My usual routine for this post is to do it in the hotel room the night before the West Virginia game, however thanks to some travel delays I didn’t get to Iowa until almost midnight local time. That put us a little behind here, but a 7 p.m. kickoff for WVU-Iowa State gives me some time to keep this thing going.

A reminder — this is a “what have you done for me lately?” deal. A team can be way up one week, then way down the next. It is totally based on my (sometimes bad) opinions.

STOCK UP

No. 9 TEXAS (5-1, 3-0 Big 12): Last week I said if the Longhorns could pull off the upset against arch-rival Oklahoma their stock would go way up — they did, and it is. Texas should win easily today against Baylor to keep that stock on the rise, but a loss and it’s a quick return to “Texas is not back” territory.

IOWA STATE (2-3, 1-2 Big 12): The Cyclones got an incredible performance last week against Oklahoma State from freshman quarterback Brock Purdy to finally get going on offense. A night game at home is a good way to follow that, but with WVU in town that young QB is going to be tested, big time. The Mountaineers have kind of quietly become one of the best defenses in the Big 12, but if Purdy can do to them what he did to Okie State last week the Cyclones will be *way* up in this silly system of tracking Big 12 football teams.

TEXAS TECH (4-2, 2-1 Big 12): Say what you will about TCU’s offense, but the Red Raiders put the clamps on the Frogs in a Thursday win this week and looked pretty good doing it. Offense still leaves a bit to be desired, but sophomore quarterback Jett Duffey seems have a knack for hitting on a big play every game. If Techs’ defense can keep this up and the offense gets back to what it was when QB Alan Bowman comes back from injury, this can be a very dangerous team down the stretch.

STAYING PUT

BAYLOR (4-2, 2-1 Big 12): I feel like a broken record every week on the Bears. Baylor has certainly improved from a pretty terrible 2017 campaign, but it’s going to take some time before BU is back among the Big 12 big boys. Needing overtime at home to beat a pretty bad Kansas State team last week doesn’t move you up here this week.

STOCK DOWN

No. 6 WEST VIRGINIA (5-0, 3-0 Big 12): Here’s the thing — as good as WVU’s defense has been, and it has been very good at times, this team ultimately goes as Will Grier and the offense goes. Grier and the Mountaineers picked a good week to play their worst game of the season last week against Kansas. Coming off a bad second half the prior week at Texas Tech, WVU needs to get its offense clicking again or there could be trouble in the not so distant future. Oklahoma’s loss to Texas might give the Mountaineers some room for error as far as getting into the Big 12 championship game is concerned, but there is still a lot of work to do to get there.

TCU (3-3, 1-2 Big 12): The Frogs did a decent job on defense Thursday in a loss to visiting Texas Tech, but that TCU offense seems stuck in the mud at times. We saw this was a group capable of punching above its weight class when TCU battled with Ohio State early in the season, but the Horned Frogs have for the most part been a disappointment since.

No. 11 OKLAHOMA (5-1, 2-1 Big 12): Let’s review — the Sooners’ loss to Texas started a bunch of “Big 12 is gonna get shut out of the College Football Playoff” talk AND they fired defensive coordinator Mike Stoops in the fallout from that game. OU is off this week, and when it visits TCU next week it’ll be the first time they’ve played a game without a Stoops coaching on the sideline in 20 years. Not a good week to be a Sooner.

OKLAHOMA STATE (4-2, 1-2 Big 12): I was prepared to have the Cowboys as a “Staying Put” team this week, but as I sit here in my Iowa hotel room watching them struggle early with K-State I’m inclined to place them here. The loss last week to Iowa State was certainly not a step in the right direction, but I was willing to give them a pass based on them getting got by a QB they didn’t have any film on who didn’t start the game. The Cowboys, kind of like TCU, were impressive early in the season (specifically when they put a beat down on Boise State), but the shine is starting to come off in Stillwater.

KANSAS (2-4, 0-3 Big 12): Yes, the Jayhawks picked off Will Grier three times in the red zone last week. But a new rule I’m establishing for these posts is if you fire a coach or coordinator during the week, your stock is down. Kansas canned its offensive coordinator in the middle of the week, so here we are.

KANSAS STATE (2-4, 0-3 Big 12): Battling with Oklahoma State is a good sign for the Wildcats, but it’s still kind of early in the game. Judging from the reactions this team gets every week on Twitter (a truly scientific method, to be sure), the K-State faithful are starting to get a little restless with the Bill Snyder regime. I don’t see K-State making a big turnaround in the second half of this season, and it will be interesting to see how the offseason goes down in the Little Apple.

THIS WEEK ON TV:

BIG 12 STANDINGS