. With that, not only will the standings continue to see movement but the Big 12 power rankings will also likely see another shakeup following those games.
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