Big 12 Power Rankings: Week 5

An interesting week in the Big 12, even though things went pretty much as expected in the predictions area.  Still, there are always opportunities for movement, so who rose and fell in the Big 12 this week?

1.) Oklahoma Sooners (4-0, 1-0), Last week: #1

As much as I'd love to put the frogs at #1, the Sooners non-conference is superior and they already have a road win over a pretty good looking West Virginia outfit.  This week will decide which team is in first, and I'll feel better about giving the frogs the boost if they take the title from OU.
Next week: @ TCU

2.) TCU Horned Frogs (3-0), Last week: #2

The Frogs absolutely crushed SMU in historic fashion and probably feel better about having a game (even one against a tomato can like Smoo) rather than a Bye against OU.  If the offense gets clicking against the Sooners, the Frogs will win the game.  If not... It's going to be a hell of a show in any case.
Next week: Vs. Oklahoma

3.) Kansas State Wildcats (3-1, 1-0), Last week: #4

In a case of the final score not giving you a real indicator of how the game went, the Wildcats led this game 45-0 at one point, and 52-7 at the end of the third quarter.  This is the same UTEP team that almost beat Tech earlier this year and should be a player in CUSA and the Wildcats took out a load of frustration on them.  If you believe in the transitive property (a silly thing in football, admittedly), KSU may be up 41-0 before calling off the dogs. It won't happen that way, but it still has the potential to be ugly.
Next week: Vs. Texas Tech

4.) Oklahoma State Cowboys (3-1, 1-0), Last week: #3

The Cowboys looked mortal in their first real test without J.W. Walsh, so they drop (at least temporarily).  The Cowboys surprisingly didn't have the success on the ground against Tech that the Raiders have been giving up, which meant that OSU threw deep time and again instead, with mixed results.  Fortunately for the Cowboys, if you were going to pick some games for your starting quarterback to miss, games against UTSA and the bottom 3 Big 12 teams in the power poll are probably the best possible.  Right now Walsh is on pace to be back for the Cowboys first visit to Amon Carter stadium as members of the Big 12, but any setback will keep him out- it'll be interesting to watch.
Next week: Vs. Iowa State

5.) Baylor Bears (4-0, 1-0), Last week: #6

Congratulations Bears for finally playing a P5 conference member.  The Bears had a solid game against the Cyclones, and even though ISU started to make things look close late in the game, Baylor wasn't really threatened and threw in the backups in the fourth quarter.  Still, the Baylor resume is lacking, and it's going to be interesting to see what happens when the Bears actually face adversity this season- perhaps it will come early this week against a young, but defensively talented Texas Longhorn team.
Next week: @ Texas

6.) West Virginia Mountaineers (2-2, 0-1), Last week: #5

The Mountaineers drop in the Bye, as teams tend to do, and will have a tough time moving back up without some teams in front picking up losses until October 18th when Baylor heads to Morgantown for the first time since the "classic" 70-63 defense free game.  In the meantime, it's time for revenge against the team that gave them the upset of the Big 12 year last year.
Next week: Kansas Jayhawks

7.) Texas Longhorns (2-2, 1-0), Last week: #8

The Longhorns move back up after the defense shuts out the Jayhawks, while Tyrone Swoopes continued to excel in his game manager role, throwing for two TDs and running for one more while not throwing any picks.  The Texas defense is going to test Baylor, but it's going to be tough for the offense to make things happen against a decent BU front.  We'll see how much Charlie Strong's talks about owning the state inspire the Horns.
Next week: Baylor

8.) Texas Tech Red Raiders (2-2, 0-1), Last week: #9

The Red Raiders hung in there in Stillwater, though the offense turned the ball over too much, and the secondary that was supposed to be the strength of the defense got absolutely bombed on by a talented wide receiver crop.  I'm.... pretty okay with the idea of Trevone throwing on this year's Texas Tech team, though hopefully the running game will mean we won't have to.  The Raiders didn't look bad though, so they get a bump.
Next week: @ Kansas State

9.) Iowa State Cyclones (1-3, 0-2)

The Cyclones medium-powered offense moved the ball okay against the Bears, but couldn't get enough points on the board to be in the game in just about any phase.  The Cyclones are going to have trouble with teams that go up tempo and score a lot of points, which puts them in a rough spot in the Big 12, and even in a best case scenario with an upset and winning the tight games I have trouble finding more than five wins for ISU.
Next week: @ Oklahoma State

10.) Kansas Jayhawks (2-2, 0-1)

Kansas is very bad and will be looking for a new coach.  They're also bad in a boring way, so I don't expect to write much about them in future Power Polls.  I'll be shocked if they win another game this year.
Next week: @ West Virginia