Big 12 Power Rankings Week 2
Cowboys drop, Horns stand tall
By John Razook, 6:45PM, Wed. Sep. 16, 2009
It took nearly three full days, but the shock of Oklahoma State losing, at home, to an unranked Houston Cougar team, seems to finally be wearing off. The Cowboys plummeted in the polls this week, and fell even further in the area of Respect, of which I now have none.
In fact, so ridiculously bad did oSu look Saturday afternoon (and on the subsequent replays of the game being shown regularly on Fox Sports Southwest) that I was tempted to drop them to the cellar in my power rankings.
However, Colorado is really, really bad, so in fairness to the Buffaloes' level of play, oSu drops only to the middle of the pack. Come to think of it, "power rankings" is probably a poor term, seeing as how nothing about roughly half the league's teams seems particularly powerful.
There are intriguing games this coming weekend, first and foremost being the Texas-Texas Tech rematch in Austin. The Horns have revenge on the mind, and this spells trouble for the pirates from Lubbock. Tulsa-OU could be interesting if the OU offense struggles early and the Golden Hurricane is able to put a few points on the board. Nebraska-Virginia Tech should also be rather revealing.
1) Texas [2-0; 0-0]: Survived the altitude, and a team with a familiar-looking mascot. The Halloween trip to Stillwater looks much less scary these days.
2) Oklahoma [1-1; 0-0]: Conference USA and in-state foe Tulsa comes to Norman this weekend. Sooner D should be up to the challenge.
3) Texas Tech [2-0; 0-0]: Showdown in Austin will be fun. Just not as fun for Red Raiders' fans as last year.
4) Kansas [2-0; 0-0]: Jayhawks have only allowed 10 points so far this season. Jayhawks have not yet played an actual football team, though.
5) Missouri [2-0; 0-0]: Why not love on the Big 12 North early? It won't last forever.
6) Nebraska [2-0; 0-0]: See "Missouri" above.
7) Oklahoma State [1-1; 0-0]: Embarrassed the State of Oklahoma and the rest of the Big 12 on Saturday. Shameful performance, but one to which long-suffering Cowboys' fans are only far too accustomed.
8) Baylor [1-0; 0-0]: Excitement building to pre-Janet Reno levels in Waco!
9) Texas A&M [1-0; 0-0]: Good time for the bye week, Aggie fans?
10) Kansas State [1-1; 0-0]: This weekend against UCLA probably won't be pretty, but Bill Snyder will have this team playing better by the end of the year.
11) Iowa State [1-1; 0-0]: Looked pretty rough against what is most likely a mediocre Iowa team.
12) Colorado [0-2; 0-0]: The Hawkins clan is probably entering discussions with Boulder-area real estate agents as I type …
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