Big 12 Baseball Power Rankings: Texas Tech Now On Top
With one weekend of a full slate of Big 12 conference baseball games behind us, our panel of fans has already made some changes to this week’s Baseball Power Rankings. Texas, which held the top spot in the Power Rankings the last two weeks, traveled to Lubbock last weekend. Texas Tech dramatically won the series with a walk-off steal in the bottom of the 10th inning on Friday, then a walk-off grand slam on Saturday. So, with that, Tech moved up to the top spot this week and showed they are the team to beat in the Big 12.
Oklahoma State and TCU both swept their conference opponents over the weekend.
Compared to last week’s rankings, Kansas State and West Virginia again flipped positions for No. 7 and 8. Texas dropped to No. 3, moving Texas Tech to No. 1 and TCU to No. 2. Here are their Big 12 Baseball Power Rankings for this week:
National rankings listed are based on current rankings by D1Baseball. Team records are through Sunday, March 27 and do not reflect any of this week’s midweek games.
Power Rankings
9. Kansas (8-14, 0-3), last week #9
The Jayhawks still have one, possibly two, more basketball games. Let’s let them celebrate that before pointing out that they are meaningless to any sport other than basketball once again.
8. Kansas State (11-11, 0-3), last week #7
Kansas State came to Fort Worth and got swept. Not only did they not win a game, but they were also outscored 32-13. Ouch. Perhaps that’s why they dropped back to No. 8 this week.
7. West Virginia (13-8, 0-0), last week #8
West Virginia has yet to play any Big 12 opponents, so no one yet knows if they are a contender or a bottom feeder. Stay tuned, and let’s see. This week, they travel to Fort Worth to play a ranked TCU team that somehow managed to lose two midweek games after sweeping KSU last weekend.
6. Baylor (12-11, 2-4), last week #6
Baylor has a pattern now in Big 12 games after playing two weekend series – lose by 2-4 runs on both Friday and Saturday, then win big on Sunday. They get their Big 12 bye week this week, so we will have to wait and see if this pattern stays true to form when they travel to Morgantown on April 8.
5. Oklahoma (14-8, 2-1), last week #5
On Saturday, the Sooners were down 5-1 to Baylor in the bottom of the eighth inning. They got one grand slam that inning to tie the game, then they got another grand slam in the bottom of the ninth for the walk-off win. This gave them the series win over Baylor. They play in Austin this weekend. Are the Sooners good enough to beat them? Or, are the Longhorns worse than everyone projected? We will have to wait and see.
4. #6 Oklahoma State (18-6, 3-0), last week #4
The Pokes swept Kansas to open up Big 12 play, and after that series, they had an 11-game winning streak going. Pokes fans did a lot of chirping when last week’s Power Rankings had them at 4th. Expect more chirping, coming from Stillwater, since they didn’t budge off that line this week. Sure, they beat Vandy on opening weekend in Nashville, but they have KSU this weekend, so still no statement B12 series yet.
3. #8 Texas (19-7, 1-2), last week #1
Texas baseball showed what their basketball team learned last month – winning in Lubbock is never easy. And Texas fell asleep in Friday’s game. Their pitcher never looked up, and never paid attention to the runner on 3rd in the bottom of the tenth inning. That runner took off and stole home for the walk-off. The ball never left the mound, and the pitcher looked like he just awoke from his quick snooze.
2. #12 TCU (18-5, 5-1), last week #3
The Frogs had a good home series against KSU, sweeping the Wildcats and outscoring them 32-13. Then came ACU and UTSA for their midweek opponents, and those two combined to outscore TCU 18-10. These rankings are based on all games played up to last Sunday. TCU hosts WVU this weekend, so we can see if they recover from that hiccup or if that was something more of a concern.
1. #7 Texas Tech (20-5, 2-1), last week #2
Texas Tech was the most complete team in the Big 12 in basketball this season, though they did not make it past the Sweet Sixteen. That’s okay, though, as their baseball team is picking up where the hoops team left off – Texas Tech is clearly the best and most complete team in the Big 12. Their two dramatic 10th inning walk-offs over Almighty Texas proved that the path to a championship will have to run through Lubbock this season.
Note: Power Rankings are determined by a group of fans representing most of the ten schools currently in the Big 12 Conference.
Want to join the discussion? Click here to become a member of the Killer Frogs message board community today!
Follow KillerFrogs on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest TCU news! Follow KillerFrogs on Facebook and Instagram as well. Download the KillerFrogs app on Google Play or in the Apple App Store.