Big 12 Power Rankings: Upsets, Quarterbacks Shake Up The Rankings

August 31, 2013; Ames, IA, USA; Northern Iowa Panthers defensive back Deiondre Hall (1) celebrates after their game against the Iowa State Cyclones at Jack Trice Stadium. Northern Iowa beat Iowa State 28-20. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA Today Sports

The plot thickens.

Week one was not kind to the Big 12, and, as a result, the questions about what will be the final standings at the end of the season are becoming more complicated.

The Big 12 was a lousy 2-2 against FCS teams this week, with West Virginia needing a late fourth quarter touchdown to pull out their victory over William and Mary. Oklahoma had just 13 points at halftime against Louisiana-Monroe, although that game was never in doubt.

Texas Tech had trouble shaking off SMU, needing a three touchdown fourth quarter to finally pull away. And Oklahoma State had issues getting their high-powered offense started against Mississippi State, a team KC Kingdom ranked last week as the 12th best team in the SEC.

Maybe Kansas had the right idea of waiting an extra week before starting their season?

Ironically, the team that looked the best this past weekend may have been a team that lost. TCU was within three points of 12th ranked LSU midway through the fourth quarter until Tigers quarterback Zach Mettenberger was able to stomp out any upset chances with a 20-yard touchdown pass with six minutes left in the game.

LSU is one of six early NCAA title contenders from the SEC, and TCU, for the most part, kept themselves in a position to win until the end. The way the Horned Frogs played Saturday night was good enough to beat most, if not all, Big 12 teams on any given week.

So how did a wild week one shake up the power rankings? Let’s find out.