Big 12 Power Rankings: Arizona State joins BYU and Colorado atop championship race
Big 12 football is paying the price for parity.
With nine teams still alive in the race for a conference championship, the final two weeks of the regular season should be filled with enough drama to keep fans watching until the final game ends. That’s good for entertainment purposes. It’s bad for Brett Yormark’s dream of sending multiple teams to the College Football Playoff.
It’s hard to see more than one Big 12 team advancing to the playoff after Kansas handed BYU its first defeat of the season. Every other team in the league is guaranteed to finish with at least two losses, which will likely be too many to warrant an at-large berth into the bracket.
There is even an outside shot that Army or Tulane could prevent the Big 12 champion from receiving an automatic berth into the field. Let’s say Army beats Notre Dame and goes on to win the American Athletic Conference or Tulane wins out. And let’s say a team with three losses wins the Big 12.
It’s impossible to guess which team the CFP selection committee would rank higher.
With that in mind, let’s take some time to analyze everything we have seen up to this point — heading into Week 13 — with a new edition of Big 12 Power Rankings.
These teams control their own destiny
1. Colorado (8-2, 6-1 Big 12)
Few teams, if any, have improved more than the Buffaloes over the course of this season. Colorado began the year by narrowly beating North Dakota State at home. Then it lost big at Nebraska. Many gave up on this group. But Deion Sanders has led an incredible turnaround.
The Buffaloes can clinch a spot in the Big 12 championship game this weekend with a win against Kansas, plus wins by BYU and Utah. That might be enough to wrap up the Heisman Trophy for Travis Hunter, too.
2. Arizona State (8-2, 5-2 Big 12)
The Sun Devils have gone from worst to almost first in these power rankings. I owe Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham an apology for being so low on his team back in August. So do most media members in the Big 12. This team had no business being picked No. 16 in the conference’s preseason poll.
Sam Leavitt, Cam Skattebo and Jordyn Tyson made a statement on Saturday when they beat K-State 24-14. Arizona State can’t clinch a trip to Arlington, Texas, this weekend. But it is guaranteed to advance if it beats BYU and Arizona.
3. BYU (9-1, 6-1 Big 12)
The voodoo that helped BYU win its first nine games disappeared on Saturday when Kansas beat the Cougars with an interception in the end zone and a fumble recovery that came on a pooch punt. How will Kalani Sitake’s team respond from its first loss of the season? The Cougars can clinch a spot in the Big 12 championship with a win at Arizona State and a Utah win over Iowa State.
Hottest teams in the conference
4. Baylor (6-4, 4-3 Big 12)
The Bears are bowl eligible and Dave Aranda is coming back for another season as head coach. Things are going very well in Waco these days. Baylor is on a four-game winning streak and playing as well as any team in the conference. The Bears have averaged 45.8 points per game during their hot streak.
5. Kansas (4-6, 3-4 Big 12)
The Jayhawks have won back-to-back games against ranked opponents and they will get a chance to make it three in a row on Saturday when they play Colorado at Arrowhead Stadium. Kansas is finally living up to preseason expectations. A bowl game is within reach.
Teams that need wins ... and help
6. Iowa State (8-2, 5-2 Big 12)
The Cyclones seemed to get their swagger back when they pulled away from Cincinnati on Saturday. Iowa State will try to build off that at Utah. It will also be cheering hard for Kansas this weekend. Matt Campbell’s team will play for a Big 12 championship if it wins its final two games and Colorado suffers a loss.
7. Kansas State (7-3, 4-3 Big 12)
Fans at Bill Snyder Family Stadium loudly booed the K-State football team as it fell behind 24-0 against Arizona State on Saturday. Their displeasure was understandable. The Wildcats were in contention for a playoff berth before their offense lost its way at Houston and couldn’t bounce back against the Sun Devils. Still, K-State has a path to the Big 12 championship if it can win out.
8. TCU (6-4, 4-3 Big 12)
If 6-3 is good enough to tie for first place in the final Big 12 standings, the Horned Frogs would win several tiebreaker scenarios.
9. Texas Tech (6-4, 4-3 Big 12)
The same goes for the Red Raiders.
10. West Virginia (5-5, 4-3 Big 12)
Don’t eliminate the Mountaineers yet, either. They could still win a tiebreaker for second if BYU finishes all alone in first place.
Dreaming of a bowl game
11. Arizona (4-6, 2-5 Big 12)
Brent Brennan lives to see another day as head coach in Tucson. The Wildcats got a much-needed victory against Houston and are now looking to finish off the season strong against TCU and Arizona State.
12. Houston (4-6, 3-4 Big 12)
It’s hard to see the Cougars getting to six wins after they no-showed at Arizona on Friday. Their final two games are against Baylor and BYU.
13. Cincinnati (5-5, 3-4 Big 12)
The Bearcats need one more win to qualify for the postseason. That should provide motivation as Cincinnati looks to beat Kansas State and TCU over the next two weeks.
13. UCF (4-6, 2-5 Big 12)
It will be interesting to see how many changes Gus Malzahn made during a late bye week. The Knights needed a week off to sort through some things, especially on offense.
15. Utah (4-6, 1-6 Big 12)
Isaac Wilson had his moments against Colorado, as he threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns. Maybe the Utes can build on that moving forward.
Playing for pride
16. Oklahoma State (3-7, 0-7 Big 12)
Mike Gundy’s teams are usually feisty after a bye week, but I’m not sure that trend will continue. It’s been a long season for the Cowboys and they only have pride to play for in their final two games against Texas Tech and Colorado.