Expansion Big 12 Power Rankings: BYU Up, West Virginia Down, UCF Up, Texas Tech Back, Arizona Down

The Big 12 has become one of the most competitive football conferences in the nation, showcasing depth and unpredictability. Unlike some conferences dominated by one or two powerhouse teams, the Big 12 has a wide range of programs that consistently challenge for the top spot. Teams like Oklahoma, Texas, and more recently Baylor, Oklahoma State, and TCU, have all had seasons where they've been in the national conversation for championships or major bowl games.

With the recent addition of new teams like BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF, the competition in the conference has only increased. These programs bring rich football traditions and competitive spirits, ensuring that any Big 12 game can go either way. BYU, with its passionate fanbase and strong history, and UCF, known for its explosive offense, are poised to make an immediate impact.

Even historically under-the-radar teams like Kansas and Kansas State have recently made strides, showing that no team can be taken lightly in the Big 12. This level of parity means that every game is crucial, and any team can beat another on a given weekend. The conference's "every team is a threat" mentality keeps players and fans engaged throughout the season, adding to the intensity and excitement of the league.

As the conference continues to evolve and grow, its competitiveness will remain one of its defining features, making the Big 12 a thrilling conference to watch and one of the toughest to win in college football.

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Locked On College Conferences, HBCU, Basketball & More

[acrsde]

I'd say most BYU fans default is too say we're going to fall apart despite the 3-0 start.

[KNIGHT-TME]

UCF fans are always on edge playing out of town. 4 seems a little high but I will take it. Go Big 12.

[brailsmt]

As a BYU fan, #7 is too high just yet. There are still plenty of questions, especially with ARod. Retzlaff threw some extremely questionable passes that would have been interceptions against better teams. 2 and 7 for the rest of the season is definitely still a clear possibility.

[aaronmurray]

With great power comes great responsibility, but close enough.

[K-StateScottFL]

K-State should be #1 with top 20 win and Utah struggle with Utah St.

[calenono]

What an analogy about Neal Brown haha
That’s tough… but fit perfectly!

[tpatrickl]

DRINK DRAKE DRUNK, HAHAHA! You’ve got to stop huffing the Baylor fumes. They are going down in a ball of flames.

[MrBakersown]

Baylors defense looked good against utah 😂 what game did you watch? Cam stays in that game utah scores 40+. Whitt went super conservative after cam went out.

[jeoffbenzos]

As a BYU fan, I'd put us at 9. I know we're 3-0 and had a good win vs SMU, but the offensive play is too inconsistent. Almost no running game and the QB could easily have 6+ interceptions this year if opposing DBs could catch. Not sure how PFF graded Retzlaff as the best QB, because he had a lot of turnover worthy plays and a lot of bad misses to wide open guys. His stat sheet looks much better than he did on the field. I'd put TCU at 7, Baylor at 8, BYU at 9, and Arizona at 10. TCU's only loss was to a very good UCF team and it was super close. 0-3 UNM had Arizona on the ropes, and Arizona just got crushed by KSU, so it's safe to say they aren't the same without Fisch.

[robertpearce]

That baylor schedule is like the sickest ive ever seen. You got bad teams matching up almost ever week. I still dnt see baylor out playing the road games. Osu is home game. The could get houston. The problem with Colorado is its still to early.

[scottfl]

Dear Kansas, please put Neal Brown out of his misery!! Don't screw it up!! WVU fan

[chirocket]

Big 12 has a lot of okay teams that can beat each other any given week.

[russelldesertvikinganderso]

BYU at #7 about right☆ They have a great D & tough games at home.

[tonyak-best]

K State should be number one not Utah they had a huge win against the ranked opponent

[Lfg]

ucf fb? looking a future-projected #2 or #1 in 2024 big12 regular season play.

[familydork]

As a byu fan were too high. Its been fun and surprising to go 3-0 but we did the same thing last year. Byu also has one of the roughest schedules in the league. Kansas stae, baylor, arizona, oklahoma state, ucf, utah. Besides baylor those are the 5 best teams in the league. And then we play arizona state which seems to be a lit better than we thought. All of that combined with a very questionable offensive coordinator and quarterback. I think wed be very lucky to win 3 of those games. Its unfortunate the defense is so good but the offense is so bad.

[gregdimedio]

So, after CU beats Baylor on Saturday, do they flip positions in your power rankings?

[mrp]

My Power Rankings this week:
1. Oklahoma State (+1)
2. Kansas State (+1)
3. Utah (-2)
4. Iowa State (+1)
5. UCF (+4)
6. Arizona State (-)
7. BYU (+1)
8. TCU (-4)
9. Arizona (-2)
10. Baylor (+2)
11. Colorado (+2)
12. Texas Tech (+3)
13. West Virginia (-2)
14. Kansas (-4)
15. Houston (+1)
16. Cincinnati (-2)

Disclaimer: I’m an Utah fan/Alum and an alum of U of Iowa.

Oklahoma State gets the slight bump by dominating their meddling G5 instate ‘rival’ on the road, while Utah had a bit more trouble with theirs. I can’t complain that Utahs QB2 got much needed experience and looked much more like a 4-Star recruit, but the Defence looked more suspect without Reid in there to run the show. The winner of OkState and Utah this week will be at my #1 spot next week. Though, neither will likely jump into the AP Top-10 with the win given what the teams ranked higher are doing this weekend. Maybe Tennessee and Miami are at risk. Maybe, but unlikely, USC. But it won’t matter. The winner will be sitting pretty atop the Big XII standings.

Kansas State also gets the slight bump with a dominant win over formerly ranked Arizona and the overall tougher schedule. The winner of KState and BYU this week will be at my #2 spot next week.

I’ve been impressed with UCF who nearly swaps positions with TCU. They have a bye. Will be interesting if they can win their next two: Colorado and Florida, as that might be enough to move them into a Top-3 position.

The loser of Kansas and West Virginia will drop to #15.
The loser of Cincinatti and Houston will drop to #16.
I expect Iowa State and TCU to win their non-conference games.
Baylor vs Colorado and ASU vs TTech will give us a little better idea if any of these teams are truly ‘for real’.

Also, Utah’s conference ‘strength of schedule’ is looking stronger than it did in the pre-season. No they don’t have KState, but they got a lot of guff for not playing Kansas, West Virginia, Texas Tech and Cincinatti and I have those teams in the #12-16 mix right now. Road game against Oklahoma State was already going to be an early massive tilt, but road games against UCF and Arizona State are also looking much stronger and dangerous to me, in addition to the home tilts against BYU, TCU, Arizona and Iowa State. Their match on the road against Colorado at seasons end will depend on where Colorado is in the standing as to whether Hunter and Sanders are still playing. Still lots of football to be played, but at this point, i think their conference schedule looks much tougher. It has been a fun season so far.

[DWayne-neyh]

Behren Morton leads the league in passing yards by 4. . Not Bowman.

[jorybyu]

I 100% believe retzlaf and Arod both suck…it was nice to see someone like Bohannon throw the perfect spiral not on the back heel wilest throwing side arm….Keep in mind (the only thing I’ll give Retzlaf) Arod is the OC and QB coach he is double doomed