The 2024 college football season is underway and the Big 12 starts a new era with 16 teams in the conference. Week 2 had a loaded schedule for the Big 12, with several teams taking on fellow Power 4 teams. So now that we are two weeks in, let’s take a look at the Big 12 Power Rankings.
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 the most recent performances.
1. Arizona State (Last Week: 3)
If you told me I’d have the Sun Devils in the top spot two weeks into the Big 12 season, I would’ve asked what you were smoking. But here we are. Arizona State has put together a pair of solid wins vs. Wyoming and Mississippi State. The Sun Devils piled up 359 rushing yards against the SEC foe while also making Blake Shapen look very mediocre at QB. This looks like a team that will cause headaches in the Big 12 this season.
2. Utah Utes (Last Week: 2)
Utah stays in its No. 2 spot after beating Baylor in a non-conference game over the weekend. The Utes defense had this game in complete control, while the offense did what it had to do to get a win. They were held scoreless in the second half and the injury to Cam Rising remains somewhat concerning until we get more information, hence leaving them in the No. 2 spot for now.
3. Oklahoma State Cowboys (Last Week: 1)
Oklahoma State also beat an SEC opponent this weekend. But they certainly did their best to try and give this one away. The Cowboys were outgained by 300 yards as both sides of the line looked overmatched much of the time. Alan Bowman struggled on the day as well, while Ollie Gordon was bottled up for under 50 yards. The Cardiac Cowboys got it done, but in typical Mike Gundy fashion, it was more interesting than it needed to be.
4. Iowa State Cyclones (Last Week: 13)
The Iowa State Cyclones went on the road and beat Iowa to win the Cy-Hawk trophy for the second time in the last three seasons. Iowa State needs to let Rocco Becht let it rip, which he did effectively in the second half. Jaylin Noel is one of the best wide receivers in the Big 12, and Jon Heacock is doing what he does with his defense, even when missing key pieces at linebacker.
5. TCU Horned Frogs (Last Week: 4)
TCU curb-stomped Long Island, which they were expected to do. Combine that with an underappreciated road win at Stanford and I don’t see any reason to bump the Horned Frogs down much further. TCU opens up conference play on Saturday vs. UCF. These are two teams looking to be contenders in the league and will go a long way to determining the Big 12 race.
6. Kansas State Wildcats (Last Week: 5)
Kansas State went on the road and beat a good Tulane team. But they’re not great. And Kansas State didn’t look all that good for much of the game. The secondary had a tough day on Saturday, while Avery Johnson still had moments where he looked like a first-year starter. That’s to be expected. K-State will be one of those teams that improves throughout the season, but right now there is some work to do to be a team that wants to win this league.
7. BYU Cougars (Last Week: 9)
Hey, let’s not overlook one of the more impressive wins of the week in the Big 12. The Cougars were 13-point underdogs at SMU and won the game outright. The defense deserved the bulk of the credit for keeping SMU’s offense in check. If that BYU defense is here to stay, the Cougars could be in some surprising dogfights this fall.
8. UCF Knights (Last Week: 12)
UCF hasn’t played anyone yet, so I’m not going to give them too much credit in the Power Rankings, but the stats are impressive through two games. The UCF defense is second in the Big 12 in rushing yards allowed per game at 67, second in points allowed per game at 8.5 & fourth in total yards allowed per game at 224. But it’s New Hampshire and Sam Houston State. Beat TCU this weekend and then we’re talking.
9. West Virginia Mountaineers (Last Week: 7)
West Virginia handled their business rolling Albany, but Penn State’s near upset against Bowling Green didn’t help WVU’s cause. I gave them more credit than some of you thought they were worthy of for their loss to PSU last week. Maybe that was a fair critique, and combine that with how the Nittany Lions looked and I’m bumping them down a slot.
10. Arizona Wildcats (Last Week: 8)
Arizona found itself down at halftime against University of Northern Arizona, who they were favored to beat by 36 points. The offensive line looks problematic early in the season, which could be concerning because a high-powered offensive output is how this team is going to win this fall. But if the Wildcats want to chalk it up to a trap-game atmosphere with K-State coming up on Friday, fine. Prove it Friday night.
11. Baylor (Last Week: 6)
The Baylor Bears went on the road in a non-conference game against Utah and when both teams were healthy in this game it was all Utah. Baylor had issues all over offense and then big special teams mistakes. The defense does look much improved under head coach Dave Aranda, who is now calling plays, but I worry about the other two phases for the Bears.
12. Houston Cougars (Last Week: 16)
Surprised by this? Don’t be. Houston lost to Oklahoma, but they were down two points in the final minutes with the chance to put together a game-winning drive. There’s nothing more you can ask for in that spot. Overall, Houston showed me something, and this should be a huge building block for Willie Fritz in his first year as the head coach.
13. Kansas Jayhawks (Last Week: 11)
I’ve been one of the few this offseason questioning whether or not Kansas was going to live up to the hype some were building for them with Jalon Daniels and company. Well, a bad road loss at Illinois, that can be put squarely on the shoulders of Daniels, and the play-calling of Jeff Grimes, is, unfortunately, a realization for some that this team does have some work to do. By the way, don’t overlook UNLV. Just ask Houston.
14. Colorado Buffaloes (Last Week: 10)
Colorado is a play or two away from being 0-2. They were never in their game against Nebraska, their offensive and defensive lines don’t look much improved from last year, and then their star quarterback, and the son of the star head coach, walks off the field with two minutes left for no apparent reason? A train wreck is coming in Boulder. I take no joy in that, because Colorado and Coach Prime succeeding would be good for the Big 12, but I see no other way this plays out.
15. Cincinnati Bearcats (Last Week: 14)
Cincinnati had a chance to get to 2-0 on the season and show some serious strides in Year 2 under Scott Satterfield. Instead, they have the biggest collapse, by far, of the early Big 12 season, blowing a 21-point lead in the second half. It was an absolute embarrassment. Sure, the refs didn’t help (i.e. Defensive Delay of Game on Cinci during Pitt’s game-winning drive), but the Bearcats should’ve never been in that situation to begin with. This is the kind of loss that gets the seat to start warming up.
16. Texas Tech Red Raiders (Last Week: 15)
The Red Raiders were toast from the get-go in Pullman over the weekend. This game felt out of reach in the second quarter as Washington State started to put its foot down on Texas Tech’s defense. Behren Morton didn’t look very sharp at all, and now we look at this Texas Tech team and have to realize they’re a couple of plays from starting off this season 0-2. Yikes.
