A road win for Baylor, a dominant performance for Aiden Flora and ranked squads taking care of business highlighted week 5 of Big 12 play. With conference action in full swing, here’s where each team stands:

16. Kansas

A 137-yard, 3-touchdown day on the ground for Dylan Edwards highlighted a dominant performance by the Jayhawks against Middle Tennessee State. After struggling in their last two games, the 55-0 victory was certainly a confidence boost for Kansas, but until they show an ability to perform against conference foes, the Jayhawks will remain at the bottom of the Big 12.

15. Colorado

Make it three straight losses for the Buffaloes, as Colorado’s offense was unable to get anything going, this time against Texas Tech. Three interceptions from quarterback Isaac Wilson and a run game that averaged under 2.5 yards per carry left Colorado with nowhere to turn once the Red Raider offense found its footing in the second half. The defense has played two solid games to open Big 12 play and gives fans in Boulder reason for excitement, but until the offense can keep pace, that defensive prowess will continue to go to waste.

14. TCU

Another week, another missed fourth quarter opportunity for the Horned Frogs. This week, it came in the form of a missed field goal that would have made it a one score game in TCU’s bout with BYU. The defense played well on Saturday, completely shutting down BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier, but continued offensive and special teams struggles continue to hold this team back. This team is, at most, 10 plays from being undefeated. They’ve played with or outplayed all five of their opponents to open the year, yet they sit at 2-3. TCU needs to figure out how to win games, plain and simple. They’re in position to do so week in and week out, it’s just a matter of finishing the job.

13. UCF

The first 40 minutes of Saturday’s game were nothing short of immaculate for UCF. Six straight stops helped build a 17-0 lead. They proceeded to surrender five consecutive scoring drives and give up 27 unanswered points, missing out on a critical upset opportunity for the Knights. Quarterback Keyone Jenkins had a solid day’s work for UCF, while the run game was efficient in its limited touches. Like many teams in the Big 12, the Knights need to be better at playing for 60 minutes. One great half means little if you can’t back it up with another.

12. Arizona State

Since halftime of the Texas A&M game, The Sun Devils’ offense has been less than convincing. Accuracy issues for quarterback Cutter Boley, a shaky offensive line and the lack of a dynamic playmaker at running back have led to ten straight quarters of slow offensive play. Combine that with a defense that had no answer for DJ Lagway and the Baylor Bears, and the Sun Devils had no chance on Saturday.

11. West Virginia

The Mountaineers had no idea what to do with Aiden Flora on Saturday. Not only did the sophomore running back go for over 200 yards and 3 touchdowns on the ground, he also added 2 touchdown passes on Cyclone trick plays. West Virginia’s offense was excellent in its trip to Ames, but with consecutive poor defensive performances, the Mountaineers will need to show an ability to get stops before climbing any higher up the Big 12 ladder.

10. Baylor

After a rocky game last week in his first game back from injury, DJ Lagway reminded the country on Saturday why he was one of last season’s most hyped quarterbacks with an explosive 306-yard, 4-touchdown performance in the Bears’ win over Arizona State. A 6.8 yard per carry day from the running backs backed Lagway up, providing the Bear offense a level of balance and potency it hasn’t seen since the days of Matt Rhule in green and gold. Looking ahead, Baylor has perhaps the toughest three-week stretch to close the season of any team in the Big 12, taking on BYU, Texas Tech and Houston to close the year, but the Bears have nothing but opportunities until then. Don’t be surprised if you see this team thick in the Big 12 title hunt in early November.

9. Iowa State

What a day for Aiden Flora. 260 total yards and 5 total touchdowns fueled the Cyclones to victory on Saturday, as the sophomore proved himself to be one of the most valuable players in the nation. An efficient day for quarterback Jaylen Raynor, passing for nearly 10 yards per attempt, proved to be enough of a supplement to Flora’s breakout performance to narrowly claim Iowa State’s first Big 12 win of the season. The defense needs to show more consistency after a poor game in week 5 and a bad first half in week 4, but the offense is moving in the right direction.

8. Kansas State

The Wildcats were on bye this week.

7. Cincinnati

The Bearcats took a step in the wrong direction Saturday, as the defense struggled to contain Arizona, while the offense had by far its worst performance of the year, but one bad week is far from a reason to panic for Cincy. With a bye on the calendar this week, the Arizona game is one that the Bearcats simply need to flush and move on from to return to their play from the first four weeks of the season.

6. Oklahoma State

The Cowboys were on bye this week.

5. Houston

Connor Weigman may not have had his best day through the air, but he made up for it with his legs, scampering for 3 touchdowns against UCF, all three of which came in the second half after the Cougars trailed 17-0 in the early second quarter. Houston’s offense needs to find a way to generate complete games. Against the Red Raiders two weeks ago, they struggled to finish the game. Against the Knights, they struggled to start. A version of the Cougars that plays their best football for 60 minutes is a genuine threat to any team in the country, but to this point, we haven’t seen that version of them.

4. Arizona

After a fight to the finish with BYU, the Wildcats got themselves in the win column in Big 12 play with a dominant performance against Cincinnati. Noah Fifita was electric, throwing for 284 yards and 2 touchdowns, while the Wildcats found explosive play after explosive play in the run game to keep the chains moving. The defense holding a shutout through the first 55 minutes of the game was the team’s best performance to date on that side of the ball. With a trip to West Virginia to take on a potent Mountaineer offense this week, the Wildcats will need to build on Saturday’s defense to maintain their spot in the top five of the conference.

3. Texas Tech

The first half may have been ugly, but the Red Raiders know how to win. 26 second-half points, 6 of which came on an interception in the Buffalo end zone for linebacker John Curry after Curry perfectly sniffed out a screen, showed why the Red Raiders remain among the conference’s best. Still, that first half showed more concern for an offense that has sputtered at points in the early parts of the season. With neither Utah nor BYU on the schedule, the Red Raiders have had their path to Arlington cleared for the Big 12 championship game, but the performances of the last two weeks will not be enough to top the Utes or the Cougars.

2. BYU

Saturday’s bout with TCU was, by far, BYU’s worst offensive performance of the year. Quarterback Bear Bachmeier averaged just 2.6 yards per passing attempt. The run game was good with 4.1 yards per carry, but not elite in the way it needed to be to overcome the team’s passing struggles. Still, that defense is among the nation’s best, once again coming up with the biggest stops in the biggest moments to carry this team to victory. BYU’s newfound inconsistency drops them below in-state rival Utah, but if they take care of business, the Cougars will have an opportunity to retake the top spot in next month’s Holy War.

1. Utah

The Utes were on bye this week.