Big 12 Conference Power Rankings: Week 10

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Week 9 has passed and the Big 12 Conference Championship picture has cleared up leaving four teams, No. 8 BYU, No. 11 Iowa State, No. 17 Kansas State and No. 23 Colorado with a real chance to make the championship game. BYU handled the UCF rushing game to win 37-24. Colorado became bowl-eligible for the first time since 2020 with a win over Cincinnati. Kansas State won their 16th-straight game over in-state rival Kansas 29-27.

College Football Dawgs' Big 12 power rankings are based on an aggregated weighing of writing staff votes for conference members.

Point Structure

Each first-place vote counted for 16 points, going in descending order. For example, second-place votes counted for 15, third for 14 and so on. Each team's points were added up and the poll was organized to reflect how many points (shown in parentheses) each team received. Here are the results, with summaries of each of the top 5 vote-receiving teams.

No. 1: BYU Cougars (8-0, 5-0) (96), Last Week: No. 2

Quarterback Jake Retzlaff continued to be efficient against UCF throwing for 228 yards and 2 touchdowns with 38 yards rushing and another touchdown. The Cougars had a 34-10 lead in the third quarter before the Knights made the game look more respectable in the fourth quarter to lose by 13. UCF leads the Big 12 in rushing with 267 yards per game but were held to 181 yards in this game. Running back LJ Martin had his second 100-plus-yard rushing game this season. The BYU defense has forced 18 turnovers this season which has played a huge role in the team's success.

Upcoming Game: Bye

No. 2: Iowa State Cyclones (7-0, 4-0) (90), Last Week: No. 1

The Cyclones enjoyed their second bye week after a comeback win over UCF two weeks ago when they gave up 354 yards rushing to the Knights. Quarterback Rocco Becht has thrown 1,712 yards with 11 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.

The running back room is a three-headed monster with Abu Sama, Carson Hansen and Jaylon Jackson all rushing for more than 300 yards this season. Iowa State has itself set up nicely to get the program's first-ever 10-win season.

Upcoming Game: Texas Tech Red Raiders

No. 3: Kansas State Wildcats (7-1, 4-1) (84), Last Week: No. 3

K-State battled against a struggling Kansas team this past weekend coming back to win with a 51-yard Chris Tennant field goal with 1:42 remaining in the game. Quarterback Avery Johnson had 253 yards passing and 2 touchdowns bringing his season total to 16 which is 8 shy of the school record of 24 passing touchdowns. The tight end room accounts for 10 of those passing touchdowns leading the country for passing touchdowns for tight ends. The defense leads the Big 12 in rushing defense giving up 96.8 yards per game.

Upcoming Game: at Houston Cougars

No. 4: Colorado Buffaloes (6-2, 4-2) (78), Last Week: No. 4

Quarterback Shedeur Sanders continued his outstanding season against Cincinnati completing 25-of-30 passes for 323 yards and 2 touchdowns. Travis Hunter played his first complete game since being injured against Kansas State and he dominated the Bearcats with 156 yards receiving and 2 touchdowns. The Buffaloes rushed for 123 yards in this game.

While that is not an eye-popping number, the threat of a run is necessary for their success. In their two losses this season they had 16 yards against Nebraska (5-3, 2-3 Big Ten Conference) and minus-29 yards against K-State.

Upcoming Game: Bye

No. 5: TCU Horned Frogs (5-3, 3-2) (68), Last Week: No. 8

TCU had to come back to beat Texas Tech 35-34 after trailing 34-21 in the fourth quarter. They have been up and down this season with losses against UCF and Houston, while beating Kansas, Utah and Texas Tech. Quarterback Josh Hoover leads the Big 12 in passing yards with 2,614 with 18 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. The Horned Frogs are on the outside looking in as the favorites to make the Big 12 Championship game and will need some help to make it to Arlington, Texas with no future matchups with the top 4 contenders.

Upcoming Game: at Baylor Bears

Big 12 Power Rankings: Nos. 6-16

No. 6: Cincinnati Bearcats (5-3, 3-2) (67); Last week: No. 5; Upcoming game: Bye

No. 7: Arizona State Sun Devils (5-2, 2-2) (59); Last week: No. 7; Upcoming game: at Oklahoma State Cowboys

No. 8: West Virginia Mountaineers (4-4, 2-2) (56); Last week: No. 11; Upcoming game: Bye

No. 9: Texas Tech Red Raiders (5-3, 3-2) (50); Last week: No. 6; Upcoming game: at Iowa State Cyclones

No. 10: Baylor Bears (4-4, 2-3) (42); Last week: No. 12; Upcoming game: TCU Horned Frogs

No. 11: Houston Cougars (3-5, 2-3) (35); Last week: No. 16; Upcoming game: Kansas State Wildcats

No. 12: Kansas Jayhawks (2-6, 1-4) (25); Last week: No. 14; Upcoming game: Bye

No. 13: Utah Utes (4-4, 1-4) (22); Last week: No. 9; Upcoming game: Bye

No. 14: Arizona Wildcats (3-5, 1-4) (19); Last week: No. 13; Upcoming game: at UCF Knights

No. 15: UCF Knights (3-5, 1-4) (19); Last week: No. 10; Upcoming game: Arizona Wildcats

No. 16: Oklahoma State Cowboys (3-5, 0-5) (6); Last week: No. 15; Upcoming game: Arizona State Sun Devils

There are only five games in the Big 12 this weekend. While most games appear primed to be blowouts, chaos could be coming with K-State traveling to Houston and Texas Tech traveling to Iowa State where the Red Raiders have won the last two matchups in the series.