Baseball is winding down in Big 12 country, with all 14 teams taking the field this past weekend. We are in conference play, so this is when teams separate themselves at the top of the standings. And we’re seeing exactly that. Keep in mind, things can change quickly in the Big 12 from week to week, but here are my Big 12 baseball power rankings heading into the final weekend of action in conference play.
#1 West Virginia Mountaineers (Last Week: #4)
West Virginia had my curiosity going into last weekend, and now they have my full undivided attention after sweeping Kansas on the road. What impressed me the most was the fact that they completely shut down the bats of Kansas and even run-ruled them on Sunday to complete the sweep. Now they are just one game back in the conference standings and have a chance to win their second straight Big 12 regular-season title.
#2 Kansas Jayhawks (Last Week: #1)
Bad weekends happen, and it’s been over two months since the Jayhawks have had one of those. But you have to give credit to West Virginia because they simply beat Kansas cleanly and with authority. As bad as last weekend went, the good news is that this team still controls its own destiny in the conference championship, which no other team can say right now.
#3 Cincinnati Bearcats (Last Week: #3)
I decided to keep the Bearcats at three this week after racking up another series win, this time over Kansas State. Cincinnati has been playing its best baseball over the past month, winning series after series. Make no mistake about it, this is a postseason team.
#4 Oklahoma State Cowboys (Last Week: #5)
I can’t remember the last time Oklahoma State was this high on my list, but they belong here after a great weekend against Arizona State. The Cowboys went out west to Tempe and took two out of three from the Sun Devils. It was nice to see their offense clicking as they scored 29 runs in their three games.
#5 Arizona State Sun Devils (Last Week: #2)
This may be a bit harsh, since they just lost a series, but it felt right to put Oklahoma State ahead of them now with the head-to-head win. While their conference title hopes are likely out the window, Arizona State is still a great baseball team with a bright future ahead of it.
#6 UCF Knights (Last Week: #6)
The Knights stay at six after taking down a bad Baylor team. While UCF has fallen off a little in recent weeks, they needed a bit of a bounce back after losing to Arizona State the weekend before.
#7 TCU Horned Frogs (Last Week: #6)
Even though TCU swept Utah, there was no justifiable reason to bump them up because the teams ahead of them were winning. The record isn’t as good as I thought it would be, but they are still a team I wouldn’t want to see in my regional.
#8 Texas Tech Red Raiders (Last Week: #13)
While the Red Raiders did manage to beat a respectable BYU team this past weekend, they still have no shot at making the postseason unless they win the Big 12 tournament. Unfortunately, I don’t see much baseball left for this team.
#9 BYU Cougars (Last Week: #9)
This team had a chance to stay above .500 in Big 12 play and potentially make a late push to get on the bubble. But that bubble seems to have burst after losing to a bad Texas Tech team on the road.
#10 Utah Utes (Last Week: #8)
There’s no shame in getting swept in Fort Worth, which is exactly what happened to Utah this past weekend. It was weird because Utah’s offense usually keeps them in games, and it turned out that their pitching showed up while the bats stayed home in Salt Lake City.
#11 Kansas State Wildcats (Last Week: #10)
For the third weekend in a row, Kansas State finds itself on the losing end of yet another series. Once a playoff hopeful, now it seems like a long shot after a rough final stretch of the regular season.
#12 Baylor Bears (Last Week: #11)
While Baylor did win a game against UCF, they were also outscored 27-3 in the two games they lost. It feels like it’s been one step forward and two steps back all year with this team.
#13 Houston Cougars (Last Week: #14)
The good news is that Houston finally won a conference series for the first time in ages. The bad news is that they still have the worst record in the Big 12 at 6-21.
#14 Arizona State Wildcats (Last Week: #12)
What a shame this team is where it is after another tough series loss. Losing to Houston in a series is absolutely embarrassing, and this season can’t end fast enough for this baseball team.
