The 2024 college football season is underway and the Big 12 starts a new era with 16 teams in the conference. Week 6 saw the Big 12 kick off on Friday night, with then five more games played on Saturday, including one non-conference match up in the Sunshine State.
Here’s a reminder on how I’ve done this for year or for those of you who are new at Heartland College Sports: It’s about how your team looked and how it played, not always about if your team won or lost. And last week’s rankings have little impact on this week’s. That’s what makes this fun. These are also not predictions for the way the season will end, just a Power Rankings based on performances by a team to date.
1. Iowa State Cyclones (Last Week: 5)
The Iowa State Cyclones make it another week with another No. 1 in our Power Rankings. After getting down 14-3 vs. Baylor, they went on to blast the Bears 40-7 the rest of the way. And they overtake BYU, who had to hang on late to beat the same Baylor Bears the week prior. I’ve remained skeptical of this Iowa State team, but the way they thumped Baylor after getting down early was impressive enough to move them into the No. 1 spot.
2. BYU Cougars (Last Week: 1)
BYU was on a bye week and they just move down one slot because of what Iowa State did this past Saturday. The Cougars are 5-0 and are back at it this weekend against Arizona.
Related: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly From Week 6 in the Big 12
3. Texas Tech Red Raiders (Last Week: 5)
Texas Tech keeps moving up the Power Rankings after another impressive win, this time on the road against an Arizona team who had just beaten Utah on the road the week prior. Texas Tech won ugly, which any team that wants to win big needs to do once in a while. They had some bad turnovers, penalties and their star players (Morton, Brooks) weren’t at their best. But the defense stepped up as Tech keeps climbing.
4. Kansas State Wildcats (Last Week: 2)
Kansas state was off this past weekend. They move down, in part, because their win over Oklahoma State continues to look less impressive given the Cowboys’ struggles. But also because of what the teams above them have done. Now it’s time for an old Big 12 North match up this weekend at Colorado.
5. Colorado Buffaloes (Last Week: 3)
Colorado also drops in part because of what teams have done above them and how their wins now look in hindsight. The Baylor win looks less impressive, and even some of the shine has worn off of the UCF win given the Knights’ struggles the last couple of weeks.
6. Arizona Wildcats (Last Week: 6)
Arizona followed up its enormous with at Utah with a dud at home against Texas Tech. Arizona had mistakes, especially on offense, as that unit continues to try and find its footing after having huge expectations coming into the season. Few teams have been as hard to figure out in college football as Arizona.
7. Utah Utes (Last Week: 7)
Utah stays in the No. 7 slot after spending the weekend enjoying a bye week. The Utes win over Oklahoma State continues to look worse, while Arizona didn’t do them any favors by going out and losing to Texas Tech. The Utes are back on the road this weekend to face Arizona State in an old Pac-12 battle.
Related: Five Biggest Takeaways From Week 6 in the Big 12
8. West Virginia Mountaineers (Last Week: 11)
The West Virginia Mountaineers went to Stillwater and smashed Oklahoma State. 389 rushing yards to 36?! Wow. But we now know Oklahoma State isn’t close to the team we thought they were going to be this season, which takes some of the shine off WVU’s win. The Mountaineers are 2-0 in league play, but beating Kansas and Oklahoma State, to this point, won’t knock anyone’s socks off. But this weekend vs. Iowa State? Now we’re talking.
9. Arizona State Sun Devils (Last Week: 10)
Arizona State got a solid win over Kansas at home this weekend and it took a late drive to win the game. Sam Leavitt continues to improve and his ability to put together an effective two-minute drive was impressive on Saturday night. KU has struggled mightily, but ASU deserves to move up one slot this week.
10. UCF Knights (Last Week: 8)
UCF continues to tumble after another ugly loss, this one to a program they want to be in the same discussion as, and were favored over, in the Florida Gators. Instead, UF jumped out to a big lead and never looked back. The reality is that UCF has trailed in each of its last three games by at least 21 points. They went on to win the TCU game, but that’s a bad data point for Gus Malzahn.
11. Cincinnati Bearcats (Last Week: 12)
The Bearcats had a bye week, but this program must feel like it’s a couple of plays away from being in a much different situation this season. They’re 3-2 overall and 1-1 in Big 12 play, but they’ve lose their two games by a combined four points. Going to UCF this weekend will be telling for both teams.
12. Houston Cougars (Last Week: 16)
Hey, Houston has had a defense this season, just look at the Oklahoma game and much of the Iowa State game. It was the offense that couldn’t get it going. Goodbye Donovan Smith, and hello Zeon Chriss. This is suddenly a much more interesting team than one week ago. And now they have a bye week for Chriss to work as QB1 before going to Kansas in two weeks.
13. Oklahoma State Cowboys (Last Week: 9)
Oklahoma State could be lower, but remember, this team did beat Arkansas in Week 2. How? Who the heck knows at this point. But they have that win on their resume, which is better than anything any of the teams below them have. But overall, it’s a mess in Stillwater as Mike Gundy is 0-3 to start Big 12 play for the first time since 2005. And there’s little to believe things will improve. The worst part? It’s basically the same team that reached the Big 12 Title Game last year.
14. Baylor Bears (Last Week: 13)
Baylor blew its game vs. Colorado. Then had to come back to make it competitive against BYU. And now, we have a 14-3 lead that led to the Bears being outscored 40-7. Absolutely brutal. Dave Aranda’s future in Waco becomes less certain by the day.
15. TCU Horned Frogs (Last Week: 14)
TCU’s slide continues after losing to Houston on Friday night at home. Sonny Dykes doesn’t appear to have any answers. The team is a turnover machine (4-0 on Friday) and looks like its heading towards a second-straight season of mediocrity, at best.
16. Kansas Jayhawks (Last week: 15)
Another game, another blown lead for Kansas. This season began with such high expectations. And now, at 1-5, KU fans are counting down to basketball season. That’s not what any of us expected at this point.
