1. Texas — This Longhorns’ team has asserted themselves as the No. 1 team in the Big 12 by beating Oklahoma in a defensive battle, holding off Texas Tech in a shootout and dominating Missouri just last week.

2. Oklahoma State — Speaking of those Cowboys, they have climbed their way back to No. 14 after losing to Houston in week two. Since that loss, OK State has been strong on offense — even without their two All-Americans, Kendall Hunter and Dez Bryant.

3. Oklahoma — This seems to be a default choice, as they are the third and final ranked team remaining in the wild Big 12. Last week the Sooners beat up on Kansas, but it wasn’t long ago they were losing to No. 3 Texas, No. 17 Miami, or No. 20 BYU.

4. Kansas State — The surprise of the conference is one of just three teams —— Texas and Oklahoma State are the other two —— with three conference wins so far. The Wildcats, led by new/old coach Bill Snyder, have wins over Iowa State, Texas A&M and Colorado, but they lost to Texas Tech 66–14.

5. Kansas — This team has struggled mightily in the last two weeks, falling to lowly Colorado and getting blown up by Oklahoma last week. Even before that, the Jayhawks squeaked out wins against Southern Mississippi and Iowa State.

6. Texas Tech — This is where things get hairy for the conference. Tech looked dominant in its two games prior to losing to Texas A&M last week, outscoring Kansas State and Nebraska by a combined score of 97–24. Their loss to A&M was marred by Tech coach Mike Leach saying his players were more focused on their “fat little girlfriends” than on the game at hand.

7. Texas A&M — If we forget the 62–14 demolishing the Aggies received against Kansas State two weekends ago, they have looked solid thus far in Big 12 play. They gave No. 14 Oklahoma State a run for their money in their 36–31 loss and last week they beat Texas Tech by 22 points.

8. Iowa State – With all due respect to Kansas State, the Cyclones are probably the conference’s biggest surprise, sitting at 5–3 after winning just two games last year. The Cyclones have won their last two conference games and lost their other two conference games by just six points to Kansas and Kansas State.

9. Nebraska — Two weeks ago, this team would have been No. 4. It was coming off a 27–12 win over Missouri and the defense looked dominant. Since then? A 31–10 loss to Texas Tech and a 9–7 loss to Iowa State in which the Huskers turned the ball over eight times.

10. Missouri — The Tigers have faced a gauntlet of a schedule in the Big 12 schedule in the first three weeks. They lost 27–12 to Nebraska, 33–17 to Oklahoma State and then the 41–7 demolition at the hands of Texas last week. They aren’t as bad as their 0–3 record says, but they need to turn it around in a hurry.

11. Colorado — The Buffaloes have actually improved since starting the season off with poor play. They beat Wyoming in week two, gave West Virginia and Texas tough games and found a way to beat Kansas two weeks ago. But, they went ahead and lost to Kansas State last week and their offense was, once again, bad against the Wildcats.

12. Baylor — Baylor, without Robert Griffin, has been really, really bad. The Bears may not win a Big 12 game this season without their star signal caller. Their best chance will come in its matchup with Texas A&M on Nov. 21. However, the Bears play Nebraska, Missouri and Texas before that game.