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Big 12 football rankings heading into Week 9 of the 2016 season. Another week played out with the conference's top team not in action, but Oklahoma outlasted Texas Tech in a shootout.
October 24, 2016Big 12 football rankings heading into Week 9 of the 2016 season. Another week played out with the conference’s top team not in action, but Oklahoma outlasted Texas Tech in a shootout.
Two byes in three weeks? Such is life in the 10-team Big 12, helping Baylor get plenty of rest heading into the second half of the conference title race. And there are still a couple teams ready to take the top spot away from the Bears.
West Virginia remained undefeated with a big win over TCU, and Oklahoma knocked off Texas Tech to keep rolling along. Both still have to play Baylor.
Here’s a look at how the Big 12 teams rank heading into Week 9 of the season.
Make it 20 straight losses against FBS competition for the Jayhawks. They made it tough on Oklahoma State for 2 1/2 quarters this week before falling, 44-20.
The Cyclones had a bye week after three straight losses and back-to-back road games. They’ll play four of their last five at home, including matchups with Oklahoma and West Virginia.
Over 800 yards of total offense and seven combined touchdowns from quarterback Patrick Mahomes weren’t enough to beat Oklahoma, as the Red Raiders fell, 66-59. Texas Tech has dropped three in a row.
Charlie Strong’s seat gets a little hotter with each loss. The Longhorns lost, 24-21, to Kansas State this week and never led. They’re now 3-4 heading into next week’s home matchup with Baylor, one they’ll need to make at least respectable for Strong’s sake.
The Wildcats’ three defeats have come against Stanford, West Virginia – by one point on the road – and Oklahoma. Not exactly pushovers. Kansas State took care of business against Texas and should be able to pick up its fifth win next week at Iowa State
Speaking of losing to tough teams, the Horned Frogs have fallen to Arkansas, Oklahoma and West Virginia following Saturday’s loss to the Mountaineers. TCU was a sexy preseason pick for the College Football Playoff and was expected to beat those teams. Now it sits at a disappointing 4-3.
The Cowboys have won three in a row, although the last two haven’t been all that impressive against the bottom two teams in the conference. They barely escaped with a seven-point win over Iowa State two weeks ago before struggling with Kansas and finally pulling away. Oklahoma State will need to be much better when it hosts West Virginia next week.
Baker Mayfield’s seven passing touchdowns and Joe Mixon’s 263 yards and two TDs rushing helped get the Sooners past Texas Tech in an exciting shootout. Kansas and Iowa State are next before a showdown with Baylor.
Oklahoma and Baylor still remain on the schedule for the Mountaineers, but next week’s game at Oklahoma State has the potential to be a good one and could be a trap game for unbeaten West Virginia.
The undefeated Bears are off for the second time in three weeks in an odd scheduling quirk. The next three weeks are going to test their meddle – at Texas, vs. TCU, at Oklahoma. Oh, and they’ll play at West Virginia in their season finale. Baylor might be in control of the Big 12 race right now, but by no means is it over.