Big 12 power rankings: BYU in the driver’s seat as ASU plummets at halfway point

You won’t find many people trying to argue any team besides BYU being at the top of the Big 12 after the Cougars took down Notre Dame — in somewhat controversial fashion — to move all the way up to No. 2 in the AP Top 25 poll.

The conference is up to three teams in the top 10 and four in the top 15, and it’s getting to the point where the case could be made that the Big 12’s top four is as good as any other conference’s top four.

BYU, No. 8 Texas Tech and No. 10 Utah remain undefeated at the halfway point of the regular season. No. 14 Houston was mere inches away from being undefeated itself at this point with a close loss to Texas Tech.

The Big Ten and SEC can only claim one undefeated squad between them and nobody would’ve guessed that would be UCLA.

As for the two Arizona schools in the Big 12, Arizona State is in a freefall having lost its last two conference games by a combined score of 108-46.

The Arizona Wildcats, meanwhile, made their season debut in the Top 25 despite coming off a bye week. Their lone loss this season was by 11 points at BYU, so they’re right on the outside looking in at that top tier of contenders.

The Halloween matchup between Arizona and Texas Tech in Lubbock becomes must-watch if both teams can get through this week unscathed.

Big 12 power rankings at halfway point of regular season

All of this week’s conference games will be played on Saturday. All times are listed in MST.

Tier 1: Title heavyweights

1. BYU (6-0, 3-0 in Big 12) after 28-24 win over No. 2 Notre Dame

This week: at UCF at 12:30 p.m. (FOX)

2. Texas Tech (6-0, 3-0) after 53-25 win over ASU

This week: at Cincinnati at 9 a.m. (FS1)

3. Utah (6-0, 3-0) after 27-24 win at Colorado

This week: vs. Houston at 7:15 p.m. (ESPN)

In addition to having clearly the best win of the conference, BYU may also have the top second-best win in the conference (Arizona).

ESPN’s “College GameDay” was in Provo for the BYU-Notre Dame game, and it’s in Salt Lake City for Utah-Houston on Saturday. That should help clear up the top five or so quite a bit, as Utah’s toughest test so far has been your pick of Kansas, Iowa State or SEC bottom-feeder Arkansas.

Tier 2: Title challengers

4. Houston (6-1, 3-1) after 35-32 win over Oklahoma State

This week: at Utah at 7:15 p.m. (ESPN)

5. Oklahoma State (4-2, 2-1) after 35-32 loss at Houston

This week: vs. Colorado at 4 p.m. (FS1)

6. Arizona (5-1, 2-1) after BYE

This week: vs. Iowa State at 4:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

All teams in tiers 1 and 2 should still be in play for the College Football Playoff even without a title win, perhaps except for Oklahoma State with its season-opening loss to Tulsa.

The gap between tiers 2 and 3 is the biggest of any, as it would be a real shock at this point to see any of the teams below in the conference title game.

Tier 3: Missing consistency

7. West Virginia (4-3, 1-3) after 45-42 win over Cincinnati

This week: at TCU at 9 a.m. (ESPN2)

8. Cincinnati (4-2, 1-2) after 45-42 loss at West Virginia

This week: vs. Texas Tech at 9 a.m. (FS1)

9. Kansas State (4-2, 1-2) after 35-24 win over Kansas

This week: at ASU at 12:45 p.m. (ESPN2)

10. TCU (3-3, 1-2) after 17-6 win at Baylor

This week: vs. West Virginia at 9 a.m. (ESPN2)

11. Baylor (4-2, 2-1) after 17-6 loss to TCU

This week: at Kansas at 10 a.m. (TNT)

12. ASU (3-3, 1-2) after 53-25 loss at Texas Tech

This week: vs. Kansas State at 12:45 p.m. (ESPN2)

Most of these teams are interchangeable, especially since they’ve started to cannibalize each other. I would’ve thought Baylor would be the clear No. 7 if it sustained its level of play from a blowout win over ASU, but it struggled to deal with TCU, putting up just six points on Saturday.

West Virginia has beaten one of the teams in this tier, but has lost to one below and two above. The Mountaineers embody how this grouping has had wild levels of variance between their top-end and bottom-end play.

Tier 4: Bringing up the rear

13. UCF (3-3, 1-2) after BYE

This week: vs. BYU at 12:30 p.m. (FOX)

14. Iowa State (3-3, 1-2) after BYE

This week: at Arizona at 4:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

15. Kansas (2-4, 0-3) after 35-24 loss at Kansas State

This week: vs. Baylor at 10 a.m. (TNT)

16. Colorado (2-4, 0-3) after 27-24 loss to Utah

This week: at Oklahoma State at 4 p.m. (FS1)

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