1. Oklahoma
The Sooners looked like themselves in their season opener against Missouri State. Redshirt freshman quarterback Spencer Rattler threw for 290 yards and four touchdowns in his brief debut. Head coach Lincoln Riley said after the game that they had a number of positive COVID-19 tests that almost jeopardized the game, but the Sooner Schooner rolled on and keeps its top spot in the rankings.
2. Texas
The Longhorns opened the season with a 59-3 drubbing of UTEP in their last game two weeks ago. Senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger set career highs in passing yards and touchdowns, including 424 yards and five touchdowns in just the first half. Overall, the Longhorns put up 689 total yards of offense, the third most in school history. Texas opens up conference play this week at Texas Tech.
3. Oklahoma State
No one expected a defensive battle, but that’s what happened in Oklahoma State’s win over Tulsa last week. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Spencer Sanders left the game early with an injury, hindering the Cowboys offense, but redshirt junior running back Chuba Hubbard found a rhythm in the second half, and the defense did enough to hold Tulsa at bay. The Cowboys face West Virginia this week.
4. Baylor
Baylor still hasn’t been able to get on the field after their matchup against Houston was postponed in their third postponement or cancellation this year. Assuming they’ll be able to suit up this week, expect the Bears to take care of business as usual in their conference opener at Kansas.
5. TCU
We still haven’t gotten a glimpse of TCU on the gridiron yet either. The Horned Frogs were originally scheduled to open their season against SMU, but instead they’ll be starting play this week at home against Iowa State.
6. West Virginia
West Virginia handled business in its opener against FCS opponent Eastern Kentucky. The offense put up 56 points with redshirt junior quarterback Jarret Doege throwing for three touchdowns. The Mountaineers will look to carry that success into their matchup with Oklahoma State this week.
7. Iowa State
The Cyclones were the first of three 12 teams to catch the upset bug in Week 1. They weren’t able to get anything going against Louisiana, losing 31-14 to open their season. Iowa State did not look like the team most thought they would be, hence their fall in the rankings. The Cyclones will look to get back on track against TCU.
8. Kansas State
The Wildcats also dropped the ball in their opener, losing 35-31 to Arkansas State. To say the Sun Belt conference has gotten the best of the Big 12 would be an understatement, as three teams pulled off upsets. There were times when Kansas State looked good, particularly with freshman running back Deuce Vaughn, but those moments ultimately weren’t enough and the team will now travel to face Oklahoma.
9. Texas Tech
The Red Raiders barely held on in their season opener against the Houston Baptist team they were projected to beat by 42 points. Although that’s not how Texas Tech would’ve liked to open the season, they found a way to win, which is more than several other Big 12 teams can say. It will be a much different story when Texas comes to town Saturday.
10. Kansas
Kansas football lost to Coastal Carolina for the second straight season in its season opener nearly two weeks ago. The Jayhawks billed this year’s affair as a revenge game but were unable to find much success against their foes from the Sun Belt conference. Junior running back Pooka Williams was held in check, only collecting 67 yards on the ground. The Jayhawks travel to Waco this week for a matchup against Baylor.
Editor’s note: The headline of this story was updated for formatting consistency.
