There's only one week left before the Big 12 conference tournament begins, and things are shifting dramatically. Arizona State is red hot, and the rest of the Big 12 is jockeying for position ahead of the tournament. Our latest power rankings bring multiple changes from last week.
#1: Arizona State Sun Devils 34-18 (18-9)
Last week's rank: 2nd
This week's record: 2-1
The Sun Devils are playing their best ball right now. Since being upset in their weekend series by Cincinnati (which doesn't look nearly as bad now), they've won every single series they've played, including a sweep over BYU. They put up 13 runs in each of their past two games, taking the series against Houston, and look to be the hottest team in the Big 12.
#2: West Virginia Mountaineers 40-10 (19-6)
Last week's rank: 1st
This week's record: 1-3
For the first time in nearly two months, West Virginia has fallen from the top spot in our rankings. The Mountaineers are still (narrowly) in first place in the conference, but they've been slipping. Last week they dropped games to Marshall and Texas Tech; this week they fell to Pittsburgh on Tuesday and lost the series to Kansas State. This is the worst possible time for West Virginia to hit a slump.
#3: Kansas Jayhawks 39-14 (17-10)
Last week's rank: 3rd
This week's record: 3-1
The Jayhawks stay put after a solid week of ball. They took care of a feisty Missouri team before taking the series against BYU 2-1. Kansas fans surely would've liked the sweep, but they can settle for consistent winning baseball, especially with several other conference foes flailing right now.
#4: Kansas State Wildcats 30-21 (16-11)
Last week's rank: 6th
This week's record: 2-1
Kansas State makes a jump this week, leapfrogging the *ahem* Horned Frogs to claim the fourth spot this week. They only had a weekend series to play this past week, but it was against the mighty West Virginia, and the Wildcats emerged victorious in a Game 3 rubber match. Kansas State should make some noise come conference tourney time.
#5: TCU Horned Frogs 35-16 (17-10)
Last week's rank: 5th
This week's record: 2-1
TCU gets passed here, perhaps unfairly, but Kansas State deserves it after besting West Virginia. Still, the Horned Frogs impressed this week too, taking care of a scrappy Cincinnati team in the first two games before dropping Game 3 to miss out on the sweep. With nothing left but a series against Utah, TCU should be in for a strong finish.
#6: Arizona Wildcats 34-17 (16-11)
Last week's rank: 4th
This week's record: 1-3
Arizona is crashing out. Ranked No. 22 coming into this week, the Wildcats lost on Tuesday for the second time to Grand Canyon. They then drew a series with Utah, the worst team in the conference, and proceeded to lose the first two games. The Wildcats won Game 3, but this was a miserable week that saw them unsurprisingly dropped from the Top 25.
#7: Cincinnati Bearcats 29-22 (14-13)
Last week's rank: 7th
This week's record: 2-2
The Bearcats keep treading water as the last dangerous team in the Big 12 pecking order. They're a clear demarcation line in the standings between "This team means business" and "This team has a baseball program?" A big win over Oral Roberts preceded a series loss to TCU, though just barely; Cincinnati lost Game 2 by just one run.
#8: Oklahoma State Cowboys 24-22 (12-12)
Last week's rank: 8th
This week's record: 2-1
Prior to the start of the year, Oklahoma State was picked to win the Big 12. That almost certainly won't happen, but the Cowboys are at least showing signs of life ahead of the conference tournament. They took the first two games of this series against Baylor rather easily, pulling their conference record even for the first time all season.
#9: Baylor Bears 31-20 (11-16)
Last week's rank: 10th
This week's record: 2-2
Baylor moves up a spot, though it has more to do with who moved down. The Bears got a Tuesday win over UT Rio Grande Valley before losing the series to Oklahoma State 2-1. It wasn't a terrible week, but certainly not one that makes Baylor feel any better about their season.
#10: Texas Tech Red Raiders 18-30 (12-15)
Last week's rank: 9th
This week's record: 2-2
The aforementioned Bears move up largely because the Red Raiders needed to move down. After making a gradual rise in the standings the last couple of weeks, Texas Tech squandered it all by dropping their series against UCF, one of the fastest fallers in baseball this year.
#11: Houston Cougars 28-22 (11-15)
Last week's rank: 11th
This week's record: 1-2
Houston only had a weekend series with Arizona State this week, and it went about as you'd expect. The Cougars stole the first game, thanks to a late offensive explosion, but were promptly blown out in each of the next two games, with the rubber match being decided in just seven innings.
#12: UCF Knights 27-24 (8-19)
Last week's rank: 13th
This week's record: 3-1
Nobody has fallen more rapidly than UCF this year, once peaking at fifth in these power rankings and then winning a race to the bottom ever since. But they move up this week, showing a glimpse of the team that once had everyone so excited about them. It's far too little and far too late, but the Knights get a brief bump with a week left to go.
#13: BYU Cougars 24-25 (8-19)
Last week's rank: 12th
This week's record: 2-2
As the Knights move up, so must the Cougars move down. There's no real shame in losing a series to Kansas, but BYU has been a bad team for the past month-plus after having some moments of flash earlier in the year. This week was a reminder of where they stand on the Big 12 food chain.
#14: Utah Utes 20-26 (7-20)
Last week's rank: 14th
This week's record: 3-1
This may have been the best week of the season for Utah baseball. They won Tuesday's matchup against Utah Valley and then took the series win against ranked Arizona. For a normal team, that would've been enough to move them out of the cellar, but Utah has been so aggressively awful this year that even this doesn't move the needle.