Red Raiders steal their way up the Big 12 Power Rankings

Last weekend delivered some huge upsets, and the Big 12 delivered as well, nearly on both sides of the coin.  There was a bit of movement

1. TCU (Last Week: 1) - A complete pasting of SMU means we can't do anything but leave them in their top spot.  They still look to be the best team in the conference without a doubt right now.

2. Oklahoma (Last Week: 2) - A big win over Tulsa isn't enough to vault them over the Horned Frogs, but they still look to be the second best team in the conference, with arguably the best win of the bunch.

3. Baylor (Last Week: 3) - A bye week last week means they didn't have any chance to impress and move up, but there was no way anyone could do enough to vault ahead of them either.

4. Texas Tech (Last Week: 7) - They put together the most unexpectedly impressive performance of the season so far, mostly thanks to a moderately impressive defensive performance last week at Arkansas.  They jump to the top of the second tier in the conference for this week.

5. West Virginia (Last Week: 4) - A solid victory this week over Maryland could allow them to retake the #4 spot, especially since Texas Tech plays TCU and isn't likely to pull off another upset victory.

6. Oklahoma State (Last Week: 6) - A big win last week is enough to keep them in the number 6 spot.  They've done enough that they could easily be in the top half of the conference, and their #24 ranking would make you think they would be there, but I'm not swayed by the voter's opinion enough to jump them over WVU, especially since the Mountaineers are getting votes too.

7. Kansas State (Last Week: 5) - A triple overtime win against Louisiana Tech at home is not a way to inspire confidence in their ability going forward into conference play.  They'll get victories against the bottom teams, but it looks like injuries have pretty much destroyed their chances of finishing in the top half this year.

8. Texas (Last Week: 8) - This most recent loss was particularly painful.  The fact that they were able to come almost all the way back from a late 21-point deficit was encouraging, but the fact that they fell so far behind in the first place makes me wonder just how back this defense is going to look once they get to conference play.  They'll get the first glimpse of that this week against Oklahoma State.

9. Iowa State (Last Week: 9) - A double overtime loss at Toledo isn't necessarily a horrible thing, especially since the Rockets are getting votes in the polls this week, but this was a game that they really should have won.  Short of the game against Kansas, and maybe the one against Texas, I'm having a hard time seeing them getting any other league wins this year.

10. Kansas (Last Week: 10) - At least they didn't lose during the bye week... They get a decent shot against Rutgers to break their road losing streak, but I'm not sure I can actually be confident in them pulling it off.

So does Texas Tech deserve the big jump they got this week?  Should someone else have made a similar jump up or down?