Big 12 power rankings: Texas Tech on top, Utah and BYU climb as a wild first month comes to a close

The Big power rankings are published weekly by the Hotline throughout the regular season They are the aftermath of a deep dive into the analytics an assessment of subjective factors and when necessary flips of the coin No conference has more parity The parity leads to chaos and the chaos creates an endlessly compelling product that is not dependably easy to unscramble Here are last week s rankings And just like that the first month of the season is gone Done Over It was stocked with twists and turbulence with upside stunners downside surprises and major news off the field For the Big it began with Iowa State s - win over Kansas State in Dublin ended with BYU s - win over Colorado in Boulder and featured a scant inexplicable results As dependably with the Big it was endlessly entertaining Here s our look at the best of the conference through the close of September Biggest on-field story Success against the Power Four The Big concluded head-to-head competition against the ACC Big Ten and SEC with an - record which looks impressive but is even better when viewed on a relative basis Only the SEC has more wins in non-conference matchups against Power Four opponents The Big has secured a better winning percentage in this closely watched metric than the Big Ten and the ACC That success should bolster its occurrence for at-large berths to the College Football Playoff Best company Texas Tech We are basing this decision on the outcome of a single meeting but what a encounter it was for the Red Raiders their - win at Utah in the most of anticipated Big matchup of September It appears all that NIL cash was spent wisely for Texas Tech outplayed the Utes at the line of scrimmage a concerning evolution for the rest of the conference Best championship ASU Baylor The Big produced the expected number of close games across the opening weeks the Sun Devils were involved in three of them which made this a tough choice We selected the Week slugfest in Waco because it was close throughout featured points in the fourth quarter and ended on a walk-off field goal But feel free to swap this out for your personal favorite Best performance Texas Tech backup QB Will Hammond There is no tougher circumstances in the Big than Rice-Eccles Stadium and no tougher defense than Utah s and Hammond a redshirt freshman with limited experience handled everything like a vet He replaced injured starter Behren Morton early in the third quarter and sparked Texas Tech s offense completing -of- passes for yards and two touchdowns as the Red Raiders pulled away for a gigantic mastery Best member ASU receiver Jordyn Tyson The Colorado transfer isn t the top receiver in the country but he s the best draft-eligible wideout a foreseen top- pick and no-brainer All-American Despite being the focus of every opposing defense Tyson is tied for the lead nationally with seven touchdowns and tied for second in receptions And if a how-did-he-do-that category existed he d be on top there too Best coach Iowa State s Matt Campbell The logistics of Iowa State s season are what set Campbell apart to this point Opening the season overseas against Kansas State was demanding But the Cyclones managed to avoid stumbling the following week South Dakota and then beat Iowa to register one of the Big s best non-conference wins of the season And they walloped Arizona last weekend for their second consecutive - start Biggest surprise Houston We considered BYU for this category but opted against the Cougars because of their weak schedule So the other Cougars are the choice after their first - start since In all candor we expected a solid second year from coach Willie Fritz and Co but assume inadequate fans across the Big footprint would have pegged Houston as a candidate to become this year s ASU Biggest disappointment Kansas State A calm home win over UCF last weekend doesn t change the state of affairs in Manhattan From the loss to Iowa State in Dublin to the meltdown against Army to the loss at Arizona the Wildcats - have looked nothing like the group we expected Which is problematic because the schedule only gets tougher Biggest off-field story Oklahoma State fires Mike Gundy The OSU and Big institution entered the season on the Hot Seat after the implosion and was unable to steer the Cowboys out of the abyss The -point loss at Oregon turned the temperature to scalding and the seven-point loss to Tulsa sealed the dismissal of the best coach in school history Gundy won at least games on eight occasions but in the end paid dearly for not adapting to the new world order To the power rankings Texas Tech - - Product did not playNext up at Houston p m on ESPN Comment We haven t ignored the possibility that the Red Raiders are at least two games better than everyone else and will run the table through the regular season effectively securing an at-large berth to the CFP whether they win the Big championship challenge or not Previous Iowa State - - Outcome beat Arizona - Next up at Cincinnati a m on ESPN Comment That commented our advanced computer modeling of the conference race suggests at least four teams will finish within one competition of each other with the Cyclones smack in the middle of it The tiebreaker process could require massive computational power as well Previous Arizona State - - Conclusion beat TCU - Next up idleComment The Sun Devils have faced three Power Four opponents thus far Mississippi State Baylor and TCU The scores in order - loss - win and - win Take your motion-sickness medication now folks because the next two months will be wild Previous TCU - - Development lost at ASU - Next up vs Colorado p m on Fox Comment No running meeting equals no chance on the road in the Big at least against high-level opponents Previous Utah - - Development won at West Virginia - Next up idleComment Five games down for the Utes and none of them have been decided by fewer than points That would be a sure sign of dominance except that they were on the losing end of one Previous Brigham Young - - Consequence won at Colorado - Next up vs West Virginia Friday at p m on ESPN Comment There s a growing possibility that freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier is one-fifth as good as half the BYU fans think he is And if that s the scenario the Cougars could very well stay in the race through November Previous Baylor - - Impact won at Oklahoma State - Next up vs Kansas State a m on ESPN Comment As far as the Hotline is concerned the Bears are - in conference play Results against Oklahoma State don t tell us anything about anyone Previous Houston - - Effect won at Oregon State - OT Next up vs Texas Tech p m on ESPN Comment We strongly advise purchasing seats on the Houston bandwagon this week because it s about to get crowded fleetly and ticket prices will rise with demand Previous Arizona - - Outcome lost at Iowa State - Next up vs Oklahoma State p m on TNT Comment On the bright side The Wildcats have completed the toughest assignment on their schedule That s not a knock on ASU by the way But bussing to familiar ground in Tempe isn t comparable to a road event in Ames Previous Cincinnati - - Consequence won at Kansas - Next up vs Iowa State a m on ESPN Comment An unexpected outcome in Lawrence has us recalibrating the Hot Seat reading in Cincinnati Not sure the Bearcats can get to six wins but a path to salvation seemingly exists for coach Scott Satterfield Previous Kansas - - Conclusion lost to Cincinnati - Next up at UCF p m on ESPN Comment The loss to Cincinnati is either a sign of pending collapse or an example of the unpredictable results that surface each Saturday in the Big Or both Previous Kansas State - - Upshot beat UCF - Next up at Baylor a m on ESPN Comment The Wildcats when Avery Johnson rushes for at least yards - The Wildcats when Avery Johnson rushes for fewer than yards - Sometimes football is a simple competition Previous Colorado - - Product lost to BYU - Next up at TCU p m on Fox Comment We wonder how often if ever Deion Sanders has second-guessed himself for running off Jordyn Tyson in the spring of Because as luggage goes Tyson is the best Louis Vuitton has to offer Previous UCF - - Conclusion lost at Kansas State - Next up vs Kansas p m on ESPN Comment No matter what happens no matter how bad it gets this season Scott Frost will unfailingly have a -point win over a six-time Super Bowl champ Previous West Virginia - - Conclusion lost to Utah - Next up at BYU Friday at p m on ESPN Comment It appears the Mountaineers are exactly who we thought they would be this season The win over Pittsburgh We can t explain it Previous Oklahoma State - - Effect lost to Baylor - Next up at Arizona p m on TNT Comment The Cowboys don t play West Virginia and they visit UCF so an - conference record which would be - with last season included is absolutely doable Previous Send suggestions comments and tips confidentiality guaranteed to wilnerhotline bayareanewsgroup com or call - - Follow me on the social media platform X WilnerHotline