Big 12 Football Power Rankings And Bowl Projections: Week 12
Two weeks remain in the regular season. Half of the Big 12 Championship Game has been determined. But there’s still much football to be played in November.
We said it last week – it’s the games in November that you will remember. It worked last week with two big games shaking up our weekly rankings –Kansas State demolishing Baylor and TCU getting yet another win in Austin.
This week, there were several changes in our Power Rankings – Kansas State and Texas flipped for No. 2 and No. 3; Oklahoma State bumped ahead of Baylor and Kansas at No. 4; Oklahoma and Texas Tech flipped for No. 7 and No. 8; and West Virginia and Iowa State, once again, flipped for No. 9 and No. 10.
Once again, 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 26 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 1-10. Those rankings are compiled, and the average rank is then listed below.
Here's where our panel of voters ranked the teams this week:
Power Rankings
10. Iowa State (4-6, 1-6)
(Last week #9)
Lost to Oklahoma State 20-14
Just when we thought the Cyclones wouldn’t see the bottom of the list again after they beat West Virginia, here they are. They went into Stillwater as the favorites, yet they still came out with another loss by only one possession. Iowa State has had a lot of one-possession losses this season. They need to win out to become bowl eligible, which is a tough road with a home game against Texas Tech before playing at TCU to end the season.
9. West Virginia (4-6, 2-5)
(Last week #10)
Beat Oklahoma 23-20
West Virginia moves up in our rankings with a walk-off field goal to win the game over Oklahoma. This was only the second conference win for the Mountaineers. As our WVU voter in these weekly rankings said, West Virginia is like what Forrest Gump would say about a box of chocolates – You never know what you'll get. West Virginia must also win out to become bowl eligible but must first beat Kansas State in Morgantown, then Oklahoma State in Stillwater.
8. Oklahoma (5-5, 2-5)
(Last week #7)
Lost to West Virginia 23-20
So, Sooners fans, are you missing Lincoln yet? Former coach Lincoln Riley has taken his new team, USC, to 9-1 and on the outskirts of the College Football Playoff. But now the Sooners enter Bedlam week needing one more win to become bowl eligible. How quickly the tables have turned that the Bedlam game doesn’t impact the Sooners making it to the Big 12 Championship game. If they don’t get the win over OSU, they must then beat Texas Tech in Lubbock to go bowling.
7. Texas Tech (5-5, 3-4)
(Last week #8)
Beat Kansas 43-28
That comment above about Forrest Gump can also apply here. Since conference play began in September, the Red Raiders have been on a win-one-lose-two pattern. They won last week over Kansas, so the pattern tells us they probably will lose the last two. They need a win in one of them to go bowling (at Iowa State, then home for Oklahoma).
6. Kansas (6-4, 3-4)
(Last week #5)
Lost to Texas Tech 43-28
The Jayhawks are going bowling for the first time since 2008. They got their 6th win in Week 10 over Oklahoma State. They clearly represent the middle of the pack – not as good as the contenders and not as bad as those below them. They host Texas this week, and for some reason, that’s always a very interesting game! They then end the season in Manhattan for the Sunflower Showdown and could find themselves as spoilers to keep their in-state rival out of the conference championship game.
5. Baylor (6-4, 4-3)
(Last week #4)
Lost to Kansas State (31-3)
Last week, Baylor was one of three teams tied for second place in the league. Keep winning, and they could find themselves back in the Big 12 Championship Game, which they won last year on their way to their Sugar Bowl appearance. But the K-State Wildcats weren’t having it and destroyed the Bears 31-3. This week, Baylor looks for history to repeat itself in reverse as they look to spoil rival TCU’s aspirations of making it to the College Football Playoffs.
4. Oklahoma State (7-3, 4-3)
(Last week #6)
Beat Iowa State (20-14)
After surviving last week and beating Iowa State, OSU still has a slim hope of returning to the Big 12 Championship Game. The Pokes must win out (at Oklahoma for Bedlam, then home for West Virginia) and hope that K-State loses both of its remaining games. The Wildcats have a one-game lead over OSU, but K-State also holds the tiebreaker over the Pokes.
3. Texas (6-4, 4-3)
(Last week #2)
Like Oklahoma State, Texas was also tied for 2nd in the league last week. They find themselves looking behind K-State, a team the Longhorns, handled just two weeks ago. Texas has a slightly different path than OSU to make it to the championship game. The Longhorns must win out, K-state must lose at least one game, and OSU must lose at least one if Texas wants to make it to the championship game. So, you know what that means? Longhorns will be saying “Boomer Sooner” this weekend, even if just silently and under their breath.
2. #19 Kansas State (7-3, 5-2)
(Last week #3)
Beat Baylor 31-3
Win, and you are in. That’s all the Wildcats must do to make it to Arlington for an all-purple Big 12 Championship Game. K-State embarrassed Baylor in Waco, 31-3, last weekend. If K-State can beat West Virginia (in Morgantown, so not a gimme) and Kansas at home, they will secure their spot and have the matchup with TCU in the title game.
1. #4 TCU (10-0, 7-0)
(Last week #1)
After being MIA in several other games this season, TCU's defense showed up last week. They held Texas to under 200 yards total offense, something the Longhorns had not done in seven years. And as Clint Foster said in this week’s fan reaction video, “We saw the best running back in the nation and a guy who sells mustard,” referring to Kendre Miller’s 138-yard game last week. TCU secured its spot in the conference game and now must wait to find out which team they will play again. In the meantime, they must get past a Baylor team to make it to the College Football Playoffs.
Big 12 Bowl Projections
These bowl projections are based upon the above rankings, listed in order of bowl selection. With the first College Football Playoff committee rankings released this week, TCU was No. 4, thus putting them in the playoffs. That means the conference runner-up (in this scenario, K-State) gets the league’s spot in the Sugar Bowl. The Big 12 placements below are based on the above rankings. Currently, all ten teams in the Big 12 have a chance at becoming bowl eligible. Here are this week’s projections,
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl – CFP Semifinal
December 31 - Atlanta
#4 TCU vs. #1 Georgia
Allstate Sugar Bowl
December 31 - New Orleans
Kansas State vs. LSU
Valero Alamo Bowl
December 29 – San Antonio
Texas vs. Oregon
Cheez-It Bowl
December 29 – Orlando
Oklahoma State vs. North Carolina
TaxAct Texas Bowl
December 28 – Houston
Baylor vs. Kentucky
AutoZone Liberty Bowl
December 28 – Memphis
Kansas vs. Maryland
Guaranteed Rate Bowl
December 27 – Phoenix
Texas Tech* vs. Wisconsin*
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
December 22 – Fort Worth
Oklahoma* vs. SMU
SERVPRO First Responders Bowl
December 27 – University Park, Texas
West Virginia* vs. UNLV*
*Team is not yet bowl eligible
Other FanNation Power Rankings
How do other FanNations rank the Big 12? Check them out here:
Baylor – Inside the Bears
Kansas – Blue Wings Rising – (K-State fans will find this one interesting!)
Texas – Longhorns Country
Texas Tech – Red Raider Review
West Virginia – Mountaineers Now
Note: Power Rankings are determined by a group of fans representing all ten schools currently in the Big 12 Conference.
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Visit the Inside the Bears site, another FanNation site, to see what they are saying about the upcoming game with TCU.
