Big 12 Football Power Rankings: Week 12 - BYU Still on Top; Colorado Now Second

Looking at where each team sits in the Big 12 Conference.

Colorado's Shedeur Sanders has helped catapult his team to the second spot in this week's Big 12 Football Power Rankings. In 11 weeks, the Buffaloes have moved up from No. 13 in Week 3 to No. 2 in Week 12. / Stephen Garcia/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After escaping Salt Lake City with a walk-off win, the BYU Cougars (9-0, 6-0) maintained a firm grasp on the top spot in our Week 13 Big 12 Football Power Rankings.

However, there's a new No. 2 this week. After debuting in Week 3 at No. 13, the Colorado Buffaloes now sit at No. 2, just squeaking by Kansas State.

Oklahoma State, who has yet to win a conference game, remains at the bottom. What a crazy season. In July, the top five in the conference were predicted to be Utah, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Kansas, and Arizona. Now, with three weeks to play, four of those teams sit at the bottom of this week's power rankings. Only KSU has maintained a top-five spot.

As for the rest of the rankings, the middle of the pack continues to shift, as it has all season long.

Only three teams—BYU (No. 1), Arizona (No. 15), and Oklahoma State (No. 16)—did not change positions from last week. Three teams received first-place votes: BYU, Iowa State, and Kansas State, while four teams received last-place votes: Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma State, and Utah.

How Power Rankings Are Determined

Once again, we have brought together a group from across the league to vote on the Big 12 Power Rankings each week during the season.

• 38 Total Participants
• TCU FanNation (KillerFrogs) Editorial Staff (16)
• Not all are TCU homers – fans of teams in the SEC and Big Ten are part of our editorial staff.
• One to two fans from each of the Big 12 current schools (22)

Each week, each participant provides their rankings 1-16. Those rankings are compiled, and the average rank is then listed below.

Here's where our panel of voters ranked the teams this week:

2024 Big 12 Power Rankings – Week 12

Here are our Week 12 Big 12 Football Power Rankings, as voted on by our group of sports journalists and fans representing all 16 teams. What did this week tell us? It told us that, as of right now, we still have a lot of football to play to determine who makes it to Arlington and then ultimately into the playoffs.

Week 12 Power Rankings Highlights

• BYU, for the 2nd straight week, is the No. 1 team.
• BYU is the third team this season to be ranked No. 1 (Utah - Weeks 3-5; Iowa State - Weeks 6-10)
• Iowa State and Kansas State also received first-place votes.
• Colorado jumped into second place; they started in Week 3 at No. 13
• Oklahoma State, 0-7 in conference play, is, again, in last place this week.
• Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma State, and Utah received last-place votes.
• This week, only six had seven or eight spots between their highest and lowest ranking, compared to eight teams in recent weeks. These teams are Baylor, Cincinnati, Houston, Kansas, Texas Tech, and UCF.
• Kansas (high No. 5; low No. 16) and the highest fluctuation (11).
• Two teams - BYU and Oklahoma State- had the lowest fluctuations (2) between their highest and lowest rankings.
• West Virginia had the most positive movement this week, moving up three spots. Cincinnati had the most significant drop, moving down three spots.
• Over the ten weeks we've done these rankings, Oklahoma State and Utah have had the biggest swings; OSU is down 14 spots (was No. 2 in Week 3 and is now No. 16). Three teams have moved at least 11 spots during the season - Colorado, Texas Tech, and Utah.

16. Oklahoma State (3-7, 0-7)#

Last Week’s Power Ranking: #16
Highest Ranking: #13
Lowest Ranking: #16
Last Week: Lost to TCU 13-38
This Week: Bye Week

15. Arizona (3-6, 1-5)

Last Week’s Power Ranking: #15
Highest Ranking: #10
Lowest Ranking: #16
Last Week: Bye Week
This Week: vs. Houston

14. Utah (4-5, 1-5)

Last Week’s Power Ranking: #13
Highest Ranking: #9
Lowest Ranking: #16
Last Week: Lost to BYU 21-22
This Week: at Colorado

13. UCF (4-6, 2-5)

Last Week’s Power Ranking: #11
Highest Ranking: #8
Lowest Ranking: #14
Last Week: Lost to Arizona State 31-35
This Week: Bye Week

12. Kansas (3-6, 2-4)

Last Week’s Power Ranking: #14
Highest Ranking: #7
Lowest Ranking: #16
Last Week: Beat Iowa State 46-36
This Week: at BYU

11. Houston (4-5, 3-3)

Last Week’s Power Ranking: #12
Highest Ranking: #8
Lowest Ranking: #15
Last Week: Bye Week
This Week: at Arizona

10. Cincinnati (5-4, 3-4)

Last Week’s Power Ranking: #7
Highest Ranking: #4
Lowest Ranking: #10
Last Week: Lost to West Virginia 24-31
This Week: at Iowa State

9. Baylor (5-4, 3-3)

Last Week’s Power Ranking: #8
Highest Ranking: #4
Lowest Ranking: #12
Last Week: Bye Week
This Week: at West Virginia

8. TCU (6-4, 4-3)*

Last Week’s Power Ranking: #10
Highest Ranking: #5
Lowest Ranking: #13
Last Week: Beat Oklahoma State 38-13
This Week: Bye Week

7. Texas Tech (6-4, 4-3)*

Last Week’s Power Ranking: #5
Highest Ranking: #3
Lowest Ranking: #9
Last Week: Lost to Colorado 27-41
This Week: Bye Week

6. West Virginia (5-4, 4-2)

Last Week’s Power Ranking: #9
Highest Ranking: #6
Lowest Ranking: #13
Last Week: Beat Cincinnati 31-24
This Week: vs. Baylor

5. Arizona State (7-2, 4-2)*

Last Week’s Power Ranking: #6
Highest Ranking: #4
Lowest Ranking: #10
Last Week: Beat UCF 35-31
This Week: at Kansas State

4. Iowa State (7-2, 4-2)*

Last Week’s Power Ranking: #2
Highest Ranking: #1
Lowest Ranking: #4
Last Week: Lost to Kansas 36-45
This Week: vs. Cincinnati

3. #16 Kansas State (7-2, 4-2)*

Last Week’s Power Ranking: #4
Highest Ranking: #1
Lowest Ranking: #7
Last Week: Bye Week
This Week: vs. Arizona State

2. #17 Colorado (7-2, 5-1)*

Last Week’s Power Ranking: #3
Highest Ranking: #2
Lowest Ranking: #5
Last Week: Beat Texas Tech 41-24
This Week: vs. Utah

1. #6 BYU (9-0, 6-0)*

Last Week’s Power Ranking: #1
Highest Ranking: #1
Lowest Ranking: #6
Last Week: Beat Utah 22-21
This Week: vs. Kansas

Note: Power Rankings are determined by a group of fans representing most schools in the Big 12 Conference.

* Bowl Eligible
# Not eligible for a bowl game

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