1. No. 4 Texas Longhorns
Fresh off of handing Alabama its first nonconference regular season loss in six years and winning its first AP top three game in 15 years, Texas comes into the rankings at No. 4 and is the highest ranked Big 12 team. Being ranked in the top five for the first time since 2009, Texas is 2–0 going into its second home game, which will be against Wyoming. Texas is led by sophomore quarterback Quinn Ewers, who was named this week’s Maxwell Player of the Week, Davey O’Brien National Quarterback of the Week, Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week and the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week. Texas is coming off its biggest win in years and will need to be consistent to beat Wyoming and stay undefeated.
2. No. 15 Kansas State Wildcats
Starting the season 2–0, No. 15 Kansas State has handily beaten its first two opponents, Southeastern Missouri 45-0 and Troy 42-13. Quarterback Will Howard has thrown for 547 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. After losing star running back Deuce Vaughn to the NFL draft, DJ Giddens and Treshaun Ward have taken over the Wildcats’ run game, each with 27 carries. Giddens has rushed for 180 yards and Ward for 114 yards and a touchdown.
3. No. 19 Oklahoma Sooners
In its second year under head coach Brent Venables, Oklahoma is also off to a 2–0 start after defeating Arkansas State 73-0 and SMU 28-11. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel has thrown for 484 yards and six touchdowns, and on the defensive side, linebacker Danny Stutsman has 21 total tackles and one sack. Coming off a 5–7 season, Oklahoma is looking to bounce back in its final Big 12 season before joining the SEC along with Texas.
4. Kansas Jayhawks
Kansas football is a program that has been completely rebuilt in the past year, and the Jayhawks aren’t looking to stop anytime soon. After finishing 6–7 in 2022, its best record since 2009, the Jayhawks are 2–0 to begin the season. This season, Kansas has defeated Missouri State 48-17 and Illinois 34-23 and looks to stay undefeated when traveling to Nevada this week.
5. UCF Knights
One of the new additions to the Big 12, the Knights are 2–0 to start the season, defeating Kent State 56-6 and Boise State 18-16 on a last second field goal. Despite the win, UCF lost its quarterback John Rhys Plumlee to a leg injury for a few weeks. Before his injury, Plumlee had 553 passing yards, three touchdowns, four interceptions and led the Knights in rushing with 163 yards and one touchdown. UCF will face Villanova at home this week.
6. Oklahoma State Cowboys
All three of Oklahoma State’s quarterbacks have seen significant playing time through the Cowboys’ first two wins over Central Arkansas and Arizona State. Alan Bowman comes in with 193 yards, Garret Rangel has 164 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, and Gunnar Gundy has 138 yards and one touchdown. The Cowboys won 27-15 on the road against Arizona State in a game where Oklahoma State’s defense stood strong enough to hold the Sun Devils scoreless in the second half. The Cowboys will be back home this weekend to take on South Alabama.
7. Cincinnati Bearcats
One of the newest additions to the Big 12, the Cincinnati Bearcats have been one of the sleeper threats of college football the past few seasons, playing in the 2021 College Football Playoff. This year, the Bearcats have defeated Eastern Michigan 66-13 at home and Pitt on the road 27-21. Quarterback Emory Jones has thrown for 470 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception so far and looks to lead his team to victory in its first Big 12 Season. Cincinnati will play Miami of Ohio at home before starting conference play with Oklahoma.
8. BYU Cougars
BYU quarterback Kedon Slovis has accounted for all but one of the Cougars’ touchdowns this season. To start the season, he ran for a pair of touchdowns in the 14-0 win over Sam Houston State. Last week, he followed that performance up with four passing and one rushing touchdowns in the 41-16 win over Southern Utah. Slovis will take BYU on the road for a true test at Arkansas in its final preseason matchup before starting Big 12 play for the first time.
9. TCU Horned Frogs
After Week 1, linebacker Johnny Hodges called his team “the laughing stock of college football,” following the 2022 national championship contending team’s Week 1 loss to Colorado, a team that was 1–11 last year. After one of the worst two-game streaks, losing 67-7 to Georgia in the national championship and then starting the season with a loss to Colorado, the Horned Frogs bounced back in Week 2. Sitting at 1–1 after defeating Nicholls 41-6, quarterback Chandler Morris has big shoes to fill of former quarterback Max Duggan before TCU starts Big 12 play this week against Houston.
10. Iowa State Cyclones
Iowa State sits at 1–1 after falling 20-13 to in-state rival Iowa in the annual preseason game. The Cyclones fell due to being stopped on fourth-and-1 by the Hawkeye defense after quarterback Rocco threw for 203 yards, one touchdown and one interception. In Week 1, the Cyclones routed Northern Iowa 30-9 and this week will travel to Ohio to try and add another win to their schedule.
11. West Virginia Mountaineers
After a 38-15 loss at No. 7 Penn State during Week 1, West Virginia bounced back to beat Duquesne 56-17. Wide receiver Hudson Clement was quarterback Garrett Greene’s favorite target in Week 2, with 177 yards and three touchdowns in his college debut. This week, the Mountaineers will face Pitt in Morgantown before starting Big 12 play.
12. Houston Cougars
Houston started the season with a 17-14 win over UTSA when quarterback Donovan Smith threw for 233 yards and two touchdowns. Last week, the Cougars made the short trip across Houston to take on Rice and were stunned in double overtime, falling 43-41. Houston came from behind to tie the game, holding Rice scoreless in the second half but was unable to complete the comeback for the win. The Cougars will start Big 12 play this week against TCU in Houston.
13. Baylor Bears
After its Week 1 42-31 loss to Texas State, the Wildcats first win over a power five school ever, the Bears looked to bounce back at home against No. 12 Utah. However, the Bears fell again, losing 20-13 to Utah at home without their starting quarterback Blake Shapen, who went down with an MCL injury against Texas State. Baylor will look for its first win this week against Long Island University in its last game before Big 12 play begins.
14. Texas Tech Red Raiders
Head coach Jerry McGuire has struggled to back up his bold comment of “everything runs through Lubbock,” after beating Texas last year. The Red Raiders are 0–2 on the season so far, losing 35-33 in overtime at Wyoming and 38-30 to No. 13 Oregon at home. Texas Tech has one more chance to redeem itself this week against Tarleton before the real challenge of Big 12 play.
