Hello, you may remember me from such hits as the Smoking Musket’s Big 12 Men’s Basketball Power Rankings. Well, we’ve expanded our offerings to now include football. Enjoy. Or don’t. But remember, if you have a problem with any of my posts: number one, first of all, it’s not true. It’s not factual. And I think you’ll see a lot of development. I would not say that we failed in any area. Power Rankings Oklahoma Sooners (1-0, 0-0) — Following an excellent first season under Lincoln Riley, there were more than a few questions about how his second season would play out, especially with a number of departures on offense including, of course, Baker Mayfield. Those questions were largely dealt with in impressive fashion in the Sooners opener against a pretty good FAU squad that includes a number of Power 5 transfers. Kyler Murray looked fantastic and the Sooner defense, long a bit of a squeaky wheel, dominated. West Virginia Mountaineers (1-0, 0-0)—WVU showed the #Will2Dominate for most of its opener against Tennessee in Charlotte. Beating an SEC opponent is never easy (more on this in a moment), and though the Vols were breaking in a number of new players and coaches, they were disciplined and have a ton of talent on their roster. Winning easily is a statement, and on a day where other Big 12 teams failed to deliver against P5 competition - or even FCS competition - WVU showed they belong. TCU Horned Frogs (1-0, 0-0)—The Frogs murdered poor Southern University 55-7 in their opening game. It’s hard, really, to tell about some of these bodybag games, but TCU performed well. Next week they take on SMU in a rivalry/trapgame ahead of a showdown with Ohio State. Oklahoma State Cowboys (1-0, 0-0)—Like TCU, OSU feasted on an undermatched FCS team in Missouri State, and though the final score doesn’t show it — they did look a bit rockier than the Horned Frogs at times. Weather Delay (1-0) — Weather played a major role all weekend, but caused Iowa State’s opening against South Dakota State to be delayed and ultimately postponed. Solid outing, really. Kansas State Wildcats (1-0, 0-0)—Bill Snyder is a Wizard. That is all. Baylor Bears (1-0, 0-0)—Though I continue to maintain that the entire program should just be shuddered for the sake of all humanity, Baylor football remains a thing. They took care of business against lowly Abilene Christian (somehow not actually a high school, though I am betting some 6A schools in Texas could beat them.) This will likely be the high point of what looks to be a rebuilding year. Texas Tech Red Raiders (0-1, 0-0)—There was a lot of talk this pre-season about the Red Raider defense. Well, I guess that’s why we play the games? The Raiders defense got burned on the second play from scrimmage for a long TD and just bless their hearts it never got better. And while losing to an SEC team isn’t actually something to be ashamed of (the SEC went 13-1 this week), Ole Miss is serving the second of a two year bowl ban and was predicted to finish near the bottom of the conference. Kansas Jayhawks (0-1, 0-0)—It’s one thing to lose to a good FCS program. But, uh checks notes Nicholls State? Jesus, Mary and Joseph. I have decided to rank them ahead of Texas, however, because that was coincidentally their last FBS win. Texas Longhorns (0-1, 0-0)—TEXAS IS BACK (to losing to Maryland!) In what was honestly the best game of opening weekend, Texas lost to Maryland (again). I am not sure I can stress to you how alarming this should be for the Horns. Maryland was coming off a tumultuous off-season and, to be honest, simply does not have the talent Texas has at every position and yet, they not only played them even for most of the game, but were the more physical, mentally tough team. The Longhorns made mistake after mistake with costly penalties and poor decisions on offense. Add to that the fact that their offensive line looked like hot garbage and, hoooo boy, this would be less notable if this is essentially wasn’t the same problem they endured last year. And the year before that. And the year before that. Obviously a season isn’t one game, and Texas managed to have a winning season after opening at home with a loss to Maryland last year, but at certain point you have to start wondering what the hell is wrong down there. I guess we’ll find out, Lennie. (Note, I don’t know if Tom actually read of Mice and Men or not.) Bowl Watch To be honest, its a little early but who cares. The Big 12 will have a team in the playoff, but may not fill out it’s bowl commitments.<doc-sep>Welcome to your Wednesday edition of Morning Coffee. Yes, we know, the Longhorns lost to Maryland on Saturday, which isn’t ideal for a program that’s now 7-7 under Tom Herman. There is some good more positive news elsewhere, though. ESPN’s latest Big 12 Power Rankings released on Tuesday and surprise, surprise — the Texas Longhorns are near the bottom of the pack. After falling to Maryland for the second time in as many seasons the Longhorns sit at seventh in the 10-team ranking, ahead of only 0-1 Texas Tech, 1-0 Baylor, and 0-1 Kansas. The Texas women’s volleyball team will make its home debut on Thursday when the Longhorns welcome Texas State as part of the American Campus Classic. The Longhorns will enter the match ranked No. 6 nationally, which marks a four-spot drop from last week’s placement at No. 2 overall. After opening the season with wins over Oregon an Florida as part of the Vert Challenge, the Longhorns dropped a four-set match to Wisconsin on Saturday, 1-3. After scoring her first career goal in the 62nd minute of the Longhorns 2-1 win over Long Beach State last Thursday, Texas soccer’s Mackenzie McFarland has been named as the Big 12 Freshman of the Week. McFarland’s honor marks the second time in as many weeks that a Longhorn has been recognized with a weekly Big 12 award, as junior forward Cyera Hintzen and junior goalkeeper Nicole Curry were named as the Big 12 Offensive and Defensive Players of the week, respectively, for the week of Aug. 28. Now 4-0-1, the Longhorns will be back on the field on Friday to welcome Texas State. The match will get underway at 6 p.m. CT and will be televised on Longhorn Network. Lake Travis quarterback Hudson Card became the first — and still only — member of the Longhorns 2020 class in May, an despite the early pledge, the local product is firm to Texas. In an interview with 247Sports’ Mike Roach, Card said, “I’m 100 percent committed, no doubt. I’m staying with Texas.” Card’s junior campaign got underway last Friday. In a 35-14 win over Arlington Martin, Card completed 20-of-28 attempts for 246 yards and three touchdowns. He’s aiming to attend the Longhorns Week 3 meeting with USC. Calvin Anderson had high expectations when he committed to Texas over options such as Michigan, but the Rice grad transfer has seen his own high expectations exceeded in short order. On Tuesday, the Longhorns starting left tackle met with the media, in which he said, “It’s better than what I thought it would be. And I thought it would be pretty great.”<doc-sep>NORMAN, Okla. — From here on out I am going to give you my power rankings in the Big 12. We saw some things last week that help me identify how I feel the Big 12 should be ranked this week. Though it was a small sample size, I feel we have an idea as to who the conference contenders may be later on this year. 1. Oklahoma 2. West Virginia 3. TCU 4. Iowa State 5 Oklahoma State 6. Kansas State 7. Texas 8. Texas Tech 9. Baylor 10. Kansas Look, West Virginia and Will Grier looked damn good this past week versus their SEC foe, Tennessee, in their opening game in Charlotte (NC). Grier looked like he was in midseason form on Saturday, torching the Vols through the air. That said, you can’t remove the king from their throne until they prove they don’t deserve to be there. And when I reference “King of the Big 12,” it has to be the two-time three-peat champ (most recently 2015-2017) Oklahoma Sooners. If you watched the Sooners this past Saturday, you saw a team that really looked like they are solid to great in all three facets of the game. That means Oklahoma looks improved on defense. Yes, I get the fact it’s just one game, but we saw OU look pedestrian versus teams like Tulane last season. That was not the case when OU dominated Florida Atlantic University this past Saturday. OU held Devin Singletary, who rushed for over 1,900 yards last year, to under four yards a carry and proved that the new, young talent on defense was a little different than the guys they just happened to replace this season. If Kyler Murray and the Sooners continue to play like they did last Saturday, they will not only be in the Big 12 title, but back in the college football playoffs. TCU and Shawn Robinson really put it on a very outmanned Southern 55-7. As long as Gary Patterson is in Fort Worth coaching, the Horned Frogs will be really good. Thus, I have them at number 3. When getting to number 4 I feel like I am going to get a little scrutiny, but I am okay with that. I feel Matt Campbell has the Cyclones on a massive upswing. Their first game against South Dakota State was postponed due to weather. It’s not looking like it will be re-scheduled, but we will know a ton about the Cyclones this weekend when they head to Iowa City to play the rival Iowa Hawkeyes. If the Cyclones win, it will set up the game on Sept. 15 in Ames against Oklahoma to be one of the bigger matchups of the 2018 season early on. With Kyle Kempt and Devin Montgomery as the leaders on offense, Matt Campbell should have a very solid team in 2018. The rest of the Big 12 has a lot of questions, in my opinion. Oklahoma State steamrolled SW Missouri State in week one, so we don’t know a whole lot about the Cowboys. What we do know is that Justice Hill is one of the best running backs in the nation. That said, Sept. 15 the Cowboys host 20th-ranked Boise State, so a lot of questions will be answered and we will know a ton about the Cowboys then. Kansas State won, but struggled last week. They play an SEC opponent in Mississippi State this week. I’ll chalk it up to Kansas State really looking ahead with their struggles, but this is a big game for KSU and the Big 12. If Bill Snyder and his Wildcats pull off the victory it will help the national view of the Big 12 and move KSU up in my power rankings (like they care…ha! ). Texas and Texas Tech looked subpar, at best, last weekend, so I have them at seven and eight. Texas has a chance to really right the ship, after their loss to Maryland, when they play Tulsa this week. The problem is, it won’t be a cake walk because the Hurricanes are talented and have potent offense on a yearly basis. If Texas gets past Tulsa, they have USC, TCU and Kansas State waiting in the weeks to follow before playing Oklahoma in Dallas. Tom Herman has a tough road ahead, so this week's Tulsa game is very crucial. Lose it and the wheels start coming off the rails really quick for the Longhorns, with two ranked opponents in the following weeks. Texas Tech went through some quarterbacks on Saturday. The loss to Ole Miss stings, with Klff Kingsbury reeling from a disappointing season in 2017. Tech has a chance to fix some things this week when they host Lamar. The Red Raiders need to do just that with Houston, Oklahoma State, West Virginia and TCU on their schedule in the weeks to follow. Baylor crushed Abilene Christian University last week, so Matt Rhule has something to build on to give the Bears some confidence. After a one win 2017 season, Rhule is looking to improve the Bears dramatically in 2018. I honestly wouldn’t be shocked if the Bears move up quite a bit during the season. That is mainly due to the respect I have for Rhule as a coach. The way the Bears schedule is laid out, Baylor has a chance to be 4-0 going into their game against OU on Sept. 29. Lastly, Kansas. Nothing else needs to be said. They lost to Nicholls State….. Nicholls State! There you have it. That’s my explanation for my Big 12 power rankings heading into week two of the 2018 college football season.<doc-sep>The Big 12 had a rough week one. Texas is still not back. Texas Tech couldn’t stop Ole Miss. And Kansas lost to another FCS team. The league isn’t without hope. Oklahoma looked phenomenal, and West Virginia and TCU could play in New Year’s Six bowls. As always, these are predictive. 1) Oklahoma- The Sooners didn’t miss Baker Mayfield week one. Kyler Murray was superb, and with the PAC-12 likely needing Washington to run the table to make the field, the Sooners could be in the playoff for the third time. 2) West Virginia- Will Grier was the national offensive player of the week after torching Tennessee in their week one victory. The Mountaineers appear to have their best team since joining the Big 12. 3) TCU- The Frogs crushed a bad team and looked great doing it. They feel far closer to the top teams than the next bunch on the list. 4) Oklahoma State- The Cowboys still seem like a risky bet without Mason Rudolph. But they won easily in week one. So much of the league couldn’t say that. 5) Iowa State- The Clones, like so many other teams, dealt with lightning cancelling their first game. The Cyclones return quite a bit from a team that beat Oklahoma and TCU last year. 6) Kansas State- The Wildcats might be overvalued here. They foolishly ran the ball with 51 seconds left and fumbled. If they take a knee three times, then they win in regulation. Thanks to a South Dakota kick bouncing off the uprights, they still did. Kansas State’s struggled with bad teams in prior openers. But it’s not encouraging that the Wildcats were down 24-12 in the fourth quarter. 7) Texas- The Longhorns trailed Maryland 17-0 and lost to them for the second season in a row. Maryland may play a different style of defense than the Big 12, but they also don’t have anywhere near the talent of the top of the league. 8) Baylor- The offense was spectacular, especially Jalen Hurd and Jalan McClendon. But the defense allowed too many outside runs and explosive plays over the top. This team should knock off at least one team above them in the rankings. 9) Texas Tech- Kliff Kingsbury’s time in Lubbock might be nearing its end. The Red Raiders were gashed by Ole Miss. And Kingsbury doesn’t seem like he has a top five offense this season. 10 Kansas- David Beaty is 3-34 and now has more loses to FCS schools than wins against FBS opponents. Beaty’s probably not going to survive the season, and the Jayhawks may not win a game.<doc-sep>
On Saturday, Tom Herman’s Texas Longhorns lost to the Maryland Terrapins for the second time in as many seasons. Sorry, had to get that out of my system. In all seriousness, the Big 12 didn’t look too flashy this week, with the Oklahoma Sooners and West Virginia Mountaineers sort of saving the league from a disastrous overall showing. There’s really not too much to take away from the tiny sample size, but let’s talk about where these teams appear to stand: 1. Oklahoma (1-0) - This is a deep and talented team that is certainly capable of running the regular-season table if it doesn’t trip over its own feet. The defense’s ability to bottle up Devin Singletary was nothing short of impressive, and OU’s front seven (sometimes six) indeed appears to have improved. There were a few times in which a better QB would’ve made this secondary pay for some breakdowns, but the group still did quite well as a whole. Offensively, OU might have the the best overall rushing attack in the country, which makes things a hell of a lot easier for Kyler Murray, who is trying to follow up a legend. 2. TCU (1-0) - The Frogs looked fine from what I saw, but there’s obviously not much to take away from a 55-7 victory over an FCS school (Southern). Up-and-coming starter Shawn Robinson showed off the arm and the wheels, throwing three TD passes and scoring two more on as many carries. 3. West Virginia (1-0) - The Mountaineers looked downright dominant in the second half against Tennessee. Having said that, I’m not quite ready to put them ahead of TCU at the moment. The defense did look good, but I also didn’t expect Tennessee to roll out the type of offense that would really expose that unit. So while there’s reason for optimism on that front, it’s still cautious optimism at the moment. Offensively, Will Grier absolutely reaffirmed himself as one of the early frontrunners for the Heisman after his exceptional performance. COUNTRY ROADS pic.twitter.com/TCJokrdsQL — BELK COLLEGE KICKOFF (@belkbowl) September 1, 2018 4. Iowa State (0-0) - Iowa State’s game against South Dakota State was cancelled, so the Cyclones are a scrappy, well-coached team with a really good running back until further notice. 5. Oklahoma State (1-0) - The QB situation doesn’t really appear to be completely settled, as Taylor Cornelius looked shaky at times against a bad FCS opponent in Missouri State. 6. Kansas State (1-0) - The Wildcats were in serious danger of losing at home to the University of South Dakota, trailing 24-12 entering the fourth quarter before a pair of Isaiah Zuber touchdowns (punt return, 10-yard reception) saved the day. The team looked much sloppier than one might expect of a Bill Snyder-coached group. In a roundabout way, that’s almost kind of encouraging, because I’m confident that Snyder & Son can fix it. This team can be pretty solid if and when that happens, even without exceptional QB play. 7. Texas (0-1) - Bobby Hill is beginning to understand what it means to be a Texas fan. 8. Baylor (1-0) - The Bears allowed something called an “Abilene Christian” to rack up 466 yards of total offense. 9. Texas Tech (0-1) - Tech was favored to win against Ole Miss and was instead flat-out embarrassed. I think it’s safe to say that Kliffy is in deep doo-doo. For those wondering, here’s some info on his contract/potential buyout. 10. Kansas (0-1) - A few weeks ago, I joked about the potential of a loss to Nicholls State, and apparently I spoke it into existence. Oh, who am I kidding? This isn’t a surprise to anyone at this point. Follow Crimson & Cream Machine on Twitter!