This week's polls have been released. Here's how the Big 12 fared, from the top of the polls to the bottom, and what it means.(AP/Coaches)
5/6. Oklahoma State
Well, we all knew Oklahoma State was going to drop in the polls this week following the loss to Iowa State, but the good news is that the Cowboys didn't fall as far as they could have. Of course, this is also where I point out that I'm not entirely convinced that this team is suddenly only the fifth or sixth best team in the country. Cases can be made for Stanford and Arkansas being ahead of the Cowboys, but do the Coaches actually think Virginia Tech is better than Oklahoma State? Here's a list of the Cowboys biggest wins: Texas A&M (ranked 8th at the time), Texas (currently 25th in the BCS), Baylor (just beat Oklahoma, also beat TCU, both ranked) and Kansas State (ranked 11th in the BCS). Here are Virginia Tech's big wins: Georgia Tech, and, and, hmm, yeah that's it. This is the same Virginia Tech that beat Duke 14-10 earlier this season, and Duke missed three field goals in that game. They're suddenly better than Oklahoma State?12/11. Oklahoma
The Sooners fall 7 spots in the AP and 6 in the Coaches, and it's hard to argue against it. I'd probably put the Sooners ahead of Michigan State in both polls, as they both have two losses and I feel Oklahoma's the better team, but Michigan State also has one more win than the Sooners right now. Of course, when you get right down to it, rankings don't have much meaning for the Sooners anymore. There is no chance to get to the BCS title game and Oklahoma's only route to a BCS game is by winning the Big 12. In order to do that it'll have to beat Iowa State and Oklahoma State these next two weeks.16/15. Kansas State
I think at this point, no matter what Kansas State does, when it comes to the polls it's just considered the 15th best team in the country. Even in a week where so many teams ahead of it faltered and the Wildcats won -- although it was a game that epitomized an ugly win -- they don't really budge in the polls. Though all Kansas State likely cares about right now is that it's 11th in the BCS which means it has an outside chance at getting an at-large berth in a BCS game.21/20. Baylor
Last week I had some reservations about Baylor being ranked in the AP Poll. I just had some qualms with the Bears being ranked ahead of some other teams considering they had three losses and had lost every "big" game they'd played up until that point. Yeah, well, nevermind. Point proven, Baylor. Now the only gripe that could be made about Baylor's ranking is that it's behind TCU in both polls. But we all know that the memories of voters only go back so far.Others receiving votes
Iowa State (3 AP/1 Coaches), Missouri (0 AP/8 Coaches), Texas A&M (0 AP/4 Coaches), Texas (0 AP/1 Coaches)
