Big 12 Baseball Power Rankings: Country Roads, Take Me Home

Disclaimer: The rankings below are for the games played through Sunday, April 30. Midweek games played since Sunday will be reflected on next week’s Power Rankings.

Last week, West Virginia swept Baylor, further distancing themselves from the rest of the teams in the Big 12 standings. Oklahoma won two of three over Kansas, as did Texas over TCU and Kansas State over Tech. The Mountaineers have a 1.5-game lead over Oklahoma State and Kansas State.

But how do the rest of the teams rank? Each week, during the baseball season, we 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, only West Virginia at the top and Kansas/Baylor at the bottom were the only consistent votes among our panel. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State were the only teams to move up week-over-week. To make room for those moves, Texas and TCU dropped a spot, despite Texas winning the series between the two teams.

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 (15-29, 6-15)

Last week #9

Last week, Baylor hosted the top team in the league, West Virginia, and was outscored 33-8. Sure, WVU is great this year. And Baylor could be better. They’ve been on the bottom rung of the ladder for weeks and don’t look for them to be moving anytime soon.

8. Kansas (21-23, 6-12)

Last week #8

The Jayhawks had a good Friday night game last week in Norman, but that’s all they could muster against a Sooners team that had swept Texas the weekend before. Kansas now has to host Texas this weekend, so like Baylor, don’t look for them to be moving anytime soon as well.

7. TCU (24-20, 8-10)

Last week #6

It’s been a tough few weeks for the team picked to win the conference this year. Pitching woes have haunted the Frogs most of the season. The bats once again came alive in the last game of the series against Texas, which was postponed until Monday. The Frogs get another conference bye week but host a ranked Cal State Fullerton team. Can they keep the bats hot enough to counter the pitching challenges? If they have any postseason dreams, this is the weekend to kickstart those.

6. Oklahoma (24-20, 9-9)

Last week #7

The Sooners started out struggling in conference play but have gon3 5-1 the last two weekends. However, their luck may be coming to an abrupt halt this weekend as they travel to Morgantown to take on the team at the top of the league standings.

5. Texas Tech (30-15, 9-9)

Last week #5

Texas Tech slid out of most of the polls this week but still finds themselves ranked in two polls. Their conference season hasn’t gone as expected, but the good news is that the same could be said for several other teams. They have a non-conference series this weekend, so there is no chance, just yet, to improve on their .500 conference record.

4. Kansas State (28-17, 11-7)

Last week #4

The Cats survived a battle at home last week, winning the series over Texas Tech 2-1. Like West Virginia, KSU is among the unexpected teams at the top of the conference standings. Only a game and a half back, they could still play a role in who wins the conference.

3. Texas (30-16, 10-8)

Last week #2

The Longhorns stopped their conference skid last weekend by winning two of the three played in Fort Worth. Though they are not ranked in any national poll this week, they are receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll. They must take care of business against Kansas this weekend and may creep back into the polls next week.

2. Oklahoma State (30-13, 11-7)

Last week #3

Oklahoma State has had a wild ride this season. They were ranked at our top spot in early April, dropped to as low as sixth, and have now crept back up to the second spot. They are tied with K-State, just a game and a half back from WVU. I’m sure it pains them deeply, but Pokes fans will be cheering for their in-state brethren to knock the Mountaineers off the top of that peak.

1. #12 West Virginia (33-11, 11-4)

Last week #1

Country Roads continue to take the Big 12 through Morgantown. They swept Baylor and further distanced themselves in the standings. Last week, they were number one in our Power Rankings, but just barely. This week, their lead is much more substantial.

Note: Power Rankings are determined by a group of fans representing most 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.