It took eight weeks of on-field action, but there’s finally a new No. 1 in this week’s Best in Texas poll. On the heels of Texas’ shaky two-point win over Big 12 bottom dweller Kansas and with the state’s two lone remaining unbeaten teams -- Baylor and SMU -- both picking up key wins on Saturday, the Texas Longhorns dropped from No. 1 in the poll to No. 3.

Baylor’s win apparently impressed our voters just a little bit more than SMU’s. The Bears claimed the top spot with 138 total voting points. SMU received 137. Both schools received six out of a possible 12 first-place voters on voters’ individual ballots.

Baylor beat Oklahoma State in Stillwater, 45-27, thanks to a big fourth-quarter surge. SMU beat Temple, 45-21, thanks to Shane Buechele’s six touchdown passes.

Texas had comfortably held the No. 1 spot all season long, having at least a 10-point margin over the next closest school until last week, when SMU cut the deficit to five points, easily the slimmest margin of the fall.

Texas A&M, which had a big (albeit ugly) conference road win against Ole Miss on Saturday, remains comfortably in the No. 4 spot. And despite losing to Iowa State, Texas Tech remains the unanimous choice at No. 5 by our voters.

This week’s full poll can be found below.

Full rankings

1. Baylor (6): 138

2. SMU (6): 137

3. Texas: 119

4. Texas A&M: 110

5. Texas Tech: 96

6. TCU: 84

7. Houston: 72

8. North Texas: 60

9. UTSA: 43

10. Texas State: 41

11. Rice: 20

12. UTEP: 16

This week’s Best in Texas panelists (click names to view their Twitter accounts): Scott Bell, Sam Blum, Alex Briseno, Chuck Carlton, Spenser Davis, Selby Lopez, Grant McGalliard, Alex Miller, Brice Paterik, Jose Rodriguez, Kevin Sherrington, Brett Vito.

--

1. Baylor (7-0)

With its win over Oklahoma State, Baylor has matched its win total from last season. The Bears have made it to their second bye week undefeated and will face West Virginia on Halloween. (Selby Lopez)

2. SMU (7-0)

SMU made quick work of a Temple team that had already knocked of two ranked opponents. The Mustangs are now the highest ranked Group of 5 team in America. (Sam Blum)

3. Texas (5-2)

It wasn’t quite a repeat of Texas’ 2016 disaster, but the Longhorns looked like anything but Big 12 contenders in their narrow 50-48 victory over 2-5 Kansas. (Alex Briseno)

4. Texas A&M (4-3)

By no means was Texas A&M’s win over Ole Miss pretty. The Aggies went home victorious, but are still a work in progress seven games into the season. (Alex Miller)

5. Texas Tech (3-4)

After two straight impressive performances Tech fell back to earth against the Cyclones. Jett Duffey reminded fans he’s a backup and poor tackling sunk the defense. (Brice Paterik)

6. TCU (3-3)

TCU’s loss at Kansas State means the Horned Frogs still need three wins for bowl eligibility. Their next chance is a home game against Texas next week. (Grant McGalliard)

7. Houston (3-4)

Ahead of a meeting with SMU, walk-on freshman quarterback Logan Holgorsen, son of coach Dana, threw for 123 yards in first start for a 24-17 win over UConn. (Chuck Carlton)

8. North Texas (3-4)

North Texas knocked off Middle Tennesssee behind an Ethan Mooney field goal at the gun, snapped a two-game slide and bolstered its bowl hopes by moving to 3-4. (Brett Vito)

9. UTSA (3-4)

Roadrunners escaped with a comeback win over Rice Saturday. Now UTSA has a bye before traveling to face Texas A&M. (Alex Miller)

10. Texas State (2-4)

The Bobcats watched from home Saturday on their off week. Texas State has a pivotal road game at Arkansas State next Saturday. (Alex Miller)

11. Rice (0-7)

It looked like the Owls would get their first win on Saturday. But despite taking the lead on four separate occasions, it left San Antonio empty-handed because of a late UTSA TD. (Scott Bell)

12. UTEP (1-5)

The Miners moved to 1-5 after falling 32-17 to Florida International over the weekend. UTEP will try to end a five-game losing streak next week vs La Tech at home. (Spenser Davis)