Tier 1: The Favorite

Utah (previously #2): Of all the preseason favorites (Kansas St, Utah, Oklahoma St, Kansas), only Utah remains unbloodied. Going on the road with a backup true freshman quarterback to beat a Top 15 team that wasn't as close as the score indicates? Yeah, that puts Utah in the driver's seat, even if it's not popular here.

Tier 2: The Contenders

2. Iowa State (previously #4): They've still only played one quality team, but they're unbeaten and have taken care of business against those weaker teams, plus the big victory over Iowa.

3. BYU (previously #7): Just dismantled Kansas St 38-9 and their victory over SMU looks better after SMU beat up on TCU. They entered the season with low expectations and the K State victory had some weirdness (28 points in 4 minutes off turnovers and special teams is great, but probably not something that will be replicated anytime soon)...but the defense is absolutely for real. BYU (along with Utah) is one of only two teams in the conference to be sitting at 4-0 for the season. There's an argument for BYU to be even higher, but I'm trying not to get carried away.

4. Oklahoma St (previously #3): Can't drop a team too far for losing to a borderline Top 10 team...but the way it happened was ugly. The Oklahoma St offense couldn't do anything until Utah went to a prevent for most of the 4th quarter, scoring 16 of their 19 in the last 6.5 minutes while Utah was content to run clock

5. UCF (previously #5): Odd to stay at the same spot when they didn't play and two teams ahead of UCF lost...but BYU has to be recognized and UCF's victory over TCU doesn't look as solid after SMU put up 66 against the same opponent.

Tier 3: Lurking

6. Kansas St (previously #1): On the one hand, they got obliterated 38-9 at BYU and barely escaped Tulane. On the other hand, weird things happen after dark in Provo - see those 28 allowed points in 4 minutes, all off turnovers or special teams. Kansas St moved the ball well enough, only to be undone by turnovers and red zone inefficiency; Avery Johnson is a threat to any team on this list...including Kansas St. Chaos beneath them keeps them from falling further.

7. Texas Tech (previously 11): Texas Tech started poorly with a close FCS victory before getting their doors blown off by a P5 opponent. But they rebounded nicely against a G5 opponent and then beat a mid-level Big 12 team. Plus they have talent to spare. It's not impossible they could follow the Oklahoma St path of last year.

8. Colorado (previously 12): Colorado started poorly with a close FCS victory before getting their doors blown off by a P5 opponent. But they rebounded nicely against a G5 opponent and then beat a mid-level Big 12 team. Plus they have talent to spare. It's not impossible they could follow the Oklahoma St path of last year.

Tier 4: Things could get ugly...but maybe not

9. Arizona (previously #8): Losing ugly to Kansas St looks a lot worse after BYU went out and dominated Kansas St.  Add in poor performances against New Mexico (allowing 39 points) and a lethargic victory over Northern Iowa (22-10) and Arizona hasn't come close to preseason expectations. They stay ahead of some others based on no conference losses, but traveling to Utah for an evening game isn't the easiest way to get back on track.

10. Arizona St (previously #6): After surprising the first three weeks against terrible competition (those teams are a combined 3-8 with 2 of the wins versus FCS), it was hard to know if ASU was for real or not. Consider that answered. They're not bottom of the Big 12 (where preseason expectations had them), but they're also not towards the top.

11. Baylor (previously #10): They've taken care of their overmatched opponents at home and haven't been blown out on the road. Which is...not a lot, but we're at the point in the rankings where that gets them mentioned. Frankly, I'm not sure they have as much downside as some teams here, but this season definitely lacks upside for them.

12. TCU (previously #9): They need to hope SMU is a lot better than I think they are, but letting up 66 to ANY opponent doesn't bode well for a team. A close victory over Stanford and beating up on Long Island State isn't enough to give me confidence in this team.

13. Cincinnati (previously #13): Cincy comes in at the same rank as last week, but don't let that fool you - they've moved up a tier. At 3-1 (and 1-0 in conference play) they have to be higher, even if their overall resume is still suspect with an ugly come-from-ahead loss to Pitt, uninspiring victories over bad teams (Miami (OH) and Towson) and a solid victory over a they-might-be-worse-than-bad Houston team.

14. West Virginia (previously #14): West Virginia comes in at the same rank as last week, but don't let that fool you - they've moved up a tier. At 1-0 in conference play they have to be higher, even if their overall resume is still suspect with an ugly come-from-ahead loss to Pitt, uninspiring victories over bad teams (UAlbany and Kansas) and a reasonable loss to a very good Penn St team

Tier 5: Things are officially ugly

15. Kansas (previously #15): After entering the year as a preseason favorite, Kansas can only be seen as an abject disappointment. The only victory is over FCS Lindenwood, with surprising losses to Illinois, UNLV, and West Virginia. Kansas has looked disjointed and incapable with star (or at least was-a-star) quarterback Jalon Daniels surprisingly one of the biggest issues.

16. Houston (previously #16): It's a good thing Houston got the victory against Rice because it's hard to find victories for them in the Big 12 schedule. Cincinnati was one of their best opportunities and Houston went out and lost 34-0.  In addition, the schedule does no favors with mostly tough teams at home. Best chances for a win are @Kansas and home vs Baylor, but it's tough to see any scenario where Houston isn't the worst team in the conference.  Playing Oklahoma close might be the highlight of the season.