Big 12 Conference Power Rankings: Week 8

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The season's halfway point has come for all Big 12 Conference teams. Only three teams (No. 9 Iowa State, No. 13 BYU, Texas Tech) are left undefeated in the conference standings at 3-0. Week 7 was the week of the running back with Arizona State's Cam Skattebo rushing for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 27-19 win over Utah. Utah's Micah Bernard rushed for 129 yards and a touchdown in the loss. Kansas State's DJ Giddens had 182 yards in the win over Colorado. Then Iowa State's Carson Hansen had 96 yards and 3 touchdowns in a win over West Virginia.

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 (6-0, 3-0) (94), Last Week: No. 2

The BYU Cougars might be the most surprising team in the Big 12 this season after being picked 13th in the preseason media poll. This past week they blew out Arizona 41-19 behind a strong game from quarterback Jake Retzlaff, who threw for 218 yards and 2 touchdowns. The defense also forced the Wildcats into 4 turnovers. BYU has scored a touchdown this season on a kickoff, a punt, by interception and a fumble recovery. They have no currently ranked teams remaining on their schedule with a road game coming up in a few weeks at Utah.

Upcoming game: Oklahoma State

No. 2: Iowa State Cyclones (6-0, 3-0) (91), Last Week: No. 1

The Cyclones may have fallen in the power rankings this week but in reality, BYU and Iowa State are 1a and 1b. Iowa State went to Morgantown, W. Va. and beat the Mountaineers 28-16. Quarterback Rocco Becht threw for 265 yards and 1 touchdown against the Mountaineers. The defense forced West Virginia quarterback Garrett Greene to throw 2 interceptions in the second half to keep the Mountaineers at arm's length. The remaining schedule has several challenging games left including a road game at Utah and home games against Texas Tech and Kansas State.

Upcoming game: UCF Knights

No. 3: Kansas State Wildcats (5-1, 2-1) (84), Last Week: No. 3

No. 17 Kansas State is coming off their first road conference win against Colorado 31-28. Giddens leads the Big 12 in rushing yards with 786 yards rushing with 2 touchdowns. In his last two games, quarterback Avery Johnson has thrown for 483 yards 5 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

In the Colorado game, the K-State defense held them to minus-29 yards rushing, the third-best performance in school history. The remaining schedule has three road games against West Virginia, Houston and Iowa State. They also have Kansas, Arizona State and Cincinnati scheduled for home games.

Upcoming game: at West Virginia

No. 4: Texas Tech Red Raiders (5-1, 3-0) (75), Last Week: No. 6

Texas Tech has cracked the top 5 of the Big 12 power rankings for the first time this season. Quarterback Behren Morton has thrown for 1,640 yards 14 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Running back Tajh Brooks has run for 679 yards and 7 touchdowns up to this point. The defense has struggled this season giving up 32.3 points a game which is last in the Big 12. The Red Raiders have one currently ranked team on the schedule left with a road game at Iowa State.

Upcoming game: Baylor Bears

No. 5: Arizona State Sun Devils (5-1, 2-1) (74), Last Week: No. 9

The Sun Devils are another surprise team in the Big 12. Skattebo is the heart and soul of the offense with 773 yards rushing and 8 touchdowns. Michigan State transfer quarterback Sam Leavitt has been what the Sun Devils' offense has needed throwing for 1,166 yards 8 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.

The defense gives up 317.3 yards and 23 points a game which lands them fifth and seventh in the conference, respectively. The remaining schedule has four road trips including Kansas State and Arizona. They also will host BYU at home in the future.

Upcoming game: at Cincinnati Bearcats

Big 12 Power Rankings: Nos. 6-16

No. 6: Colorado Buffaloes (4-2, 2-1) (63); Last week: No. 5; Upcoming game: at Arizona Wildcats

No. 7: Utah Utes (4-2, 1-2) (60); Last week: No. 4; Upcoming game: TCU Horned Frogs

No. 8: Cincinnati Bearcats (4-2, 2-1) (58); Last week: No. 11; Upcoming game: Arizona State Sun Devils

No. 9: West Virginia Mountaineers (3-3, 2-1) (47); Last week: No. 7; Upcoming game: Kansas State Wildcats

No. 10: Arizona Wildcats (3-3, 1-2) (43); Last week: No. 8; Upcoming game: Colorado Buffaloes

No. 11: UCF Knights (3-3, 1-2) (31); Last week: No. 10; Upcoming game: at Iowa State Cyclones

No. 12: TCU Horned Frogs (3-3, 1-2) (28); Last week: No. 12; Upcoming game: at Utah Utes

No. 13: Houston Cougars (2-4, 1-2) (21); Last week: No. 14; Upcoming game: at Kansas Jayhawks

No. 14: Baylor Bears (2-4, 0-3) (20); Last week: No. 13; Upcoming game: at Texas Tech Red Raiders

No. 15: Oklahoma State Cowboys (3-3, 0-3) (19); Last week: No. 15; Upcoming game: at BYU Cougars

No. 16: Kansas Jayhawks (1-5, 0-3) (7); Last week: No. 16; Upcoming game: Houston Cougars

This is the first full slate of conference games this upcoming week. There are no ranked-versus-ranked games this week. Plenty of must-watch games will shape the Big 12 title picture including Arizona State traveling to Cincinnati and Kansas State at West Virginia.