Big 12 Football Power Rankings And Bowl Projections: Week 13
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The last week of the regular season has arrived. TCU has secured a berth in the Big 12 Championship game next week in Arlington. Their opponent is still to be determined. Kansas State will play in the championship game with a win or a Texas loss. The reverse is true for Texas – a Texas win and a K-State loss brings the Longhorns to Arlington.
We said it last week – it’s the games in November that you will remember. And oh boy, who will forget that TCU/Baylor game last week?
This week there were not many changes. Baylor jumped back ahead of Oklahoma State. Oklahoma jumped ahead of Kansas and Texas Tech. The middle five teams are not separated by too many total points.
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 22 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 (4-7, 1-7)
(Last week #10)
Lost to Texas Tech 14-10
Iowa State is a better team than its record reflects. But here they sit at the bottom again. Sure, they don’t have an offense, but they have an impressive defense. They lost all but one conference game by a touchdown or less. They travel to Cowtown this weekend, looking to play spoiler to the Horned Frogs. A win will undoubtedly ensure they won’t end the season on the bottom.
9. West Virginia (4-7, 2-6)
(Last week #9)
Lost to Kansas State 48-31
After the yo-yo season for the Mountaineers, they now know that they won’t go bowling this year. Will Neal Brown be back next season? Well, there’s not been any confirmation, but he will likely return. He’s got one more game against OSU. A win there might secure his job and a final ranking not at the bottom.
8. Kansas (6-5, 3-5)
(Last week #6)
Lost to Texas 55-14
Remember not long ago when Kansas was the darling of the league? Well, their November hasn’t been that stellar. The Jayhawks have had one of the wildest rides in these Power Rankings all season – they started at No. 10, bounced up as high as No. 4, back to No. 8 before going up to No. 5, and now back to No. 8. Make up your mind, Rock Chalk.
7. Texas Tech (6-5, 6-4)
(Last week #7)
Beat Iowa State 14-10
Texas Tech has been an enigma all season. They’ve had some great wins and some ugly losses. They beat Iowa State last week but based on ISU’s record, that’s not saying much. It certainly has not been the season anyone expected on the South Plains. But a night game against the Sooners to end the season should move them up, and depending on what happens in some other games, the Red Raiders could end up in the top half of the league in our final rankings.
6. Oklahoma (6-5, 3-5)
(Last week #8)
Beat Oklahoma State 28-13
Congratulations on your first quarter in the Bedlam game. You got 28 points on 299 total yards. Then in the rest of the game, you had zero points, 135 total yards, and only one third-down conversion. The good thing is that your first quarter was all it took to beat a depleted OSU squad. But it was enough to move you up a couple of spots. But don’t have false hopes you’ll stay here. Enjoy that night game in Lubbock and in the snow.
5. Oklahoma State (7-4, 4-4)
(Last week #4)
Lost to Oklahoma 28-13
The Poke Choke has been real for the last month of the season. Sure, their lineup looks like a MASH unit with all the injuries. They had 50 more yards last week than the Sooners in the Bedlam game, but it wasn’t enough. OSU has had another of the wild rides in our rankings – as high as No. 1 and as low as No. 6. Not sure where they will end, but a win over WVU should keep them in the top half.
4. Baylor (6-5, 4-4)
(Last week #5)
They were ready to storm the field after they played spoiler to TCU until “Bazooka” and Griffin Kell said otherwise. But despite the loss, the Bears still moved up to No. 4 in these rankings. They could beat Texas in the season finale and move up again.
3. #23 Texas (7-4, 5-3)
(Last week #3)
Beat Kansas 55-14
After being limited to under 30 yards in the loss to Texas, Bijan Robinson was back with a vengeance last week in the Kansas win. Texas still has a chance to make the Big 12 Championship game. Look for Bijan to play a role if the Longhorns are to play a 13th game before their bowl game.
2. #12 Kansas State (8-3, 6-2)
(Last week #2)
Beat West Virginia 48-31
Win, and they are in. That’s all the Wildcats must do in the Sunflower Showdown to make it to Arlington next week. We’ve said from the beginning of the season that K-State could be a dark-horse contender. They are no longer a dark horse. The team is legit and has dreams as sweet as Sugar. Keep winning, and that’s where they could finish their season.
1. #4 TCU (11-0, 8-0)
(Last week #1)
All Glory to the Hypnotoad! The Bazooka play worked. Griffin Kell got his 40-yard walk-off field goal for the win, and the Horned Frogs are still in contention for a College Football Playoff berth. No other team in the nation has won seven-straight games by 10 points or fewer since 1975. But the Frogs have. Look for them to get by Iowa State and hold onto this top ranking moving into the championship game.
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. Big 12 placements below are based on the above rankings.
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. Washington
Cheez-It Bowl
December 29 – Orlando
Baylor vs. North Carolina
TaxAct Texas Bowl
December 28 – Houston
Oklahoma State vs. Mississippi State
AutoZone Liberty Bowl
December 28 – Memphis
Oklahoma vs. Arkansas
Guaranteed Rate Bowl
December 27 – Phoenix
Texas Tech vs. Maryland
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
December 22 – Fort Worth
Kansas vs. SMU
Other FanNation Power Rankings
How do other FanNations rank the Big 12? Check them out here:
Baylor – Inside the Bears
Kansas – Blue Wings Rising
Texas – Longhorns Country
Texas Tech – Red Raider Review
Note: Power Rankings are determined by a group of fans representing all ten schools currently in the Big 12 Conference.
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