Every team in the Big XII has officially played at least half of their season, and the standings are starting to take shape as the contenders start to separate themselves.

Here is a current look at the current standings (conference record is in parentheses)

Texas Tech (4-0)
Baylor (3-0)
Texas (3-0)
Oklahoma (3-1)
Oklahoma State (2-1)
TCU (1-3)
West Virginia (1-3)
Kansas (0-3)
Kansas State (0-3)
Iowa State (0-3)

With how the season has played out, Baylor has to be considered the favorite to this point. They have the most potent offense, giving them to outscore anyone on any given Saturday. Their Big XII schedule has been weak thus far though, only playing West Virginia, Kansas State and Iowa State, with Kansas becoming their fourth opponent this weekend. It will be interesting to follow this team moving forward as they dive into the tougher Big XII opponents in the chase to be a darkhorse contender for the BCS National Championship.

Texas Tech has been the biggest surprise of the season, off to an undefeated 7-0 start, despite a new head coach and quarterback issues. However, despite their problems, they have done a great job finishing games strong, which has been key to their start. However, their next two opponents are Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, so we will see whether the Red Raiders are true Big XII title contenders after this stretch.

Both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State suffered early season losses to Texas and West Virginia respectively, so if either wants to win the conference, they cannot afford to lose another game.

TCU has easily been the biggest disappointment this season. Despite their ability to slow down the high-flying passing attacks of the Big XII, they have not been able to score points and take advantage. They currently rank 111th of 125 teams in total offense in the FBS, and only 84th in scoring. Much of this can be attributed to poor quarterback play. Casey Pachall was injured against LSU in the season opener and Trevone Boykin has only completed 58-percent of his passes while only throwing five touchdowns and seven interceptions. Luckily, for the Horned Frogs, it has been reported that Pachall will be on the sidelines this weekend and available to play soon.

Oh yeah, and Mack Brown somehow has the Longhorns undefeated in the conference despite their horrible start to the season. How the Longhorns win hasn’t been pretty, but it’s gotten the job done. They’ve already beaten Oklahoma, and will be in the race for the conference championship until the end, but they don’t have the consistency on defense or at quarterback to be able to beat more than one of the big three contenders left on their schedule, between Oklahoma State, Baylor and Texas Tech.

So as of now, Baylor is still the favorite. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are behind the eight-ball, already carrying a loss, but they still have a legitimate shot at the title. Texas Tech has a rough stretch coming up, but they have the firepower to fight through it. These next couple weeks will officially separate the contenders from the pretenders.