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Big 12 power rankings: Week 3

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — After buying in on the Longhorns to win the Big 12 this season, I feel like one of those Madoff victims. To find fraudulent Texas in this week’s rankings, you’ll have to scroll down a bit:

1. Oklahoma State (3-0)

Result: Beat Lamar 59-3, a win that included Josh Stewart’s 67-yard punt return score—the Cowboys’ first since Joe DeForest was coaching ’em up back in 2010. No. 11-ranked OSU now has a fortnight to prepare for its Sept. 28 trip to Morgantown.

2. Oklahoma (3-0, 1-0)

Result: Beat Tulsa 51-20 behind Blake Bell’s 413 passing yards—not all of which were screens and quick slants. I’m still not sure how good the 14th-ranked Sooners are, but in a depressing year for the Big 12, the key is not knowing how bad a team is.

3. Baylor (2-0)

Result: Idle. Hey, two byes in the span of three weeks actually represents a step up in competition for the No. 20 Bears.

4. Texas Tech (3-0, 1-0)

Result: Beat TCU 20-10. Props to the Red Raiders (and the Big 12 officiating crew) for launching the Kliff Kingsbury era in fine fashion.

5. TCU (1-2, 0-1)

Result: Lost at Texas Tech 20-10. Upon further review, yes, the Horned Frogs were hosed on several crucial plays, but there’s no crying in football, unless you’re a Texas fan.

6. Texas (1-2)

Result: Lost to Ole Miss 44-23 thanks to an epic collapse in which the Rebels scored the final 30 points. And even when the Longhorns were leading, some fans booed Mack Brown’s prerecorded videoboard message. Texas hasn’t been this divided since Santa Anna pitched the “Siete Leyes.”

7. West Virginia (2-1, 0-1)

Result: Beat Georgia State 41-7. The Mountaineers piled up 604 yards with redshirt freshman Ford Childress slinging it and senior Charles Sims running it, but needed three fourth-quarter touchdowns to make the final score more palatable.

8. Kansas State (2-1)

Result: Beat UMass 37-7. The postgame highlight? Bill Snyder, coach of a team that lost to an FCS program and trailed UMass after one quarter, promising his Wildcats wouldn’t overlook Texas next week. Classic! Air that on your Longhorn Network.

9. Kansas (1-1)

Result: Lost at Rice 23-14 and lost its 20th consecutive road game. Jake Heaps threw a pick-six and another interception that led to a Rice field goal—more proof transfer QBs should not be hypnotized by the Super Bowl rings Coach Weis flashes in front of them.

10. Iowa State (0-2)

Result: Lost to Iowa 27-21 and needed two touchdowns in the final five minutes to make it that close. With read option QB Sam Richardson limping on an injured ankle, the Cyclones ran for only 59 yards on 24 carries.






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