1. Oklahoma State (10-1, 7-1 Big 12)
Eight weeks after losing to West Virginia and coughing up top spot in these rankings, the Cowboys are back on top. The Pokes continue to improve each week, and came away with the most impressive Big 12 victory of the season last week, steamrolling previously undefeated Baylor, 49-17.
2. Baylor (9-1, 6-1 Big 12)
The Bears got rocked in their first loss of the season last week. The Cowboys held Baylor to just 17 points, 44 less than its season average heading into the game, and the Bears gave up seven touchdowns. But all is not lost for Baylor. If they can win out, a BCS game is still a possibility.
3. Texas (7-3, 6-1 Big 12)
Baylor’s loss to Oklahoma State means the Longhorns will need some help from their rival, Oklahoma, in the Big 12 title race. If Texas is able to win out against Texas Tech and Baylor and the Sooners can knock off the Cowboys next week, the Longhorns will be crowned conference champions. Piece of cake, right?
4. Oklahoma (9-2, 6-2 Big 12)
Despite sitting just one game back in the Big 12 standings with two weeks to go, the Sooners have no chance at a conference championship. Even if Oklahoma can knock off Oklahoma State in the Bedlam Series, they would need both Texas and Baylor to lose out, which is impossible since they play each other next week.
5. Kansas State (6-5, 4-4 Big 12)
Oklahoma snapped the Wildcats’ four-game win streak last weekend, but Kansas State continued to look like an improved bunch in the losing effort. Bill Snyder’s squad trailed by just three points heading into the fourth quarter and kept it close right to the end. A win against the last-place Jayhawks this weekend and the Wildcats will have themselves a fourth consecutive winning season.
6. Texas Tech (7-4, 4-4 Big 12)
After starting the season on a seven-game win streak, the Red Raiders head to Austin looking to avoid finishing the regular season with a fifth straight loss. Aside from a blowout win over Kansas, Tech has yet to beat a Big 12 opponent by more than 10 points, so they’ll be looking to make a statement on Thanksgiving.
7. TCU (4-7, 2-6 Big 12)
Even if TCU can somehow upset Baylor, the season has to be considered a failure for Gary Patterson and the Horned Frogs. TCU started the season ranked No. 20 and since then has lost seven games, with its most impressive win coming at home against SMU in Week 4.
8. West Virginia (4-7, 2-6 Big 12)
A couple weeks after handing Kansas its first conference victory in over three years, the Mountaineers appear primed to lose to the only other team below them on this list this weekend, Iowa State. Not much was expected from West Virginia this year, but nobody could have predicted it would be this bad.
9. Iowa State (2-9, 1-7 Big 12)
After spending 12 straight weeks at the bottom of the rankings, the Cyclones have finally emerged from the basement. Iowa State shut out fellow cellar dweller, Kansas, last weekend, proving once and for all that they are not the worst team in the Big 12.
10. Kansas (3-8, 1-7 Big 12)
Just a week after the biggest win of his tenure at Kansas, Charlie Weis led his team to possibly its worst performance of his tenure, a 34-0 loss to 2-9 Iowa State. The Jayhawks have improved over last year, so Weis will likely keep his job, but his time at Kansas has been a real blemish on his resume to this point.
