Big 12 power rankings

After we lamented the idea that the Big 12 might only have five teams in the postseason, it now looks like seven should make it, as long as K-State and West Virginia handle their business. Nobody outside of Big 12 country will notice. Again.

1. Baylor Bears (8-0, 6-0) — It's obvious the national scene doesn't want the Bears to crash the BCS party. Here's hoping the Bears borrow Rambo's two-word statement when standing in front of the entire Russian army in Rambo III.

2. Texas Longhorns (7-2, 5-0) — Wrong, wrong, wrong. I had it all wrong with the Longhorns when I LOL'ed at Greg Robinson coming on board what I thought was a doomed ship. On the field, should West Virginia have stayed with Texas? No. But, did Texas lose? No.

3. Oklahoma St. Cowboys (8-1, 5-1) — After a three-week stupor that began with its lone loss of the year, OSU has put up 58, 52 and 42 in its last three games. The competition wasn't stellar, but it let swagger back in the door, and it's a confident bunch that heads to Austin.

4. Oklahoma Sooners (7-2, 4-2) — The perennial favorite took 41 hits to the chin in Waco last week, and had it been an actual boxing match, the fight would have been stopped early. OU has ISU at home before heading to Manhattan and Stillwater to finish the year. This staggered team could wind up 8-4 after starting 5-0. Yikes.

5. Kansas St. Wildcats (5-4, 3-3) — KSU put up its highest point total of the season last Saturday. On the road. Against a Top 25 opponent. John Hubert outran an entire defense. Ryan Mueller added to his conference-leading sack total. Saw, wood, you get the picture.

6. Texas Tech Red Raiders (7-3, 4-3) — The guns are jammed. After a 7-0 start, the Red Raiders have now lost three in a row (OU, OSU & KSU) and are trending down. Good news is those games are done. Bad news is the final two contests are against Baylor and Texas.

7. West Virginia Mountaineers (4-6, 2-5) — Hand it to the Mountaineers, they're spunky at really random times. After back-to-back overtime games the past two weeks, WVU gets to take out its Texas-loss frustrations on Kansas in Lawrence.

8. TCU Horned Frogs (4-6, 2-5) — Bill Snyder said this week that he doesn't understand why TCU isn't better than it has shown this season. It's not up to us to figure that out. We just know this team is plodding along, scoring 10, 7, 27 (OT) and 21 points in the last four games. That won't beat a red-hot K-State in Manhattan.

9.5 Kansas Jayhawks (2-7, 0-6) — The WVU game seems winnable if the Jayhawks' minds are still in a good spot, but that's a big if. Consider this: The offense has scored above 19 points just once this year (31 v. South Dakota). Big 12 scoring: 16, 17, 19, 14, 13, 6. Blech.

10. Iowa St. Cyclones (1-8, 0-6) — ISU was that close to breaking into the win column against TCU before falling 21-17 on a touchdown with 38 seconds left. Alas, it has been that kind of year for the Cyclones.