Big 12 football: Weekly rankings

The weekly Big 12 football rankings don’t change much this week. The league is settling into some order:

1. Kansas State (5-0, 8-0): The Wildcats are having a special season. Can they win out? K-State finishes at home with OSU, at TCU, at Baylor and home with Texas.

2. Oklahoma (3-1, 5-2): The Sooners’ goals are ratcheted down. Without massive help (two KSU losses), OU’s Big 12 titles hopes are gone. But win out, and the Sooners almost surely would be in a BCS bowl.

3. Texas Tech (3-2, 6-2): The Red Raiders were blistered in Manhattan, but now Tech’s schedule eases. The Raiders finish at home against Texas and Kansas, at OSU, and Baylor in Arlington.

4. West Virginia (2-2, 5-2): Seems like forever ago that the Mountaineers were the Big 12 favorites and Geno Smith was Heisman-bound. But WVU should post some wins down the stretch. The Fighting Holgorsens host TCU, go to OSU, host OU, go to Iowa State and host Kansas.

5. Texas (3-2, 6-2): I know, the Longhorns stink. But their only two losses are to teams above them (OU, WVU), and they haven’t lost to a team below them. Give Mack Brown credit for this. He wins close games.

6. Oklahoma State (3-1, 5-2): Man, the Cowboys could use that Texas game in the win column. The Cowboys would be unbeaten in the conference had they beaten UT. Pull an upset this week at K-State, and OSU restores intrigue to the conference race.

7. Iowa State (2-3, 5-3): Kudos to Paul Rhoads. With five wins and Kansas still on the schedule, the Cyclones should be bowling again. ISU finishes by hosting OU, going to Texas and Kansas, then hosting West Virginia.

8. TCU (2-3, 5-3): The Frogs might have to win at Texas on Thanksgiving night to make a bowl. Their other three games are at West Virginia, and hosting K-State and OU.

9. Baylor (0-4, 3-4): The Bears host Kansas on Saturday, but the final four games are rough. At OU, home against K-State, Tech at Arlington, then home against OSU.

10. Kansas (0-5, 1-7): The Jayhawks had Texas beat, let the Longhorns out of trouble and Charlie Weis couldn’t even blame the BCS. That’s right. BCS.