Big 12 Conference Power Rankings: Week 3

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Week 2 of the Big 12 Conference had a lot of struggle for the preseason presumed top teams escaping with wins. No. 21 Iowa State (2-0) came back from a 13-point deficit to win on a game-winning field goal with 6 seconds left to beat in-state rival Iowa (1-1) 20-19. No. 14 Kansas State (2-0) had to overcome a 10-point halftime deficit at Tulane (1-1) and hold on in the closing seconds to win 34-27. No. 13 Oklahoma State was also trailing Arkansas (1-1) at home by 14 at halftime and was able to rally in the second half to win 39-31 in two overtimes. No. 20 Arizona (2-0) also trailed against FCS opponent Northern Arizona (1-1) 10-6 at halftime but were able to win 22-10. If we learned anything in these first two weeks there are some good teams in the Big 12 but no one is elite at this point in the season.

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: Utah Utes (2-0) (95), No. 1 Last Week

No. 12 Utah faced Baylor (1-1) on Sept. 7 winning 23-12. The big story from that game was quarterback Cam Rising leaving the game with an injury in the second quarter. Before the Rising injury, the Utah offense had scored 17 points and had a special teams score to lead 23-0. After Rising left the game the Utah offense only put up 104 yards of offense. Utah has one of the best defenses in the Big 12 that will allow them to compete in every game, but without Rising the offense will struggle. The good news for Utes fans is the injury on his hand does not seem long-term with head coach Kyle Whittingham saying on Monday, "He may be back this week." As long as Rising is the QB for the Utes they should be in the title hunt all season.

Upcoming Game: at Utah State Aggies (1-1)

No. 2: Oklahoma State Cowboys (2-0) (91), No. 2 Last Week

The Cowboys in Week 2 welcomed Arkansas (1-1) to Stillwater, Okla., for a Southeastern Conference vs. Big 12 matchup winning 39-31 in double overtime. No. 13 Oklahoma State was down at halftime 21-7 and rallied in the second half to take a three-point lead before the Razorbacks kicked a game-tying field goal as the clock expired. Arkansas did slow down running back Ollie Gordon II who rushed for 49 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown.

The Cowboys were outgained in yardage 648 to 385. By the stats of this game, you would have thought Arkansas would have won, but luckily for Oklahoma State, the only thing that matters is points. Oklahoma State benefitted in these power rankings with other teams losing or struggling in wins this week to hold onto second place.

Upcoming Game: at Tulsa Golden Hurricanes (1-1)

No. 3: Kansas State Wildcats (2-0) (84), No. 3 Last Week

For the second week in a row, No. 14 Kansas State struggled on offense in the first half scoring just 10 points. Kansas State overcame a 20-10 halftime deficit to beat Tulane (1-1) 34-27. Quarterback Avery Johnson completed 15-of-23 passes for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns. Running back Dylan Edwards had 54 yards on 4 carries and added a touchdown while his backfield partner, DJ Giddens, had 114 yards rushing on 19 carries, and added a 45-yard receiving touchdown. The K-State defense was shredded by the Tulane passing attack in the first half, but then made halftime adjustments to force 2 turnovers—a strip sack from Austin Romaine to set up a Jack Fabris scoop and score—and the game-sealing interception by safety VJ Payne ended up being the difference in this game.

Upcoming Game: No. 20 Arizona Wildcats (2-0)

No. 4: Iowa State Cyclones (2-0) (71), No. 7 Last Week

The battle of the Cy-Hawk Trophy was won by No. 21 Iowa State 20-19. The Cyclones had issues with stopping Iowa's (1-1) rushing game giving up 187 yards and 2 touchdowns to Kaleb Johnson. Iowa State found their offense in the second half after being down 13-0 at halftime.

Quarterback Rocco Becht threw 2 touchdown passes in the third quarter including a 75-yard pass and catch by Jaylin Noel. Iowa State returned 19 starters from the 2023 team making them a dark-horse contender in the Big 12. With this start to the season, they are making a case to be in the conversation of title contenders.

Upcoming Game: Bye week

No. 5: Arizona Wildcats (2-0) (71), No. 5 Last Week

No. 20 Arizona Wildcats joined the rest of the top teams in the Big 12 with struggling this past weekend against Northern Arizona (1-1) winning 22-10. Arizona's high-flying offense was down at halftime 10-6 before scoring their first touchdown to kick off the third quarter. Wide receiver Tetairoa McMillian only had 11 yards on 2 catches after having 304 yards and 4 touchdowns in Week 1.

The Wildcats gave up 198 yards to Northern Arizona and forced 1 fumble. Quarterback Noah Fifita had a slow game to his standard throwing for 173 yards 1 touchdown and 1 interception. If the Wildcats want to make some noise in the Big 12 they cannot have many games like this on offense with the defense having some inconsistencies as seen in Week 1 against New Mexico (0-2) giving up 471 yards and 39 points.

Upcoming Game: at No. 14 Kansas State Wildcats (2-0)

Big 12 Power Rankings: Nos. 6-16

No. 6: UCF Knights (2-0) (71); last week - No. 6: Upcoming game: at TCU Horned Frogs (2-0)

No. 7: West Virginia Mountaineers (1-1) (50); last week - No. 10: Upcoming Game: at Pitt Panthers (2-0)

No. 8: BYU Cougars (2-0) (49); last week - No. 9: Upcoming Game: at Wyoming Cowboys (0-2)

No. 9: TCU Horned Frogs (2-0) (48); last week - No. 8; Upcoming Game: UCF Knights (2-0)

No. 10: Kansas Jayhawks (1-1) (48); last week - No. 4; Upcoming Game: UNLV Rebels (2-0)

No. 11: Arizona State Sun Devils (2-0) (47); last week - No. 11; Upcoming Game: at Texas State Bobcats (2-0)

No. 12: Baylor Bears (1-1) (25); last week - No. 13; Upcoming Game: Air Force Falcons (1-1)

No. 13: Colorado Buffaloes (1-1) (22); last week - No. 12; Upcoming Game: at Colorado State Rams (1-1)

No. 14: Texas Tech Red Raiders (1-1) (22); last week - No. 14; Upcoming Game: North Texas Mean Green (2-0)

No. 15: Cincinnati Bearcats (1-1) (11); last week - No. 15; Upcoming Game: at Miami OH. RedHawks (0-1)

No. 16: Houston Cougars (0-2) (11); last week - No. 16; Upcoming Game: Rice Owls (1-1)

Week 3 in the Big 12 has the first official conference game with UCF taking on TCU. The other teams with a Power Four game scheduled are Arizona and Kansas State in a non-conference game, and West Virginia traveling to Pitt to renew the Backyard Brawl with the Panthers (2-0).