PRESEASON INFO Preseason Coaches Poll 1. West Virginia (8 first-place votes), 79 points 2. Oklahoma State (1 vote), 69 points T3. Texas (1 vote), 59 points T3. Baylor, 59 points 5. TCU, 54 points 6. Texas Tech, 40 points 7. Kansas, 39 points 8. Oklahoma, 23 points 9. Kansas State, 16 points 10. Iowa State, 12 points National Television Schedule Sept. 30 - Oklahoma State at Oklahoma, ESPNU Oct. 5 - Texas Tech at Oklahoma State, FSN Oct. 7 - Texas at West Virginia, FSN Oct. 21 - Kansas at Baylor, ESPNU Nov. 4 - Big 12 Championship Final, Fox Sports 1 Other games available on regional or specialty channels - check your listings. Preseason Honors Hermann Trophy Watch List Haley Woodard, Oklahoma State Katie Lund, TCU Cyera Hintzen, Texas Bianca St. Georges, West Virginia Rylee Foster, West Virginia Preseason All-Big 12 Team GK - Rylee Foster, West Virginia D - Bianca St. Georges, West Virginia D - Easther Mayi Kith, West Virginia D - Sarah King, Baylor MF - Julie James, Baylor MF - Haley Berg, Texas MF - Karitas Tomasdottir, TCU F - Haley Woodard, Oklahoma State (only unanimous selection) F - Sh’Nia Gordon, West Virginia F - Cyera Hintzen, Texas F - Yazmeen Ryan, TCU RANKINGS United Soccer Coaches Preseason 9. West Virginia 15. Baylor 17. Texas Top Drawer Soccer Preseason 13. West Virginia 20. Oklahoma State 22. Baylor 24. Texas Soccer America Preseason 8. West Virginia 12. Baylor 23. Texas 25. Oklahoma State Week One Games Aug. 16 Abilene Christian at (15) Baylor Nebraska at Oklahoma Oklahoma State at Tulsa Aug. 17 (9) West Virginia at (4) Penn State (18) Pepperdine at Kansas (17) Texas at Rice Saint Louis at Kansas State Alabama at TCU New Mexico at Texas Tech South Dakota State at Iowa State Aug. 19 (9) West Virginia vs. Arkansas (at Penn State)
WEEK ONE Scores Aug. 16 (15) Baylor 2, Abilene Christian 0 Nebraska 2, Oklahoma 1 Oklahoma State at Tulsa – CANCELLED Aug. 17 (4) Penn State 1, (9) West Virginia 0 Kansas 1, (18) Pepperdine 0 (17) Texas 3, Rice 0 Kansas State 1, Saint Louis 0 TCU 1, Alabama 0 Texas Tech 2, New Mexico 0 Iowa State 2, South Dakota State 0 Aug. 19 (9) West Virginia 1, Arkansas 1 (2OT) Kansas State 4, Oakland 0 Kansas 3, South Dakota State 0 TCU 1, McNeese 0 Missouri 2, Iowa State 1 (2OT) Oklahoma State 2, Oklahoma 1 (15) Baylor 6, Samford 1 Texas Tech 1, (18) Pepperdine 0 Players of the Week (Aug. 21) Offensive: Katie McClure, Kansas Defensive: Marissa Zucchetto, Texas Tech Freshman: Maddie Algya, Baylor National Honors Top Drawer Soccer Player of the Week: Katie McClure, Kansas (also on Team of the Week) Rankings (Aug. 20/21) United Soccer Coaches (Aug. 21) 17. Baylor 18. Kansas 21. Texas 25. West Virginia Top Drawer Soccer (Aug. 20) 18. West Virginia 19. Oklahoma State 20. Baylor 21. Texas Soccer America (Aug. 21) 9. Baylor 18. West Virginia 21. Texas 23. Oklahoma State HERO Sports 17. West Virginia United Soccer Coaches Midwest Region (Aug. 21) 1. Kansas 2. Texas Tech 3. Baylor 4. Oklahoma State 5. TCU 6. West Virginia 7. Texas 8. Kansas State Records Baylor 2-0 Kansas 2-0 Kansas State 2-0 TCU 2-0 Texas Tech 2-0 Oklahoma State 1-0 Texas 1-0 Iowa State 1-1 West Virginia 0-1-1 Oklahoma 0-2 Week Two Games Aug. 22 (21) Texas at (4) North Carolina Aug. 23 Drake at Kansas State Stephen F. Austin at TCU Aug. 24 (19) Northwestern vs. Iowa State (at Purdue) (18) Kansas vs. Oregon State (at Nebraska) (21) Texas vs. (23) UCF (at North Carolina) (25) West Virginia at Purdue (17) Baylor at South Florida Lamar at Oklahoma State Illinois State at Oklahoma Texas Tech at San Diego Aug. 26 (18) Kansas vs. Oregon (at Nebraska) (25) West Virginia vs. (19) Northwestern (at Purdue) (5) Florida at Oklahoma State Iowa State at Purdue Gonzaga at Oklahoma (17) Baylor at Florida Atlantic SMU at TCU Abilene Christian at Texas Tech
I know there's not a huge Big 12 audience here, but I am going to try to keep conference info posted throughout the year. The first two posts are catching up; my goal is to do those weekly recaps on Tuesdays after rankings and conference info come out. Week 2 recap should be up tomorrow. Early stories in the conference: Baylor - easy wins over two overmatched opponents at home, but their Florida trip in Week 2 wasn't what they hoped for. Iowa State - already 1-3. Yep. Kansas - gained a lot of credit by beating Pepperdine in Week 1, and followed it with results against Oregon State and Oregon. KU looks good early, but that's usually not where they hit snags. Kansas State - not a strong schedule so far, but they've picked up wins. The slate gets a lot tougher this weekend with a trip to Santa Clara. Oklahoma - it hasn't shown up in their results, but OU is definitely better than a year ago. The Sooners have scored 10 goals in four games; they scored 13 all of last season. Oklahoma State - the Cowgirls are off to a 3-0 start in their fantastic new stadium and beat Florida on Sunday. A tricky road trip awaits this weekend. Texas - strong start to the year from the Longhorns, with a draw at North Carolina and a win over UCF. TCU - another team getting results against an average schedule. Texas Tech - also getting good pub from beating Pepperdine. West Virginia - the schedule is difficult as always, but the Mountaineers are off to a very slow start.
Thanks Superpoke. Always great to get insight on the power conferences that seem to get overlooked. Keep it coming
USC beat Pepperdine 5-0. Not sure any wins vs. Pepperdine will be considered quality at this juncture.
Neither Kansas nor Texas Tech even received votes in the preseason coaches' poll. After beating Pepperdine, Kansas entered the poll at #18 and Texas Tech was the second team out. Those may not hold up as quality wins as Pepperdine's season develops, and the seasons of KU and Tech may make the results mean less as well. But at least after Week 1, both teams got a significant perception boost from beating the Waves.
WEEK TWO Scores Aug. 22 (21) Texas 1, (4) North Carolina 1 (2OT) Aug. 23 Kansas State 1, Drake 0 TCU 4, Stephen F. Austin 0 Aug. 24 (19) Northwestern 1, Iowa State 0 (18) Kansas 3, Oregon State 0 (21) Texas 2, (23) UCF 1 (OT) (25) West Virginia 1, Purdue 1 (2OT) South Florida 3, (17) Baylor 1 Oklahoma State 4, Lamar 0 Oklahoma 7, Illinois State 1 Texas Tech 2, San Diego State 1 Aug. 26 (18) Kansas 1, Oregon 1 (2OT) (25) West Virginia 0, (19) Northwestern 0 (2OT) Oklahoma State 1, (5) Florida 0 (2OT) Purdue 2, Iowa State 1 Oklahoma 1, Gonzaga 1 (2OT) (17) Baylor 1, Florida Atlantic 0 TCU 2, SMU 2 (2OT) Texas Tech 1, Abilene Christian 0 Players of the Week (Aug. 28) Offensive: Cyera Hintzen, Texas Defensive: Nicole Curry, Texas Freshman: Taylor Moon, Baylor National Honors (Aug. 27) Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week: Hannah Webb, Oklahoma State Honorable Mention: Cyera Hintzen, Texas Rankings (Aug. 27/28) United Soccer Coaches (Aug. 28) 14. Oklahoma State 19. Kansas 21. Texas Tech 23. Texas Top Drawer Soccer (Aug. 27) 13. Oklahoma State 16. Texas 17. West Virginia Soccer America (Aug. 28) 11. Oklahoma State 17. Texas 20. Baylor 23. West Virginia United Soccer Coaches Midwest Region 1. Oklahoma State 2. Texas Tech 3. Kansas 4. Texas 5. TCU 6. Baylor 7. Kansas State 8. West Virginia Records Texas Tech 4-0 Kansas State 3-0 Oklahoma State 3-0 Kansas 3-0-1 TCU 3-0-1 Texas 2-0-1 Baylor 3-1 Oklahoma 1-2-1 West Virginia 0-1-3 Iowa State 1-3 Week Three Games Aug. 30 Xavier at West Virginia Pittsburgh at TCU Long Beach State at (23) Texas Kansas State at (9) Santa Clara Aug. 31 Utah at (19) Kansas Baylor at Arkansas (14) Oklahoma State at Illinois Oklahoma at (8) Texas A&M Iowa State at Denver Sept. 1 (21) Texas Tech at Boston College Sept. 2 Iowa State at Colorado (14) Oklahoma State at Loyola-Chicago Kansas State at San Jose State (11) Georgetown at West Virginia Stephen F. Austin at (23) Texas TCU at Missouri (25) Butler at (19) Kansas Nebraska at Baylor
I missed the release yesterday. Cyera Hintzen of Texas is the United Soccer Coaches National Player of the Week for Week 2.
WEEK THREE Scores Aug. 30 West Virginia 3, Xavier 0 TCU 4, Pittsburgh 0 (23) Texas 2, Long Beach State 1 (9) Santa Clara 2, Kansas State 0 Aug. 31 (19) Kansas 2, Utah 1 (2OT) Arkansas 3, Baylor 2 Illinois 2, (14) Oklahoma State 1 (8) Texas A&M 3, Oklahoma 1 Iowa State 0, Denver 0 (2OT) Sept. 1 Boston College 1, (21) Texas Tech 0 Sept. 2 Colorado 3, Iowa State 1 (14) Oklahoma State 2, Loyola-Chicago 0 Kansas State 0, San Jose State 0 (2OT) (11) Georgetown 2, West Virginia 0 (23) Texas 5, Stephen F. Austin 0 TCU 1, Missouri 0 (OT) (19) Kansas 1, (25) Butler 0 Baylor 6, Nebraska 0 Players of the Week (Sept. 4) Offensive: Katie McClure, Kansas Defensive: Easther Mayi Kith, West Virginia Freshman: Mackenzie McFarland, Texas National Honors (Sept. 3-4) Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week: Katie McClure, Kansas Rankings (Sept. 3/4) United Soccer Coaches (Sept. 4) 16. Kansas 18. Texas 21. Oklahoma State 25. Texas Tech Top Drawer Soccer (Sept. 3) 12. Texas 21. Oklahoma State 25. Kansas Soccer America (Sept. 4) 11. Texas 21. Kansas 24. Oklahoma State United Soccer Coaches Midwest Region (Sept. 4) 1. Kansas 2. Texas 3. Oklahoma State 4. TCU 5. Texas Tech 6. Baylor 8. Kansas State 9. West Virginia Records Kansas 5-0-1 TCU 5-0-1 Texas 4-0-1 Oklahoma State 4-1 Texas Tech 4-1 Kansas State 3-1-1 Baylor 4-2 West Virginia 1-2-3 Oklahoma 1-3-1 Iowa State 1-4-1 Week Four Games Sept. 6 (16) Kansas at Cincinnati Sept. 7 Baylor vs. Arizona State (at Arizona) West Virginia at Clemson Texas State at (18) Texas Kansas City at Kansas State California at (21) Oklahoma State TCU at Little Rock Iowa at Iowa State San Francisco at Oklahoma Florida International at (25) Texas Tech Sept. 9 (16) Kansas at Pittsburgh Kansas State at Indiana Milwaukee at Iowa State San Francisco at (21) Oklahoma State California at Oklahoma Baylor at Arizona Houston Baptist at (18) Texas Oregon State at (25) Texas Tech
Eighth, actually. McNeese is #6 in this week's Midwest poll; Western Michigan rounds it out at #10. I look at it as belief they are better than their record, or at least benefit of the doubt, because any other team that started out like WVU has would have dropped out of the regional poll immediately. The other non-laziness scenario would be a lack of viable teams to move into that ranking. Of course, it would help to know which teams/conferences are in each region to be able to tell that. Then again, there is something weird about this week's coaches polls. Oklahoma somehow got five points in the national Top 25 poll despite a 1-3-1 record. Their only game last week was a 3-1 loss to Texas A&M, yet suddenly they have their first points in the poll all season.
I also wasn't clear on what I meant, questioning the Mountaineers' rank. I think they're likely to end up much better than the position the Midwest coaches have assigned them. By the way, great work on the info you've been posting. It's much appreciated.
The coach's poll has always been a little off and more of a popularity contest. You can see more rhyme and reason in the Soccer America poll and the TDS poll. Why is Notre Dame still receiving votes in the coach's poll? Why is Texas Tech still in it at all after losing to Boston College? Why is Boston College not even receiving votes after beating Texas Tech and being undefeated on the season? If you think about the coach's poll too hard your head will explode. Either the coach's on the ranking committee are using something other than actual results to justify their ratings (a crystal ball?) or they're just playing favorites. But even Soccer America and TDS have their faults. For instance, TDS has Arizona ranked for some unknown reason this week.
I thought we might be saying the same thing differently. I agree - I think conference play will be the cure for what's ailing WVU. And thanks!
Undefeated NC St with two wins over top 20 teams ranked lower than a team they beat who has no wins against ranked teams. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
WEEK FOUR Scores Sept. 6 (16) Kansas 0, Cincinnati 0 (2OT) Sept. 7 Baylor 1, Arizona State 0 West Virginia 2, Clemson 1 (18) Texas 2, Texas State 1 Kansas City 3, Kansas State 2 (21) Oklahoma State 3, California 1 TCU 2, Little Rock 0 Iowa State 2, Iowa 1 Oklahoma 4, San Francisco 1 (25) Texas Tech 6, Florida International 0 Sept. 9 (16) Kansas at Pittsburgh - CANCELLED Kansas State 0, Indiana 0 (2OT) Milwaukee 3, Iowa State 2 (OT) (21) Oklahoma State 3, San Francisco 0 California 2, Oklahoma 1 Arizona 3, Baylor 1 (18) Texas 4, Houston Baptist 0 (25) Texas Tech 4, Oregon State 1 Players of the Week (Sept. 4) Offensive: Katie Glenn, Texas Defensive: Bianca St. Georges, West Virginia Freshman: Maddy Warren, TCU National Honors (Sept. 3-4) Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week: Marlo Zoller, Oklahoma State Rankings (Sept. 10/11) United Soccer Coaches (Sept. 11) 14. Texas 18. Kansas 20. Oklahoma State 24. Texas Tech Top Drawer Soccer (Sept. 10) 11. Texas 20. Oklahoma State 24. Kansas Soccer America (Sept. 11) 11. Texas 20. Oklahoma State 24. Kansas United Soccer Coaches Midwest Region (Sept. 11) 1. Texas 2. Kansas 3. Oklahoma State 4. Texas Tech 5. TCU 6. Baylor 7. West Virginia 9. Kansas State Records TCU 6-0-1 Texas 6-0-1 Oklahoma State 6-1 Texas Tech 6-1 Kansas 5-0-2 Baylor 5-3 Kansas State 3-2-2 West Virginia 2-2-3 Oklahoma 2-4-1 Iowa State 2-5-1 Week Five Games Sept. 13 Boston University at West Virginia (23) Butler at Baylor Oklahoma at Utah TCU at (7) Santa Clara (24) Texas Tech at Cal State Northridge Sept. 14 UT-Rio Grande Valley at (14) Texas Iowa State at Kansas City Saint Louis at (18) Kansas Missouri State at Kansas State (20) Oklahoma State at Creighton Sept. 15 Oklahoma at Utah Valley Sept. 16 St. Francis (PA) at West Virginia (18) Kansas at (4) Texas A&M (20) Oklahoma State at Kansas City (23) Butler at TCU Northern Iowa at Iowa State Kansas State at Tulsa UT-Rio Grande Valley at Baylor (24) Texas Tech at Loyola Marymount Northern Colorado at (14) Texas
The good: the teams at the top of the conference keep taking care of business. Oklahoma State may have had the strongest weekend, with wins over Cal and San Francisco. Texas continues to look strong, Texas Tech blasted two bad opponents, and TCU and Kansas remained unbeaten. West Virginia won at Clemson, and now that the schedule gets easier, we'll see what the Mountaineers can become. The bad: the Big 12 picked up its first two bad RPI losses last week, as Kansas State went up 2-0 within ten minutes and then proceeded to spend the next 80 blowing that lead in a 3-2 loss to UMKC (which the Big 12 site is calling "Kansas City"). Iowa State then squandered their upset of Iowa by losing in overtime to Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Milwaukee is a good team, but we saw last year what's going to happen to their RPI. This is the last weekend of nonconference play for the Big 12.
Soccer America took forever to get their Top 25 out today... WEEK FIVE Scores Sept. 13 West Virginia 4, Boston University 0 Baylor 2, (23) Butler 0 Oklahoma 2, Utah 1 (7) Santa Clara 3, TCU 0 (24) Texas Tech 2, Cal State Northridge 0 Sept. 14 (14) Texas 2, UT-Rio Grande Valley 1 Kansas City 3, Iowa State 1 (18) Kansas 3, Saint Louis 2 Missouri State 1, Kansas State 0 (20) Oklahoma State 2, Creighton 0 Sept. 15 Oklahoma 1, Utah Valley 0 (at Utah) Sept. 16 West Virginia 2, St. Francis (PA) 0 (4) Texas A&M 3, (18) Kansas 0 (20) Oklahoma State 2, Kansas City 1 TCU 6, (23) Butler 1 Northern Iowa 1, Iowa State 0 Kansas State 3, Tulsa 0 Baylor 2, UT-Rio Grande Valley 0 (24) Texas Tech 2, Loyola Marymount 0 (14) Texas 3, Northern Colorado 0 Players of the Week (Sept. 18) Offensive: Cyera Hintzen, Texas Defensive: Jennifer Wandt, Baylor Freshman: Giuliana Cunningham, Baylor and Grace Yochum, Oklahoma State National Honors (Sept. 18) Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week Honorable Mentions: Kayla Hill, TCU; Cyera Hintzen, Texas RPI (via NCAA.com) – through Sept. 16 9. TCU 13. Kansas 16. Texas 18. Oklahoma State 25. Baylor 39. West Virginia 50. Texas Tech 68. Oklahoma 128. Iowa State 134. Kansas State Rankings (Sept. 17/18) United Soccer Coaches (Sept. 18) 11. Texas 15. Oklahoma State 22. Texas Tech 24. Kansas Top Drawer Soccer (Sept. 17) 10. Texas 18. Oklahoma State 24. Texas Tech Soccer America (Sept. 18) 9. Texas 17. Oklahoma State 21. TCU HERO Sports (Sept. 18) 12. Texas 15. Oklahoma State 18. TCU United Soccer Coaches Midwest Region (Sept. 18) 1. Texas 2. Oklahoma State 3. Texas Tech 4. TCU 5. Kansas 6. Baylor 7. West Virginia Records Texas 8-0-1 Oklahoma State 8-1 Texas Tech 8-1 TCU 7-1-1 Kansas 6-1-2 Baylor 7-3 West Virginia 4-2-3 Kansas State 4-3-2 Oklahoma 4-4-1 Iowa State 2-7-1 Week Six Games – Conference Play Begins Sept. 21 Iowa State at TCU (15) Oklahoma State at Kansas State West Virginia at (22) Texas Tech Baylor at (11) Texas Oklahoma at (24) Kansas Sept. 23 Iowa State at (22) Texas Tech (15) Oklahoma State at (24) Kansas Oklahoma at Kansas State West Virginia at TCU
The NCAA's RPI numbers aren't right due to a problem they're having loading all the games through Sunday, September 16, into their system. Here are the correct rankings: 10 TCU 14 TexasU 15 KansasU 18 OklahomaState 26 Baylor 39 WestVirginiaU 54 TexasTech 62 OklahomaU 117 KansasState 141 IowaState
Here's a TL;DR waiting to happen - capsule thoughts on the Big 12 as conference play is set to begin. Baylor Record: 7-3 RPI: 26 Best results: W Nebraska 6-0, W Butler 2-0, W vs. Arizona State 1-0 Baylor is still a bit of a mystery. The Bears have a good overall record, but it’s a bit deceptive. They are only 1-3 on the road, and have lost to most of the best teams they’ve played (South Florida, Arizona, Arkansas). Their best win is against Nebraska, but the shine came off the Butler victory almost immediately thanks to TCU. Baylor is playing its usual rough-and-tumble style; the Bears have accumulated a nation-worst 134 fouls in ten games (sixth-worst per-game average). As conference play starts, their results against better teams would suggest that the Bears may be a spoiler more than a contender. We’ll get a hint early when Baylor visits Texas on Friday. Star midfielder Julie James leads the Bears with five goals. Iowa State Record: 2-7-1 RPI: 141 Best results: W Iowa 2-1, T at Denver 0-0, W South Dakota State 2-0 This season is just the latest chapter in the woeful story of Iowa State soccer. On the plus side for the Cyclones, they’ve scored in all but three matches. On the minus, they’ve given up scores in all but two, and multiple scores in most of those. Unless they pull a massive upset in conference play, the shock victory over Iowa is going to be the highlight of the year. ISU closes the season against Kansas State, and that game may again determine who finishes last in the league. Emily Steil, Kasey Opfer, and Courtney Powell are tied for the team lead with two goals each. Kansas Record: 6-1-2 RPI: 15 Best results: T vs. Oregon 1-1, T at Cincinnati 0-0, W Butler 1-0 The surprise of the season, Kansas has surged through nonconference play and looks to be a contender for the Big 12 title. The Jayhawks got a lot of early credit when they beat Pepperdine, but that win has diminished as the Waves continue to stumble. But, KU took care of business against most opponents and got draws when they didn’t, until they got a bit of a reality check from Texas A&M on Sunday. KU will have to recover mentally quickly; they’ll play Oklahoma State on Sunday in a key game in the title race. Junior forward Katie McClure has led the way for the Jayhawks with five goals already this season. Kansas State Record: 4-3-2 RPI: 117 Best results: T at Indiana 0-0, W Saint Louis 1-0, T at San Jose State 0-0 K-State started the season 3-0, but a trip to Santa Clara knocked them off track. After a perfectly acceptable 2-0 loss to the Broncos, the Wildcats went 0-2-2 over their next four games, with a bad draw against San Jose State and losses to UMKC and Missouri State. They righted the ship a little by beating Tulsa on Sunday, but Oklahoma State is next. KSU so far has been a team that cannot afford to break defensively; only three opponents have scored against them, but all three went on to win the match. At this point, K-State looks to be one of the two teams that will miss the conference tournament, and may face another final-day showdown with Iowa State to avoid the cellar. Katie Cramer and Brookelynn Entz lead the Wildcats with two goals each. Oklahoma Record: 4-4-1 RPI: 62 Best results: W San Francisco 4-1, T Gonzaga 1-1, W Illinois State 7-1 Oklahoma has found its offense again, and as such, the Sooners are noticeably improved from a season ago – they have already won more matches and scored more goals than they did all of last year. They don’t look like a league contender, but they don’t look like a team that will be sweating a bid to the conference tournament either. Oklahoma has only kept one clean sheet so far, but they counter that by having scored in every match. Midfield stalwart Kaylee Dao, forward Ivanna Rivas, and freshman Hailey Davidson are tied for the team lead with four goals apiece. Oklahoma State Record: 8-1 RPI: 18 Best results: W San Francisco 3-0, W Oklahoma 2-1, W Florida 1-0/W Cal 3-0 The Cowgirls have been businesslike through the nonconference schedule, but they have had lapses. They did not handle Illinois well in a 2-1 loss, they didn’t play particularly well against San Francisco, and they did not look good for much of the match against UMKC. But they have found a way to win even on bad days (excepting Illinois), which shows they will fight. Defensively, the Cowgirls have only given up five goals in nine games and have only trailed once, which is encouraging after touted freshman defender Anna Lawler was lost for the year with a knee injury in the first game. Schedule-wise, what should have been a marquee win has lost a lot of luster as Florida has struggled, but Oklahoma’s improvement has mitigated the RPI hit somewhat. We will know quickly if the Cowgirls will again contend for the conference title, as they play Kansas and Texas in two of the first three conference games. Individually, Haley Woodard has been more of a focal point for opposing defenses, so she is not scoring at a high rate, but she does have four goals to share the team lead with strike partner Marlo Zoller. Texas Record: 8-0-1 RPI: 14 Best results: T 1-1 at North Carolina, W 2-1 Long Beach State, W 3-0 at Rice Right now, I think the Longhorns are the favorite to win the Big 12; they’ve certainly put the biggest result on the board by tying North Carolina. However, they have shown some deficiencies; the Horns struggled with UT-Rio Grande Valley last week. Texas also isn’t very road-tested. Their first three games were away from Austin (including the UNC game), but the last six have been at home, and they still have one more home game against Baylor before a trip to Stillwater to face OSU. But with the results they’ve achieved, they are leading the way. Cyera Hintzen has been on fire, ranking near the top of the national leaders with eight goals already this season, and Texas has the best goals-for average of any league team (tied with Baylor with 24 total goals). TCU Record: 7-1-1 RPI: 10 Best results: W Alabama 1-0, W Butler 6-1, T SMU 2-2 TCU is flying high, but I think it remains to be seen whether they’re truly a contender or if they will be a spoiler again. The Horned Frogs have only conceded six goals, but they’ve played some weak teams and were outclassed at Santa Clara. Their best wins are against Alabama and Butler. They have also been rough-and-tumble; the Frogs have racked up 112 fouls in nine games (13th-worst per-game average). TCU will be tested early with games against WVU, Baylor, and Texas, but they get the Mountaineers and Longhorns in Fort Worth. TCU has been a rising program the last couple of seasons; the question this year is if they can take the next step. Midfielder Kayla Hill and freshman forward Maddy Warren lead the Frogs with five goals apiece. Texas Tech Record: 8-1 RPI: 54 Best results: W Pepperdine 1-0, W at Loyola Marymount 2-0, W Abilene Christian 1-0 Texas Tech gained early pub by beating Pepperdine, same as Kansas, and has since ripped through their schedule, scoring multiple goals in all but three games and only conceding three times. Their lone defeat is away to still-undefeated Boston College. The question marks for the Red Raiders come from their strength of schedule, as only BC and Pepperdine don’t have triple-digit RPIs (per NCAA.com) and only BC has a good one. Even if they aren’t inflated by their nonconference slate, Tech does not have a favorable schedule to contend for the conference title; they start with three of four games at home, including West Virginia, but then have the next four on the road before closing out in Lubbock against Texas. They must play OSU, Kansas, and TCU during that road trip. Jade King leads the Red Raiders with six goals on the year. West Virginia Record: 4-2-3 RPI: 39 Best results: T at Purdue 1-1, T vs. Northwestern 0-0, W at Clemson 2-1 The great mystery as we enter conference play. WVU played a normal WVU schedule, but their changes in personnel were obvious because they did not get normal WVU results. The Mountaineers stumbled badly out of the gate, but thanks to a much lower degree of difficulty in the schedule, are now on a three-match winning streak. WVU’s schedule is not set up for them to ease into conference play; they pretty much alternate between contenders and lower-table teams throughout, so the Mountaineers must be ready right away if they are going to be the contender they were (and probably still are) expected to be this season. Sophomore midfielder Stefany Ferrer-vanGinkel leads the team with three goals.