Big 12 Power Rankings: Texas On the Rebound? Kansas Moves Up (For Now), Baylor is Awesome

Sep 21, 2013; Austin, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Mack Brown reacts after an officials call against the Kansas State Wildcats during a football game at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports

Mack Brown got his first win over Kansas State in a decade, so does that mean his job is progressively easing back into security? Probably not, but it was a good start.

Texas defense played very well, and capitalized on K-State mistakes (more on those later). David Ash got knocked out of the game with a concussion, and linebacker Jordan Hicks is out for the season with a ruptured achilles, so things are very much still up in the air for the Longhorns. But a win was something both the Longhorns and the Big 12 absolutely needed to have this weekend.

The conference is entering its fifth-straight week of having zero teams ranked in the top 10 of the nation. This is, in part, due to the weakness of the Big 12 this season. Oklahoma State and Baylor look like they could beat almost anyone in the nation right now, but the down season from Texas and the quarterback issues in Oklahoma – who are still ranked 14th (AP) and 12th (USA Today) – reduce the value of teams like the Cowboys and Bears.

Is that ridiculous? Of course it is. This is why the BCS as a whole is failing with fans and why a playoff is so important. But until the BCS is officially dead, perception, style, and name recognition is going to matter more than it should in college football.

The more stable Texas is in the Big 12, the better it is for everyone else in the Big 12.