WVU Makes Biggest Jump in New Big 12 Power Rankings

The Mountaineers are the biggest mover in this week's rankings.

Sep 19, 2026; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. (3) runs for a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Virginia Cavaliers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Big 12 Conference went 11-1 in non-conference games this past weekend, with West Virginia having the biggest win of them all, taking down No. 25 Virginia by two scores. The only loss for the league was an embarrassing effort from Colorado, which got pounded by Northwestern.

We did have a pair of conference matchups with Texas Tech and Houston playing one down to the wire on Friday night, and Arizona State taking on Kansas.

Below you will find the Big 12 Week 3 scoreboard, my newest batch of power rankings, and next week's slate.

Week 3 scores

Texas Tech 28, Houston 26
BYU 41, Colorado State 23
Utah 33, Utah State 0
Kansas State 31, Tulane 20
Iowa State 55, Bowling Green 7
Arizona State 24, Kansas 17
Cincinnati 35, Miami (OH) 31
Baylor 36, Louisiana Tech 19
UCF 44, Georgia State 30
Oklahoma State 59, Murray State 0
Northwestern 41, Colorado 7
TCU 31, Arkansas State 7
West Virginia 38, Virginia 27
Arizona 42, Northern Illinois 17

Week 4 Power Rankings (last week's ranking, if changed)

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

Week 4 schedule

Thursday

No games.

Friday

No games.

Saturday

Sam Houston at Texas Tech, 12 p.m. ET on TNT
Colorado at Baylor, 12 p.m. ET on ESPN2
Utah at Iowa State, 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX
TCU at UCF, 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1
Houston at Georgia Southern, 4 p.m. ET on ESPNU
Kansas State at Cincinnati, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2
Oklahoma State at West Virginia, 7 p.m. ET on FS1
Arizona at Washington State, 7:30 p.m. ET on CBS

With it being the first weekend of Big 12 play for many teams, expect to see some movement in next week's rankings. The game of the week, in my opinion, has to be Oklahoma State hitting the road to take on West Virginia. The game could've very easily been the site of College GameDay, but you know how that works. If they can go to an SEC school, that's what ESPN is going to do. The Cowboys earned a lot of respect back after their loss to Tulsa by upsetting No. 6 Oregon, and West Virginia gained a ton of respect after beating up on Virginia. Starting 1-0 in league play is a massive deal, and the winner of this one should appear in the AP Top 25 next week.