[2023] Big 12 Quarter-Season Update

[tsweezy]

After 3.5 weeks of play, most schools have wrapped up their OOC games and now we can take a little quick peek and see how they are performing vis-a-vis my initial preseason power rankings for each conference. Next, the Large Dozen:

 

 

Team	Conf	Overall	Preseason Power Rank	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	New Rank	Notes
TCU	0-0	3-0	1	W vs ULM 17-9	W at LSU 17-14	W vs TXST 41-10	1	A tough OOC, and they gritted through LSU before blowing out Texas State. I think they've taken the edge over Baylor as the team to beat in conference.
Baylor	1-0	3-0	2	W at Rice 34-20	W vs UTEP 31-21	W at CINC 55-14	2	Baylor flipped with TCU but by the thinnest of margins, they've just had a weaker schedule so far. I still think they have the horses to make a playoff push this year
Oklahoma	0-0	3-0	6	W at ARK 38-24	W at MIAF 33-10	W vs ULL 35-17	3	Oklahoma has had the talent for years and they look like they're finally putting it together. Great wins and really the only team that can challenge TCU/Baylor for the conference crown
Kansas State	1-0	2-1	8	L at ARKST 10-14	W at TXST 18-10	W at BYU 41-20	4	That opening loss hurt, but wins against TXST and BYU are brag-worthy. I think they're the start of Tier 2 in the Big 12
Texas Tech	0-0	2-1	11	L vs NIU 20-23	W at OREG 23-17	W vs EMU 44-13	5	Much better than expected, beating Oregon is good and they're looking to make more conference noise
Iowa State	1-0	3-0	12	W vs FCS 20-7	W at Iowa 27-17	W vs TEX 16-13	6	Great start for Iowa State. They win El Assico and upset Texas to get a conference win under their belt
Houston	0-0	1-1	3	L vs UCLA 34-41	W at UCONN 24-17		7	Tough to say. The UCLA game was a barn burner with a bit of a slump the next week against UCONN. We'll see how the rest of the year goes
Kansas	1-0	1-1	4	L vs NEB 24-30	W vs UCF 24-9		8	Close loss to Nebraska, and a conference win. Not enough info to see how they'll turn out yet
West Virginia	0-0	2-1	10	W vs FCS 62-7	W vs ARMY 30-20	L at Liberty 21-28	9	You can really see the momentum shifting as WVU has gone from one of the worst in the FBS to a pretty respectably average team. Liberty stings but they should pick up a few more wins and shoot for a bowl berth if things go well
BYU	0-1	2-1	9	W vs FCS 34-6	W vs ECU 30-7	L vs KSST 20-41	10	Some solid wins, but the conference loss already isn't fun to have
Texas	0-1	2-1	7	W at NMSU 37-7	W vs VAND 42-7	L at IAST 13-16	11	Texas had a much better start than their spring games showed, and IAST wasn't even a really bad loss. The big 12 is just crazy deep, Texas would be a top-5 team in almost every other conference
Oklahoma State	0-0	1-1	5	L vs USAF 14-20	W at BALL 23-13		12	Some middling games for an average team in the toughest conference
UCF	0-1	2-1	13	W vs USF 49-13	W vs FCS 35-7	L at KANS 9-24	13	Newcomers with two big wins and a rough loss. Again you want to put them higher, but nobody else has really looked bad
Cincinnati	0-1	0-3	14	L at WAST 17-27	L at PITT 23-44	L vs BAYL 14-55	14	Ah, the bottom-feeder of the conference. A newbie for everyone to beat up. Nice

 

Overall OOC record: 23-8 (.742)

Biggest surprise (good): Texas Tech

Biggest surprise (bad): Oklahoma State?

They are who we thought they were: Cincinnati, Baylor, TCU

Number of (currently assumed) nationally relevant teams: 5.5