Big 12 Baseball Power Rankings: Whoa, Nellie! It’s a Hot Mess
Disclaimer: The rankings below are for the games played through Sunday, April 23. Midweek games played since Sunday will be reflected on next week’s Power Rankings.
If you wanted chaos, you got it last weekend. Of the four Big 12 series, three were sweeps. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State got their sweeps on the road, with the Sooners beating Texas and the Pokes beating Kansas. The other sweep was West Virginia over TCU in Morgantown. Tech won the first two games in the other series and was set up for the sweep until Baylor pulled off the Sunday win.
But which team is the best? Each week, during the baseball season, we will bring you our Power Rankings, where we decide how the nine teams in the league stand.
We have brought together a group from across the league to vote each week during the season on the Big 12 Power Rankings. There are 21 participants in this group, which consists of the KillerFrogs editorial staff plus one or two fans from each of the other schools in the league.
Each week, each participant provides their rankings 1-9. Those rankings are compiled, and the average rank is then listed below. (For those of you counting, Iowa State does not play baseball).
This week’s Power Rankings are nothing but a hot mess. There’s another top team this week (West Virginia), but even that wasn’t as definitive as our top pick has been in previous weeks.
Week over week, five of the nine teams dropped, three teams went up, and one stayed where they were. OSU and West Virginia had the biggest jumps, both moving up three spots. Oklahoma moved up one spot.
Kansas, Texas, and TCU each dropped only one spot after all were swept. Kansas State and Texas Tech both dropped two spots. Baylor was the only team to remain unchanged.
Here’s how our panel ranks the teams this week:
National rankings listed are based on current rankings by D1Baseball. Team records are through April 23 and do not include any midweek games from this week.
Big 12 Baseball Power Rankings
9. Baylor (15-26, 6-12)
Last week #9
Baylor got the win on Sunday to avoid a sweep in Lubbock. But the Bears have dug a hole in the league standings. It will be hard for them to advance in either the standings or these Power Rankings.
8. Kansas (19-21, 5-10)
Last week #7
The Jayhawks got swept by Oklahoma State and dropped only one spot this week. They travel to Norman this weekend, so don’t look for more movement. Just think, however. With each week, KU gets that much closer to hoops season.
7. Oklahoma (22-19, 7-8)
Last week #8
Last season, OU got hot at the end of the season. They went on to win the Big 12 tournament and compete for the national championship in Omaha. Could they be poised to repeat? Perhaps. A series sweep in Austin over a Top 20 team may be the beginning. For now, they moved up only one spot. But they could move up next week if they take care of business over KU and more chaos happens with other teams.
6. TCU (22-18, 7-8)
Last week #5
The Horned Frogs continued their skid last weekend after West Virginia swept them. Not only that, they got run-ruled on Sunday. Just a couple of weeks ago, TCU was the number two team. Oh, how the preseason favorites have fallen. They need a good showing over Texas to salvage their season.
5. #14 Texas Tech (29-13, 8-7)
Last week #3
Texas Tech is just quietly doing what they need to do. Their league record is just over .500, yet they remain one of only two Big 12 teams to be ranked this week. They’ve had some odd losses and haven’t been dominant outside of Lubbock, but they are a crazy 25-5 at home. They hit the road to play K-State this weekend. Let’s see how they do with a critical road series.
4. Kansas State (26-16, 9-6)
Last week #2
We said it weeks ago – could this be the Year of the Cats? After successful football and basketball seasons, could baseball make it the trifecta? Last week, the Cats were our second team. They won a nonconference series on the road against a decent UC-Irvine team but still fell two spots. They are only a half-game out of first place, so they still have opportunities to move to the top.
3. Oklahoma State (28-13, 11-7)
Last week #6
Oklahoma State has bounced up and down in our rankings this season. They swept KU last week after losing back-to-back series to TCU and West Virginia. They have been as high as number one and as low as number six. Will the real Pokes team please stand up?
2. Texas (27-15, 8-7)
Last week #1
Ouch! The Longhorns hosted the Sooners last weekend. They entered the weekend at the top of the Big 12 standings. After Oklahoma got the sweep, Texas now sits at 8-7 and right in the middle of the Big 12 standings. They travel to Fort Worth this weekend. The good news is that one of those teams will end their conference losing streak after the first game is played Saturday night.
1. #18 West Virginia (29-11, 8-4)
Last week #4
Country roads, take me home! Morgantown has been a good place for the Mountaineers this season. They are 12-4 at home so far this season. Last weekend, a series sweep over TCU vaulted West Virginia up to the top spot. In our five weeks of Power Rankings, they became the third team to hold the top spot. They travel to Waco this weekend, so they probably will stay at the top next week.
Note: Power Rankings are determined by a group of fans representing most schools currently in the Big 12 Conference.
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