Big 12 Power Rankings after explosive first week

The first week of college football came and went, and it was truly glorious. Most teams faced off against FCS programs or FBS cellar dwellers, so it's hard to make any sweeping judgments based off this first taste of action.

Nevertheless, we do have some movements in our power rankings after last week's debut.

1. BYU Cougars (1-0)

   Last week's ranking: 1st Last week's result: W 63-7 vs Utah Tech

   There were no surprises here, as BYU cruised through the Trailblazers. Bear Bachmeier looked sharp, the Cougar running game was dominant as ever, and the defense forced four takeaways in the debut of defensive coordinator Kelly Poppinga.

2. Texas Tech Red Raiders (1-0)

   Last week's ranking: 2nd

   Last week's result: W 33-10 vs Abilene Christian

   Texas Tech wasn't as dominant as people expected. Abilene Christian is a very good FCS team, but they're still an FCS team. Quarterback Will Hammond was uneven throughout the game, but his stellar supporting cast helped make up for it.

3. Houston Cougars (1-0)

   Last week's ranking: 3rd

   Last week's result: W 33-20 vs Oregon State

   Houston had a closer game on their hands than expected, but they were also one of just a handful of teams to face an FBS opponent this weekend. The biggest takeaway is that the Cougars defense wasn't as stout as they were last year, though that will surely improve as more games are played.

4. Arizona State Sun Devils (1-0)

   Last week's ranking: 4th

   Last week's result: W 70-7 vs Morgan State

   No real notes for the Sun Devils this week. They obliterated Morgan State - it was so bad that everyone agreed to shorten the fourth quarter - and Cutter Boley played well enough to earn Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week. He'll need to do it again with a roadtrip to College Station this week.

5. Arizona Wildcats (1-0)

   Last week's ranking: 5th

   Last week's result: W 35-7 vs NAU

   Noah Fifita came out the gates hot and never let up. The Wildcats defense also blanked the Lumberjacks until the fourth quarter. It could be argued that Arizona should've won by more, but they flashed potential to challenge for the conference crown in this win.

6. Utah Utes (1-0)

   Last week's ranking: 6th

   Last week's result: W 66-14 vs Idaho

   The Utes defense remains vaunted: their first two appearances of the season produced two takeaways. And on the other side of it, Devon Dampier racked up three touchdowns on just 18 pass attempts. That's a winning formula for Utah in any matchup.

7. Kansas State Wildcats (1-0)

   Last week's ranking: 9th

   Last week's result: W 71-3 vs Nicholls

   Our first real movement this week is Kansas State jumping up a bit. Collin Klein's debut as a head coach went swimmingly, with no better development than Avery Johnson looking great: the quarterback tallied four touchdowns between the air and ground in a very lopsided win.

8. UCF Knights

   Last week's ranking: 11th

   Last week's result: W 73-6 vs Bethune-Cookman

   UCF moves up this week, though it's largely due to others in the conference necessitating a drop. The Knights won big over Bethune-Cookman, but they had a nearly identical final score against their FCS opponent from last year. Scott Frost's bunch needs to show a bit more before we start believing.

9. Kansas Jayhawks (1-0)

   Last week's ranking: 13th

   Last week's result: W 51-6 Long Island

   The uncertainty around life after Jalon Daniels in Lawrence was momentarily cleared up. Isaiah Marshall was electric under center for the Jawhawks, and their two-headed monster of Yasin Willis and Micah Johnson made for a strong ground game. More importantly, the defense pitched a shutout until the fourth quarter.

10. Baylor Bears (0-1)

    Last week's ranking: 10th

    Last week's result: L 17-16 vs Auburn

    Baylor stays put despite the loss, if only because it's hard to know whether or not they just lost to a good Auburn team. It was a very close, hard fought game from both teams, and quarterback DJ Lagway looked mostly good despite playing through a tough injury. The Bears defense looked way better than expected, and the offense feels likely to figure things out before too long.

11. TCU Horned Frogs (0-1)

    Last week's ranking: 8th

    Last week's result: BYE

    Watching the rest of the Big 12 play this weekend only made TCU's loss in Ireland feel worse. The majority of this conference took care of business in their season opener, and TCU's failure to do so makes it even harder to believe in Sonny Dykes as he enters his fifth season in Fort Worth.

12. Oklahoma State Cowboys (0-1)

    Last week's ranking: 7th

    Last week's result: L 24-10 vs Tulsa

    What a disappointment. Viewed by many as a darkhorse contender in the Big 12, Eric Morris and his bounty of Mean Green-turned-Cowboys fell flat on their faces in Tulsa. For the first time since the 1950's, Oklahoma State has lost consecutive games to the Golden Hurricane; they also still haven't won an FBS game since September 14, 2024, ironically against Tulsa.

13. West Virginia Mountaineers (1-0)

    Last week's ranking: 12th

    Last week's result: W 31-24 vs Coastal Carolina

    The Mountaineers won, but boy did they not look good. Coastal Carolina, led by a new head coach with a career record of 19-16 at Missouri State, trailed for most of the game before outscoring West Virginia 17-7 in the fourth quarter. If the Chanticleers only had the game clock operator from the Michigan game, they may have upset West Virginia.

14. Colorado Buffaloes (1-0)

    Last week's ranking: 15th

    Last week's result: W 14-13 vs Georgia Tech

    Much like Baylor, Colorado may or may not have faced a good Georgia Tech team this weekend. For most of the game, Colorado's defense looked great while their offense looked miserable. But late-game heroics from quarterback Julian Lewis were nearly undone by sloppy pass defense. A blocked field goal saved the day for the Buffaloes, who move up a spot for their efforts.

15. Cincinnati Bearcats (1-0)

    Last week's ranking: 14th

    Last week's result: W 34-15 vs Boston College

    It's not that Cincinnati played poorly in their win over Boston College; it's more so that Boston College played so poorly that it's hard to see how Cincinnati didn't win by more. A rough start for the Bearcats started to become a runaway in the third quarter, but Boston College stormed back to make things close.

16. Iowa State Cyclones (1-0)

    Last week's ranking: 16th

    Last week's result: W 38-10 vs Southeast Missouri State

    Iowa State largely looked good in their first game under head coach Jimmy Rogers, but given the opponent - SEMO has topped four wins just twice in the last six years - that's not nearly enough to get the Cyclones out of the post-Matt Campbell cellar.