Big 12 rankings: Down goes Frazier; KU's 'plan' to fix its rush defense

After the mighty fell, the Big 12 is now Oklahoma State's world while the rest are just livin' in it. That said, a  week from now, we potentially could be talking two teams in the BCS top five, and neither would be named Oklahoma. While that prospect wasn't enough for the out-of-touch suits at ESPN to send College GameDay to Manhattan, we'll be there...just in case a sold-out Bill Snyder Family Stadium is the latest stadium where amazing happens.

1. Oklahoma State - I've felt for some time the Cowboys should probably have been in this spot, but I'm one of those who believes the top can't play itself out of the top spot. That said, the Cowboys keep winning while their in-state brethren finally dug a grave to big to climb out of last Saturday. Justin Blackmon is apparently fine after leaving the game against Missouri with a knock to the melon. Even without him this week against Baylor, in Stillwater, OSU would have been fine. Baylor wants to be OSU, but as we've seen recently, they're not there yet. And, with another win, the Cowboys will patiently sit and wait for next week when LSU and Alabama knock one of the other out of the BCS race and allow Mike Gundy's team to find their mid-season way in. 

2. Oklahoma - Well, congrats, Sooners. You finally sleepwalked your way into a loss. One way to look at it is that not every team has an offense like Texas Tech, which, at this point in the season, might be the most dangerous in the conference behind Oklahoma State; and not by a wide margin. That said, OU had no business losing at home. But, injuries on defense, Landry Jones' second-straight week of bad reads and worse throws, and mental weakness doomed this team to having to start its playoffs now if it wants a BCS berth. Can it happen? Absolutely. Will it? Well, playing K-State in Manhattan is a measuring stick for OU - either it shows it has regained its focus, or it hasn't and will suffer back-to-back regular season losses under Bob Stoops for the first time since his first season in 1999. Overall, the Sooners haven't lost two in a row since the 2003 season when it lost to K-State in the Big 12 Championship and then to LSU in the Sugar Bowl.

Tyler Lockett (right) torched KU in a variety of ways
and earned Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week.

3. Kansas State - The feel-good is gone in Manhattan, and it's gone for all the right reasons. Fans now have let the "just happy to be here" subside and replaced it with real expectation, starting this weekend at home against slightly wobbling Oklahoma. The Sooners couldn't handle an explosive offense, and now K-State will trot out its "Death by 1000 Grasscuts" attack in an attempt to handle a banged up defense that's backups have shown to not fully grasp scheme. Throw in Jones' recent average play and missed throws and... good match-up for the 'Cats? We've seen worse ones, I think. Get ready, Bill Snyder Family Stadium. You're about to be rockin' like you haven't been rocked since well before you got your new name.

4. Texas A&M - In very sneaky fashion, the Aggies went to Ames and picked up a 16-point win against the Cyclones. Whether it speaks to patience or flat refusal to change the game plan, Mike Sherman never changed his team's attack. Through two quarters, that appeared to be a mistake, but then the Cyclones defense wore down, committed some silly penalties and missed tackles at the point of attack, allowing A&M to rack up yards and then points. So, impressed? Nah, not really. But, credit A&M for a win nonetheless.


5. Missouri - Funny, nobody was openly bemoaning Missouri's schedule at the beginning of the year when the Tigers were talking of challenging for the top of the Big 12. Now, though, at 1-3 and 3-4, seems like that's all I've heard. Well, MU, look at it this way, you don't have to face OU or OSU again this year. But, you do have two roadies back-to-back in College Station and then Waco. Fun? Nope. But, after what I saw A&M do against ISU last weekend, I'm willing to take a flier and say the Tigers can go in and get a win this Saturday. Maybe I'm just hoping for the Tigers' sake because if it loses convincingly, having Baylor, Texas and Texas Tech up before ending with Kansas will seem all the more daunting with bowl hopes all but gone. SEC indeed.

6. Baylor - Oh, Bears, what do you want to achieve with the rest of your season? Art Briles sounded like a man who enjoyed the off week and is ready to get back after it, but is his team? At 4-2, Baylor still needs to put together a stretch of winning football to get bowl eligible. Beating a red-hot Oklahoma State is unlikely, setting up a must-win at home against Missouri the next week. Robert Griffin has put up fantasy numbers this year. Now, he needs to get the wins.

Seth Doege (right) made people think that beating
Oklahoma may not be nearly as hard as once thought.

7. Texas Tech - I've said it a few times this week - there may not be another offense in the country clicking better right now than the Red Raiders. They BLEW the Sooners off the field, taking short screens for long gains, using OU's blitzes against them by throwing to vacated spots and not missing throws. Seth Doege has carved out his own niche in the long list of Tech quarterbacks with his performance this season, and he further that with another good performance this week against struggling Iowa State.

8. Texas - Short and sweet for the Longhorns this week, despite a continuing merry-go-round between young quarterbacks. I get competition, but c'mon, a few weeks ago, it was Case McCoy's job.  As a freshman typically does, he struggled a little after coming off a fairy-tale start to his career, and now David Ash is listed as the starter this week against KU? Competition is one thing. Over-compensating now for not removing Garrett Gilbert long before he should have been is another. 

9. Iowa State - Usually, I'm not one for moral victories because if they were cash, they wouldn't pay the bills. But, the Cyclones really did hold their own against A&M for much of the first half and the beginning of the second.  However, lack of quality depth really showed after that, and plays that were good for a yard or two in the first 30 minutes began going for eight or more. Offensively, quarterback Steele Jantz's downward trend finally bottomed out, and Paul Rhoads pulled him for redshirt freshman Jared Barnett. While Barnett showed some potential in his time against A&M, this season is now about building for next year by showing game-by-game improvement over the last five. That means learning how to not take unnecessary hits, Jared, which you took plenty of by not getting down against the Aggies.

10. Kansas - The Jayhawks are on pace to give up about 497 points...in Big 12 play. Conference teams are averaging 55.25 points thus far through four games, and Texas will take its turn on the driving range this Saturday in Austin. Curious, I tuned into the Turner Gill radio show Thursday evening, and an email question asked the head coach what his plan would be to turn around his team's rush defense against Texas, which would likely rotate two young QBs. Gill's reply, paraphrasing, would be that KU wouldn't focus on what quarterback was in the game but would instead pay attention to the formation, what player went in motion and then react to the play.  Like KU fans have done for most games this year in Lawrence, I left early after that.