Big 12 Power Rankings (Week 8): A New No. 1 Team & Some Movement in the Bottom Half

A new set of power rankings after seven weeks of play.

Oct 17, 2026; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats running back Gi'bran Payne (6) runs the ball during the first quarter against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Another week of Big 12 play is in the books, and we are officially past the midway point of the season.

The league had a solid week, thanks to No. 8 BYU pulling off the upset of No. 2 Notre Dame and a great showdown between a couple of Top-20 teams in Houston and Oklahoma State. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, Oklahoma State dropped out of the AP Top 25 poll despite losing by three on the road to the 20th-ranked team. Arizona, however, jumped in at No. 25 following their bye week.

As always, let's take a quick look at what happened this past week, where teams stand in our new power rankings, and what we have on the slate for Week 8.

Week 7 scores

West Virginia 45, Cincinnati 42
No. 8 BYU 28, No. 2 Notre Dame 24
No. 10 Texas Tech 53, Arizona State 25
No. 11 Utah 27, Colorado 24
No. 20 Houston 35, No. 18 Oklahoma State 32
Kansas State 35, Kansas 24
TCU 17, Baylor 6

Week 8 Power Rankings (last week's ranking, if changed)

No. 16: Colorado
No. 15: Kansas
No. 14: Arizona State (13)
No. 13: Cincinnati (9)
No. 12: West Virginia (14)
No. 11: UCF
No. 10: Iowa State
No. 9: Baylor (8)
No. 8: TCU (12)
No. 7: Kansas State
No. 6: Arizona
No. 5: Utah
No. 4: Oklahoma State
No. 3: Houston
No. 2: Texas Tech (1)
No. 1: BYU (2)

Week 8 schedule

Thursday

No games.

Friday

No games.

Saturday

West Virginia at TCU, 12 p.m. ET on ESPN2
No. 8 Texas Tech at Cincinnati, 12 p.m. ET on FS1
Baylor at Kansas, 1 p.m. ET on TNT
No. 2 BYU at UCF, 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX
Kansas State at Arizona State, 3:45 p.m. ET on ESPN2
Colorado at Oklahoma State, 7 p.m. ET on FS1
Iowa State at Arizona, 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2
No. 14 Houston at No. 10 Utah, 10:15 p.m. ET on ESPN

ESPN's College GameDay is heading to Salt Lake City for the top-15 showdown between the Houston Cougars and the Utah Utes. Whoever wins this game will be in a great spot to reach Dallas at the end of the season.

If Arizona takes care of business against Iowa State and Oklahoma State does the same against Colorado, the Big 12 could be up to six ranked teams by Week 9. The Cowboys are receiving the most votes among those sitting on the outside.

For West Virginia, if they are able to get a win in Fort Worth, they will be one win away from bowl eligibility.