Tramel's ScissorTales: Texas moves atop Big 12 power rankings despite loss to Alabama

What a college football Saturday. What a Big 12 football Saturday.

When I ranked the 10 best matchups of last Saturday across college football, I had four Big 12 games in the top 10 and considered another.

Then the league lived up to such billing. Alabama’s 20-19 survival of Texas. Brigham Young’s double-overtime victory over Baylor. Texas Tech’s double-overtime victory over Houston. Iowa State’s 10-7 slog over Iowa. Kansas’ stunning, 55-42 overtime win at West Virginia.

Plus, Arizona State made things moderately interesting in Stillwater, while Kent State gave the Sooners a decent scare in Norman.

All of which makes the Big 12 rankings this week quite interesting. Including No. 1:

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Big 12 football power rankings

1. Texas 1-1, 0-0: Rare is the time when you give a team a huge bump in defeat. This is the time. The Longhorns were fantastic in hanging with Alabama. Maybe Bama is down, though I don’t think so. UT’s defense was superb against the defending Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback. The Longhorns had horrible misfortune – first QB Quinn Ewers was hurt (on a dirty play), then backup Hudson Card was hurt and gutted it out. And a variety of dubious officiating calls went against the ‘Horns. And yet Texas hung tough.

2. Oklahoma State (2-0, 0-0): Why do the Cowboys rank ahead of Texas Tech or Kansas State or Iowa State or Texas Christian? All have beaten solid teams that we’re still trying to sort it out. Arizona State, Houston, Missouri, Iowa. The only discernible difference is that OSU has yet to play its Division I-AA opponent. That comes this week.

3. Texas Tech (2-0, 0-0): The Red Raiders converted a fourth-and-20 in the first overtime – quarterback Donovan Smith threw to Jerand Bradley for 21 yards – and then Smith scrambled for a TD in the second overtime to give Tech a 33-30 win over Houston. Did the Red Raiders find a quarterback?

4. Iowa State (2-0, 0-0): The Cyclones beat Iowa 10-7, and sure, we can make all the Hawkeye jokes you want. But Iowa still is hard to beat. Especially for Iowa State.

5. Kansas State (2-0, 0-0): The Wildcats routed Missouri 40-12. But man, it was fun seeing those Mizzou uniforms back on Big 12 soil. K-State purple, Missouri black and gold, all in the gray, rainy Kansas weather.

6. Kansas (2-0, 1-0): Ladies and gentlemen. Your Jayhawks lead the Big 12 Conference. Take all complaints to the conference-standings department.

7. Texas Christian (2-0, 1-0): The Horned Frogs whacked Tarleton State 59-17. Colorado, TCU’s Week 1 victim, was popped at Air Force. But at least CU is a Power Five Conference foe.

8. Oklahoma (2-0, 0-0): The Sooners are the only Big 12 team yet to play a Power Five opponent, and it’s not like Texas-El Paso or Kent State are prominent mid-majors. Patience is required.

9. Baylor (1-1, 0-0): The Bears will be fine. Their 26-20, double-overtime loss at Brigham Young could have gone either way. It went BYU’s way, so Baylor drops. BYU is not Alabama.

10. West Virginia (0-2, 0-1): The Mountaineers let Pittsburgh beat them twice. Or at least WVU has to hope that its loss to Kansas was mostly an emotional letdown. If KU has risen to the Mountaineers’ level, that’s not a good sign for West Virginia football.

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A salute to Hayden Fry

Bob Stoops’ college coach, Hayden Fry, is widely praised for his stable of great assistant coaches who became successful head coaches.

Fry turned Iowa, a perennial loser, into a perennial winner. In 20 seasons, under Fry, the Hawkeyes went 143-89-6. In Iowa’s previous 20 seasons, the Hawkeyes were 66-130-5.

Fry remade the Iowa program, and a variety of his assistants learned the lesson well.

Very well.

On Saturday, Mark Stoops’ Kentucky Wildcats upset Florida 26-16 in Gainesville, giving Bob’s little brother a UK record 61 victories.

Amazingly, the career victories leader at OU, Kentucky, Kansas State, Iowa State, Iowa and Wisconsin all coached under Fry.

And five of those six coaches were together in Iowa City from 1981-86:

Bob Stoops, OU: Stoops’ 191 Sooner wins are 34 more than Barry Switzer’s. Stoops was an Iowa safety from 1979-82, then coached on Fry staffs from 1983-86.

Barry Alvarez, Wisconsin: Alvarez went 118-75-4 in 16 Badger seasons (plus two bowl games as an interim coach). Second on the Wisconsin list is Bret Bielema, with 68 wins. Alvarez coached on Fry staffs from 1979-86.

Dan McCarney, Iowa State: McCarney’s Cyclones went 56-85 from 1995-2006. That’s 12 more wins than runnerup Matt Campbell. McCarney coached at Iowa from 1977-89.

Bill Snyder, Kansas State: As good a pick as any as the greatest coach of all time. Snyder’s 27-year record at K-State was 215-117-1. Next on the career wins list is Charlie Bachman, who won 33 games. Snyder was on Fry’s Iowa staff from 1979-88.

Kirk Ferentz, Iowa: Since 1978, Iowa has had two head coaches. Fry from 1979-98, and Ferentz from 1999 to this very day. Ferentz is 179-111 as head coach of the Hawkeyes. That’s 36 more wins than Fry compiled. Ferentz was Fry’s offensive line coach from 1981-89.

Mark Stoops, Kentucky: Stoops is in his 10th year in the Commonwealth and is 61-53. He broke the record of Bear Bryant, who went 60-23-5 from 1946-53. Stoops was an Iowa safety under Fry, then was a graduate assistant in 1990-91.

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Patrick Beverley, Russell Westbrook now Laker brothers

Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin. Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. The lion and the lamb.

Welcome to the Buried Hatchet Club, Patrick Beverley and Russell Westbrook.

The Normans and the Anglo-Saxons had nothing on Westbrook and Beverley, who didn’t like each other – or much of anybody else – long before the playoff collision that ruined the Thunder’s 2013 NBA title hopes.

But now they are making nice as Laker teammates.

In April 2013, as Westbrook pulled up to call timeout near midcourt during Game 2 of the Thunder-Rockets series, Beverley came sprinting in for a steal. Beverley banged into Westbrook, and the next day brought the news. Torn meniscus. Westbrook was out for the rest of the series.

The Thunder survived Houston in six games, but Memphis eliminated OKC in five games of the Western Conference semifinals.

Westbrook carried a grudge for years, while Beverley continued to wreak havoc as a journeyman bulldog defender.

Westbrook has bounced from the Thunder to the Rockets to the Wizards to the Lakers. Two weeks ago, the Utah Jazz traded Beverley to the Lakers, and now Westbrook and Beverley are teammates.

Fine by me, Westbrook seemed to say.

When Beverley was presented last week at a press conference, only one teammate showed up: Westbrook.

In fact, Westbrook tossed the sweating Beverley a towel. Beverley had just come from a workout.

"Love that brother,” Beverley said. “First dime (assist) of the year."

What a world, when Beverley and Westbrook are brothers. They even embraced after Beverley’s press conference.

“Super excited,” Beverley said when asked about playing with – and fitting in with – Westbrook. “I was asked this question two, three years ago, someone I always wanted to play with, and he (Westbrook) was the first name.”

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Beverley said a desire to play with LeBron James is obvious, “but a player with that competitive spirit, that fire, that will, that dog, that nastiness, that grit, to have a running mate like that, I have never had that. So I am super excited to see where it goes.

“Obviously, like any relationship or any marriage, things, we are going to have tough conversations. That is what comes with winning, but I am excited about those conversations, I am excited about the practices. I am just excited to be able to compete with someone like that."

Of course, Beverley has played with other gritty players. He’s been a teammate of Rajon Rondo! But it sure looks like Beverley and Westbrook want to place nice.

Of course, who knows if they’ll fit together on the Lakers? Westbrook has not meshed well with LeBron or Anthony Davis; the Lakers melted down to a 33-49 record last season.

ESPN reported that new Lakers coach Darvin Ham said he won't be afraid to play Westbrook and Beverley together - “if they play defense,” Ham said.

“We've got a while. That's still a ways off, but definitely. People get caught up in the starting lineups a lot, but you look at who is finishing games. Those starters, they're out there to set that tone for the entire team throughout the game."

"But, I'm not scared of that. It's definitely a bullet in the chamber. We're looking forward to it, man, those guys in the backcourt together.”

Beverley sometimes gets a bad rap as a maniacal player. But he’s also a cerebral player. He knows the game and he knows how games are won. Beverley knows strategy and tendencies.

“I shoot a ton out of the right-corner wing," said Beverley. Westbrook “posts on the left wing out of (timeouts), he likes to post on the right wing. I shoot 50 percent from the left-corner 3. It works. To have another ball handler out there with me, obviously with LeBron also, the more ballhandlers the better you are as a team."

All sounds good. But it seems unlikely to work, either from a basketball perspective – LeBron still needs more shooting around him – or a chemistry standpoint. At the first sign of trouble last season, the Westbrook/LeBron relationship went south.

Westbrook absolutely would have been traded, if not for an onerous contract.

Now add Beverley to the pot? But for now, Sadat and Begin are sitting at the table, trading towels and hugs.

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The List: Interim coach debuts

Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts fired football coach Scott Frost on Sunday, a day after the Cornhuskers lost 45-42 to Georgia Southern, dropping Frost’s record over four-plus seasons to 15-31.

All the Husker drama is just in time for Nebraska to host OU in a renewal of what once was one of college football’s best rivalries.

In the last five years, 20 Power Five Conference schools have fired a head coach – or he’s left of his volition -- with at least one regular-season game remaining. The interim coach is 6-14 in his debut game. Here are the games, divided by wins and losses:

Wins

2021 TCU: The iconic Gary Patterson chose to not finish the season after he was informed he would be replaced. Jerry Kill took over a 3-5 team, and the Frogs upset Baylor 30-28. The Bears entered with a 7-1 record.

2021 Florida: The Gators fired Dan Mullen, and under interim coach Greg Knox, UF beat arch-rival Florida State 24-21 in a battle of 5-6 teams.

2021 Southern Cal: The Trojans fired Clay Helton after a 1-1 start. Interim coach Donte Williams took over and delivered a 45-14 win at Washington State, which was 1-1.

2019 Florida State: Willie Taggart was fired by the Seminoles at 4-5. Under interim Odell Haggins, FSU won 38-31 at Boston College, which entered with a 5-4 record.

2017 Florida State: Jimbo Fisher took off for Texas A&M with the Seminoles sitting at 5-6. Haggins coached FSU to a 42-10 rout of Louisiana-Monroe.

2017 UCLA: Jim Mora Jr. was 5-6 when fired by UCLA. The Bruins turned to Jedd Fisch, and UCLA beat Colorado 30-27. The Buffs were 5-6.

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Losses

2021 Texas Tech: The Red Raiders fired Matt Wells despite a 5-3 record. Sonny Cumbie took over, and Tech lost 52-21 to unbeaten OU.

2021 Virginia Tech: The Hokies were 5-5 when Justin Fuente was fired. Under J.C. Price, VPI lost 38-26 at Miami, which was 5-5.

2021 Washington: The Huskies were 4-5 when Jimmy Lake was fired. Under Bob Gregory, UW lost 35-30 to Arizona State, which was 6-3.

2021 Washington State: The Cougars were 4-3 when they parted ways with Nick Rolovich. Under Jake Dickert, WSU played valiant against 5-2 BYU but lost 21-19.

2020 Illinois: Lovie Smith was jettisoned with a 2-5 record. The Illini, playing under Rod Smith, then lost 56-21 at 3-5 Penn State

2020 South Carolina: The Gamecocks were 2-5 when Will Muschamp was fired. Mike Bobo took over, and Carolina lost 17-10 to a 2-3 Missouri team.

2020 Vanderbilt: The Commodores were 0-8 when Derek Mason, now OSU’s defensive coordinator, was fired. Under interim Todd Fitch, Vandy lost 42-17 to 2-6 Tennessee.

2019 Arkansas: The Razorbacks fired Chad Morris after a 2-8 start. Under interim Barry Lunney Jr., the Hogs lost 56-20 at unbeaten Louisiana State.

2019 Rutgers: Chris Ash was fired after the Scarlet Knights’ 1-3 start. Nunzio Campanile took over, and Rutgers lost 48-7 to Maryland, which was 2-2.

2018 Colorado: Mike MacIntyre was fired after a 5-6 start. Kurt Roper coached the Buffs to a 33-21 loss at California, which was 6-4.

2018 Louisville: The scandal-ridden Bobby Petrino was fired after a 2-8 start. Lorenzo Ward took over, and the Cardinals lost 52-10 to North Carolina State, which was 6-3.

2017 Florida: Jim McElwain resigned with a 3-4 record. Randy Shannon coached the Gators in a 45-16 loss to Missouri, which was 3-5.

2017 Oregon State: Gary Andersen resigned after a 1-5 tart. The Beavers turned to Cory Hall, and Oregon State lost 36-33 to Colorado, which was 3-3.

2017 Tennessee: The Volunteers fired Butch Jones with a 4-6 record. Tennessee turned to Brady Hoke, who coached a 30-10 loss to LSU, which was 7-3.

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Mailbag: Scott Frost firing

The Frost firing set off a variety of thoughts by readers. Here’s one.

Tony: “Just curious to get your take on the firing of Scott Frost? I understand that he's not gotten the job done, but does firing a coach mid-season ever really make things better for the rest of the current year? That said, I do have a prediction on the first NFL firing of a head coach this year – Kliff Kingsbury! Thoughts?”

Tramel: I agree. Kingsbury is toast. The Cardinals are a mess. The Arizona job is almost sure to come open.

As for firing Frost, I agree that it’s dishonorable. But I know why schools do it. Get a jump on hiring the next guy. The Southern Cal model. The Trojans fired Clay Helton last Sept. 14 and spent 2½ months courting Lincoln Riley and perhaps others. Riley eventually was ready to jump as soon as the Sooners were eliminated from Big 12 Championship Game consideration. Nebraska can enter the same recruiting derby.

Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today. 

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Big 12 football power rankings: Texas is No. 1 despite loss to Alabama