It was a very eventful week of Big 12 baseball. Several upsets from the weekend have resulted in some pretty big shifts from last week's batch of power rankings. Without further ado, let's dive in.
#1: West Virginia Mountaineers 22-4 (4-3)
Last week's rank: 2nd
This week's record: 3-1
West Virginia moves up into the top of the Big 12 leaderboard after a strong week of work. They shutout Marshall on Tuesday 7-0 before a surprisingly spirited weekend series witrh BYU that saw them win the final two games. The Mountaineers look to be the conference's best right now, but it's far from a runaway.
#2: Arizona Wildcats 20-7 (6-3)
Last week's rank: 1st
This week's record: 2-2
Arizona couldn't handle the spotlight, apparently. After rising to the top of our power rankings and cracking the Top 25, they came crashing back down to Earth, losing the weekend series to Baylor in front of their own fans. An 11-6 Sunday win saved them from the sweep, but the Wildcats fumbled an early chance to stake out a lead in the conference race.
#3: Arizona State Sun Devils 19-9 (7-2)
Last week's rank: 3rd
This week's record: 3-1
The Sun Devils would be at the top of this list if Tuesday nights didn't exist. For the third straight week, Arizona State lost a Tuesday game, this one being a colossal collapse late against UNLV. They turned it around with a sweep of Utah, which has them sitting second in the Big 12 standings, but Willie Bloomquist's team needs to play with some consistency before they move up any higher.
#4: Kansas State Wildcats 19-8 (8-1)
Last week's rank: 7th
This week's record: 4-0
Kansas State makes a massive jump up this week following a perfect week of baseball. They beat Nebraska on Tuesday before sweeping the lackluster Red Raiders, and now the Wildcats are in first place in the Big 12. This week's games didn't feature the stiffest competition, but Kansas State took care of business nonetheless.
#5: Kansas Jayhawks 23-6 (6-3)
Last week's rank: 4th
This week's record: 5-0
Is it unfair to drop the Jayhawks a spot after going undefeated this past week? Perhaps. But Kansas' 5-0 week - two wins vs St. Thomas and three against Oklahoma State - was full of wildly inferior opponents. Even then, the Cowboys took them to 11 innings one night, offering up just enough nits to pick in this list.
#6: TCU Horned Frogs 21-8 (5-4)
Last week's rank: 6th
This week's record: 4-1
TCU continued to play steady, consistent ball this week. They took both games against UT-Rio Grande Valley and, after stumbling on Friday night against Houston, smacked the Cougars silly with a combined 28-5 score over the final two games to take the series. The Horned Frogs aren't frontrunners right now, but they're keeping pace in the Big 12.
#7: Baylor Bears 19-8 (4-5)
Last week's rank: 9th
This week's record: 3-1
It turns out that Baylor knows how to capture lightning in a bottle. After blowing out Kansas State last Sunday to avoid a sweep, the Bears ripped off three straight wins, with two of them coming against No. 23 Arizona. They dropped the third game, but the series win over the Wildcats is enough to bump the Bears up a couple spots.
#8: UCF Knights 17-10 (3-6)
Last week's rank: 5th
This week's record: 0-4
The Knights are in a total freefall. They started this year as one of the best teams in the entire nation, but they're now losers of five straight. They fell by one run to Jacksonville on Tuesday and then got swept by Cincinnati, who held up the rear on this list just a week ago. Suddenly, UCF is fourth from the bottom in the Big 12 standings with weekend series against Kansas, Kansas State, TCU, and West Virginia up next. This could get out of hand fast.
#9: BYU Cougars 14-11 (4-5)
Last week's rank: 8th
This week's record: 1-2
The Cougars had just three games this past week, a series against the surging Mountaineers, and it went as you'd expect. BYU managed to steal a game thanks to an offensive explosion, winning 14-5, but dropped the next two. The Cougars remain a pesky Big 12 trap team, but not much more than that.
#10: Texas Tech Red Raiders 8-16 (4-5)
Last week's rank: 10th
This week's record: 1-3
Texas Tech briefly found some fool's gold last week, stealing a game against TCU and moving up to third in the Bigb 12 standings, but the shine came off this week with a sweep handed down from Kansas State. They did beat Tarleton State on Tuesday, but the Red Raiders aren't going to figure much into this conference race.
#11: Cincinnati Bearcats 16-11 (4-5)
Last week's rank: 14th
This week's record: 4-0
Well, hello there, Bearcats! Last week, Cincinnati sunk down to last place in this list, and deservedly so. Then they came out on Tuesday and upset No. 18 Louisville 12-2 in a surprise showing. They then followed it up by sweeping UCF. Playing all four games at home had to help, but maybe Cincinnati is starting to wake up.
#12: Oklahoma State Cowboys 12-13 (1-6)
Last week's rank: 11th
This week's record: 1-3
Absolutely nothing has gone right for the Cowboys this year. They were the preseason pick to win the Big 12, but they're currently dead last in the standings with just one conference win. They got swept by Kansas, though they did take the Jayhawks to extra innings in Game 2. Still, Oklahoma State looks shell-shocked with how this season has gone thus far.
#13: Houston Cougars 15-12 (3-6)
Last week's rank: 12th
This week's record: 2-2
All in all, the Cougars didn't have the worst week ever, and there's an argument that they should be ahead of Oklahoma State here. After all, they took one game against TCU this weekend and spanked Stephen F Austin on Tuesday for a 2-2 week. Regardless, Houston is near the bottom of the Big 12 food chain right now.
#14: Utah Utes 13-13 (2-7)
Last week's rank: 13th
This week's record: 0-4
The Utes just missed out on last place a week ago, but they've earned it this week. They got rocked by Utah Tech on Tuesday before getting swept by Arizona State over the weekend in front of their own fans. They have just two wins in the last three weeks of action, and Utah doesn't seem likely to break out of their funk any time soon.