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Upsets Mean a Big Shakeup Throughout, with a Surprise Near the Top

Week 4 was the first major in-conference weekend, with a bonus out of conference rivalry that didn’t disappoint.

It was the first big test for Brent Venables’ squad as the Sooners took on Kansas State in Norman. After three weeks of surprise and intrigue, the Sooners were punched in the mouth for the first time this season, knocking them off the top of the weekly Power Rankings. It wasn’t the only upset in the conference, as Texas faltered on the road in Lubbock to a Red Raider squad fresh off their first loss on the road to now 10th ranked NC State.

Baylor made a statement after their early season double-OT loss to BYU by heading into Ames and handling Iowa State. Iowa State gave them a scare late, but after the start of the 3rd quarter, the game was barely in doubt for Dave Aranda’s group.

West Virginia is attempting to crawl out of an early season hole and took care of business in Blacksburg against ACC foe Virginia Tech. Upstart and undefeated Kansas took on another surprising undefeated basketball blue blood in Duke. Duke kept it close, but Kansas moved to its first 4-0 start since the Cold War in a 41-34 thriller.

Perhaps secretly the most interesting matchup pitted Sonny Dykes and his TCU Horned Frogs against cross-metroplex rivals SMU. While the Ponies have not forgiven Coach Dykes for leaving overnight for their bitter rival, the vitriol did not provide enough spark for SMU to take care of business at home.

After 4 weeks of football, our Big 12 Power Rankings for week 5:

  1. Baylor Bears (3-1) – A tough late night loss on the road to BYU is all that stands between Baylor and a top 5 national ranking.
  2. Oklahoma Sooners (3-1) – While the Sooners didn’t survive their first big test, Venables still has plenty of talent to rally.
  3. Kansas Jayhawks (4-0) – The undefeated Kansas Jayhawks. What more can you say?
  4. Oklahoma State (3-0) – Kansas’ road win at WVU keeps them above the Pokes, who haven’t played anyone yet.
  5. Kansas State (3-1) – The win over the Sooners was huge, but almost too typical. It’s prove it time for Adrian Martinez.
  6. Texas Tech (3-1) – Their only loss on the road against #10 NC State is good for the resume, but the top 5 may just be better.
  7. TCU (3-0) – A road win at Colorado was impressive, until CU became the worst P5 team in the country. Huge game this weekend.
  8. Iowa State (3-1) – This is getting hard. Why isn’t ISU higher? Maybe the Big 12 is good…
  9. Texas (2-2) – The best lost of all time is starting to become a distant past after the loss to Tech.
  10. West Virginia (2-2) – A huge loss at home to KU solidifies the Mountaineers’ spot at the bottom. But they are .500?

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