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Big 12 Football 2018: Cowboys rise, Frogs dip in Week 9 power rankings

By Patrick Mayhorn

STILLWATER, OK - OCTOBER 27: Quarterback Taylor Cornelius #14 of the Oklahoma State Cowboys dives across the pylon to score the game-winning touchdown against linebacker Gary Johnson #33 of the Texas Longhorns late in the fourth quarter on October 27, 2018 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Oklahoma State won 38-35. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
STILLWATER, OK - OCTOBER 27: Quarterback Taylor Cornelius #14 of the Oklahoma State Cowboys dives across the pylon to score the game-winning touchdown against linebacker Gary Johnson #33 of the Texas Longhorns late in the fourth quarter on October 27, 2018 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Oklahoma State won 38-35. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
(Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /

I was looking for a Big 12 team to establish themselves this week as the de facto chaos team in the conference, with Iowa State graduated from chaos to full on good. While Baylor, Kansas State and Texas Tech all missed their chance to grab the coveted chaos team spot, Oklahoma State rose to the occasion for exactly one half, nearly squandered it entirely, and then held on for the win.

Is Oklahoma State good? Oh, absolutely not. They’re a super flawed team, and they’re decent at best. However, they beat Texas, and knocked them out of the playoff race, which is extremely funny, so they get to move up the best of the bad teams in my rankings.

I thought about dropping Texas Tech back to sixth after their loss to Iowa State, but after considering it, I decided to keep them at five. That’s a direct result of two things. Firstly, I think Tech is still quite a bit better than Oklahoma State, and secondly, they did just about what I expected them to do this weekend.

That is to say that they competed with a very good Iowa State team before ultimately falling short late in the game. Alan Bowman didn’t have a great game, Iowa State’s offense was excellent, and yet, Texas Tech was still able to keep it close. I’ll give them some credit for that.

(Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images)
(Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images) /

West Virginia did exactly what I expected them to do against Baylor. Will Grier looked awesome, the defense was good, and they didn’t get caught in what could have been a bit of a trap game. However, they’re staying at four this week, because a win over Baylor isn’t all that impressive. Beat Texas this weekend, and West Virginia will absolutely move up this list, but until then, they’re staying right here at four.

Iowa State is a legitimate Big 12 title contender. That’s pretty wild to say after the start to the season that they had, but it’s absolutely true. Iowa State is up to 3-2 in conference play after beating Texas Tech. They already have a win over West Virginia, so they win that tiebreaker as long as West Virginia loses again this season. To be in the Big 12 championship, Iowa State will need to beat Texas, which would obviously give them that tiebreaker too. Essentially, Iowa State needs Texas (or anyone) to beat West Virginia, and the Cyclones need to win out. That feels extremely possible with this remaining schedule.

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