The regular season has concluded, and the Big 12 tournament is upon us. The conference race came right down to the wire, with West Virginia clinching first place this past Thursday night and the rest of the bracket changing dramatically over the weekend.
In the same vein, our final batch of power rankings has also seen plenty of movement from just last week, with a new number one and the previous top team taking a tumultuous tumble down the totem pole.
#1: West Virginia Mountaineers 40-13 (19-9)
Last week's rank: 2nd
This week's record: 0-3
The Mountaineers came into the year with modest expectations, picked to finish fourth, but nobody expected them to be quite this good. They won their first 13 games and were the last Big 12 school to lose a game. They wouldn't even lose their second game until their second week of conference play.
Until two weeks ago, the Mountaineers had lost just one series all year, and it was to Arizona. They also swept eight different opponents. The season ended on a down note, though: West Virginia dropped last week's series to Kansas State 2-1 before being swept by Kansas this week. They still managed to finish first in the Big 12, and are the favorite to win the conference title, but the Mountaineers don't look like the titans they once were.
#2: Kansas Jayhawks 42-14 (20-10)
Last week's rank: 3rd
This week's record: 3-0
Easily the biggest surprise of the year are the Jayhawks, who were picked to finish ninth prior to the season and finished things out with more wins than anyone else. They're second in the Big 12 by virtue of West Virginia having two conference games canceled early in the year, but Kansas might as well be co-champions with how well they've played.
The Jayhawks only lost three series, Big 12 or otherwise, all year long. They managed to sweep 10 different opponents this season, with the most notable one coming right at the end: West Virginia. I was tempted to move them up to first, but the Mountaineers have been more dominant; two of Kansas' series losses were sweeps, one by Cincinnati. Still, Kansas is looking strong right now.
#3: TCU Horned Frogs 37-17 (19-11)
Last week's rank: 5th
This week's record: 2-1
The Horned Frogs came into conference play red hot, boasting a 13-4 record with over half of their wins coming by 6+ runs. They kicked off Big 12 play with a series loss to Arizona State, which seemingly only motivated TCU: they won 14 of their next 17 games, including a sweep of Kansas.
Then they fell into a bit of a slump. They lost to Dallas Baptist in extra innings and lost a series to lowly UCF, and later lost a pivotal series to Arizona. Still, the Horned Frogs finish the year having won their last two series and sitting in third place in the Big 12.
#4: Kansas State Wildcats 31-23 (17-13)
Last week's rank: 4th
This week's record: 1-2
Kansas State was in a position to move up these power rankings after taking the series against West Virginia last week, but they dropped the ball. The Wildcats dropped their first two games to Cincinnati, getting shut out in Game 2, before winning the third.
That precludes them from any upward movement, but it doesn't erase what's been a surprisingly strong year. Kansas State has been a scrappy team, with upset wins over Arkansas, TCU, Nebraska, and the Mountaineers. They haven't been consistently great, but the Wildcats are positioned to make some noise in the postseason.
#5: Arizona Wildcats 36-18 (18-12)
Last week's rank: 6th
This week's record: 2-1
Arizona managed to stop the bleeding, winning their final two games of the season to take the series against Houston. They were this close to finishing the year having lost three of their final four series, along with dropping their final mid-week game to Grand Canyon.
It's been an up-and-down year for the Wildcats, routinely going on runs and cracking the Top 25 only to fall out of the rankings almost immediately. Early season wins over Texas A&M and Mississippi State are buoying their metrics, but Arizona doesn't seem to have a whole lot of momentum going into their conference tournament.
#6: Arizona State Sun Devils 35-21 (18-12)
Last week's rank: 1st
This week's record: 0-3
A week ago, the Sun Devils jumped to the front of the power rankings, overtaking a slumping West Virginia squad. While the Mountaineers continued to lose, the Sun Devils also started losing, getting swept by Oklahoma State to close out their regular season.
Now, the Sun Devils' tournament odds are on life support. They came into the year absolutely needing to reach the postseason for the first time under head coach Willie Bloomquist, and now it appears to all rest on their performance in the Big 12 conference tournament. At the start of the year, Arizona State was picked to finish sixth; it's fitting, then, that they land right there in our final power rankings.
#7: Cincinnati Bearcats 31-23 (16-14)
Last week's rank: 7th
This week's record: 2-1
There were early signs that Cincinnati could be sneaky good. They won their opening series against No. 11 Duke and went into conference play on a six-game winning streak wherein they had won by a combined margin of 61-15. It all seemed like fool's gold after the Bearcats started out Big 12 play 1-5.
Then they turned a corner. A Tuesday night upset over ranked Louisville spurred seven straight wins and series wins in six of their final eight tries. That included a sweep of Kansas, currently sitting at No. 25 in the rankings. Now, Cincinnati is close to locking up an NCAA Tournament appearance. Who would've thought?
#8: Oklahoma State Cowboys 27-22 (15-12)
Last week's rank: 8th
This week's record: 3-0
After two straight Big 12 championships, and watching fellow heavyweights Oklahoma and Texas depart for the SEC, it made sense that the Cowboys were picked to three-peat the conference. What didn't make sense, however, was Oklahoma State being as bad as they were for as long as they were.
They drew tough non-conference games early on that turned into losses to Clemson, Texas, and Tennessee, but the Cowboys also beat Louisville and Texas A&M, suggesting they were going to be alright. It took them four tries to win a conference series, though, and even lost series to Utah and Houston. They did finish with three straight series wins, including a sweep of Arizona State, but unless the Cowboys go on a run in the conference tournament, this feels like too little too late.
#9: Texas Tech Red Raiders 20-32 (13-17)
Last week's rank: 10th
This week's record: 2-2
The Red Raiders didn't come into the year with high expectations, but their schedule did them no favors either. Starting off with back-to-back series against North Carolina and UC Irvine, currently ranked No. 3 and No. 20, respectively, was always a recipe for disaster. Unsurprisingly, Texas Tech started their year 1-5.
It was an uphill climb the rest of the way, especially in a new-look Big 12 that turned out to be much more competitive than initially expected. Texas Tech had some moments here and there - a series win over Arizona, stealing individual games against contenders like West Virginia, TCU, and Arizona State - but it wasn't enough to overcome their rough start.
#10: Baylor Bears 33-21 (13-17)
Last week's rank: 9th
This week's record: 2-1
Baylor started their season off red hot, winning their first six games of the season and entering conference play with a stellar 13-3 record. Of those three losses, two were to ranked opponents while the third came in extra innings. The Bears looked to be one of the Big 12's best early on.
Then conference games began and, well, it didn't go Baylor's way. This past weekend's series win over UCF marked just their third Big 12 series victory, with one of the two previous wins being against Utah. Notably, Baylor was never swept this season, but they were just not ready for Big 12 play.
#11: Houston Cougars 29-24 (12-17)
Last week's rank: 11th
This week's record: 1-2
Not much was expected out of Houston, and not much was provided in the end either. They stacked early wins against weaker opponents, but Big 12 play quickly exposed them as pretenders. The Cougars finished with just three series wins against conference foes, with two of them coming against teams below them on this list.
In fairness, Houston was good enough to make several series interesting, rarely getting swept. Their season is not a story of disappointment, really, but more so a team living up to its expectations of being a small fish in a Big 12 pond.
#12: BYU Cougars 27-26 (10-20)
Last week's rank: 13th
This week's record: 2-1
Considering BYU was picked to finish last in the Big 12, they have to be pretty pumped about finishing 12th. Of course, those who followed the Cougars closely this year underatand that even this was a disappointing finish.
Early on, BYU looked like a scrappy team capable of frequent upsets, not unlike what Cincinnati turned out to be. They stole games in series against (at the time) superior opponents like UCF, West Virginia, Arizona, and Kansas State. But that scrappy mentality faded over time, and they quickly became a team that other teams looked forward to playing.
#13: UCF Knights 29-26 (9-21)
Last week's rank: 12th
This week's record: 2-2
Easily the most confounding team in the Big 12 this year, UCF was projected to be a middle-of-the-pack program with tournament potential. Then they started out as one of the very best teams in college baseball, going 13-3 with wins over ranked opponents in Florida and Miami. Shortly after conference play began, they were also the only Big 12 team that was inside the Top 20 in both team OPS and team ERA.
Then, without any real explanation, they fell apart. They dropped a series to Houston and got swept by Cincinnati and Kansas in consecutive weeks. They offered a glimmer of hope with a series win over TCU, but the Knights quickly went back to their aggressive downward spiral, finishing one spot from the bottom of both the power rankings and the conference standings.
#14: Utah Utes 21-29 (8-22)
Last week's rank: 14th
This week's record: 1-3
Oh, Utah. The Utes have been taking up space here at No. 14 for so long now that I've lost count. Last week when they beat Arizona in a deciding Game 3, it marked their third Big 12 series win, something that at one point seemed impossible.
It's not as if the program has a history, though. Utah has just two tournament appearances this century, and two winning seasons since 2012. One such winning season belongs to current head coach Gary Henderson, and it was just last year, so maybe brighter days are on the horizon for Utah. One would have to hope so after this season.