Big 12 Power Rankings: Baylor, Iowa State climb as Mike Gundy hits rock bottom
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Iowa State and Baylor surged with narrow wins, boosting their Big 12 positioning.
- Oklahoma State collapsed at Oregon, raising questions about Mike Gundy’s tenure.
- Texas Tech dominated early matchups, overcoming injuries with explosive offense.
The Big 12 earned some nice wins in Week 2, but they were overshadowed by a trio of ugly losses.
Early on Saturday, Baylor gave fans a thrilling win over SMU at the exact same time that Iowa State moved to 3-0 with a gritty victory over Iowa. It looked like it may be a great day of football results for Brett Yormark’s conference.
But then Oklahoma State suffered a humiliating 69-3 loss at Oregon, West Virginia looked hapless in a 17-10 loss at Ohio and then Army beat Kansas State 24-21.
That gives us plenty to cover.
With that in mind, let’s take some time to analyze everything we have seen up to this point — heading into Week 3 — and project what will happen in the future with a new edition of Big 12 Power Rankings.
Winning with style points
1. Texas Tech (2-0): The Red Raiders have played one of the easiest schedules in all of college football, but I am willing to overlook that because they have won with style points. Behren Morton shrugged off an injury to throw for 459 yards and seven touchdowns in two games, helping Texas Tech win by a combined score of 129-21.
2. Iowa State (3-0, 1-0 Big 12): Remember, these rankings are not based on resumes. If they were, the Cyclones would be a slam-dunk choice for the top spot with early wins over Kansas State and Iowa. But it’s worth pointing out that both of those wins came by just three points against teams that may not be as good as advertised. Neither K-State nor Iowa has beaten an FBS opponent yet this season.
3. Utah (2-0): Devon Dampier looks like the Newcomer of the Year in the Big 12. The Utah quarterback has already thrown for 398 yards and rushed for 112 during his short time with the Utes.
The one-loss club
4. Arizona State (1-1): It’s hard to punish the Sun Devils all that much for dropping a tricky road game at Mississippi State, but they clearly miss Cam Skattebo. That was the type of game they were able to win on their way to a Big 12 championship last season.
5. Kansas (2-1): Call it a missed opportunity for the Jayhawks. Kansas built an early 21-6 lead but couldn’t hold on against Missouri. Still, Lance Leipold’s team possessed a lead in the fourth quarter and pushed a top 25 team on the road. If the Jayhawks clean up a few things on offense and improve even slightly on defense, they will be a tough match for most Big 12 teams.
6. Baylor (1-1): Dave Aranda’s reputation as a defensive coach has taken some serious hits early on this season. But the Bears look fantastic on offense. Baylor gave us the most exciting Big 12 win of the early season on Saturday when it came from behind to defeat SMU 48-45 in overtime.
Undefeated and untested
7. BYU (2-0): The Cougars haven’t allowed a touchdown through two games, as BYU has crushed Portland State 69-0 and Stanford 27-3.
8. TCU (1-0): Beating up on North Carolina in Week 1 was fun. Scheduling a bye for Week 2 was not.
9. Houston (2-0): It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Willie Fritz has Houston looking good in Year 2. The Cougars might have sleeper potential in the Big 12 after a pair of impressive wins to start the season.
10. Arizona (2-0): The Wildcats look like a much-improved team in Brent Brennan’s second year as coach. But Arizona hasn’t played a challenging game yet. We will learn more about this squad on Friday when it hosts K-State in prime time.
The bad and the ugly
11. Kansas State (1-2, 0-1 Big 12): Giving up a home game to lose Farmageddon in Dublin was bad. Needing a last-minute drive to beat North Dakota at home was arguably worse. Now, the Wildcats need to hope they have hit rock bottom. Losing to Army was a serious gut punch. K-State is off to its worst start in 16 years.
12. Cincinnati (1-1): The Bearcats handed Eddie George his first loss as an FBS coach over the weekend. That’s something.
13. Colorado (1-1): Ryan Staub will reportedly take over as starting quarterback this week for the Buffaloes after he gave them a second-half spark with 157 yards and two touchdowns against Delaware.
14. UCF (2-0): Congrats are in order for the Knights. UCF was able to score 68 points against an FCS opponent Saturday while some of its Big 12 peers suffered blowout losses. Scott Frost’s team moved up two spots this week.
15. West Virginia (1-1): The honeymoon is over in Morgantown. The Mountaineers lost their first game since Rich Rodriguez returned as coach, and it was an ugly result. How does a Big 12 team only score 10 points against Ohio?
16. Oklahoma State (1-1): The Mike Gundy era may be coming to an end in Stillwater. Nobody expected the Cowboys to go on the road and beat Oregon, but losing 69-3 was just plain sad. There’s a chance that this Oklahoma State team is even worse than last year’s version, which went winless in Big 12 play.
This story was originally published September 10, 2025 at 6:30 AM with the headline "Big 12 Power Rankings: Baylor, Iowa State climb as Mike Gundy hits rock bottom."