Longhorns Fall in Big 12 Fan Nation Power Rankings

The drop comes as Texas beat UTSA at home and prepares for its Big 12 opener on Saturday against Texas Tech.

The Oklahoma Sooners remained at the top of the Fan Nation Big 12 power rankings after Week 3, as the Sooners moved head into Big 12 action undefeated.

The power rankings will appear each week during the regular season. Staff members from Longhorns Country, Inside the Bears, and Red Raider Review vote.

Unlike last week, when the power rankings’ first-place votes were split, the Sooners had all seven first-place votes.

Oklahoma faced Nebraska in a renewal of their long-time rivalry, interrupted for more than a decade after Nebraska left for the Big Ten. The Cornhuskers, who fired coach Scott Frost the Sunday before the game, fell hard to the Sooners, 49-14.

One of the biggest surprises in the power rankings came from Kansas, which started 3-0 for the first time in more than a decade after beating Houston, 48-30. Kansas moved up two spots from last week.

The biggest loss of the week was Kansas State, which fell to Tulane at home, 17-10. The win may have robbed the Wildcats of a chance to crash the AP Top 25 going into Big 12 play.

Elsewhere in the Big 12, Oklahoma State took care of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 63-7; Texas Tech lost its first game under coach Joey McGuire, falling, 27-14, to NC State; Baylor handled Texas State, 42-7; Texas pulled away from UTSA, 41-20; West Virginia finally won its first game of the season, beating Towson, 65-7; and Iowa State easily defeated Ohio, 43-10.

TCU was the only Big 12 team off last week.

Entering Week 4, West Virginia kicks off the week with a Thursday contest at Virginia Tech.

Then, on Saturday, there are three Big 12 conference openers. No. 17 Baylor travels to Iowa State, No. 22 Texas is at Texas Tech and Kansas State is at No. 6 Oklahoma. In non-conference matchups, TCU will travel to SMU for the Iron Skillet rivalry game and Kansas will host Duke, with both teams bringing a 3-0 record into the game.

The complete power rankings are below.

Big 12 Week 3 Staff Poll

(first-place votes in parenthesis)

1. Oklahoma (7) (3-0) — 70 points (Last Week: 1)

2. Oklahoma State (3-0) — 61 points (Last Week: 3)

3. Baylor (2-1) — 54 points (Last Week: 5)

4. Texas (2-1) — 52 points (Last Week: 2)

5. Iowa State (3-0) — 38 points (Last Week: 7)

6. Kansas (3-0) — 35 points (Last Week: 8)

7. Kansas State (2-1) — 26 points (Last Week: 4)

8. Texas Tech (2-1) — 21 points (Last Week: 6)

9. TCU (2-0) — 16 points (Last Week: 9)

10. West Virginia (1-2) — 12 points (Last Week: 10)

The poll is voted on by the staffs of Longhorns Country, Inside the Bears and Red Raider Review

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You can follow Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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