Big 12 football tiebreaker rules: How are Big 12 Championship Game teams determined?

While the Big 12 football landscape was certainly affected by realignment going into the 2024 season, one thing that is actually a bit closer to the norm than the other Power 4 conferences is the conference championship game tiebreakers. Yes, the Big 12 lost Oklahoma and Texas while adding Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah but the tiebreakers are largely unaffected.

That, however, doesn't mean they are any less complicated. The biggest reason the Big 12 didn't have to change all too much is that they moved away from divisions years ago while the ACC, Big Ten and SEC are more recent defectors from that model. However, with 16 teams now in the conference, that makes the tiebreakers all the more important. After all, there can only be but so much separation in a nine-game conference schedule when there are that many teams.

So what do the Big 12 standings and tiebreakers look like for the 2024 season? Make no mistake, they're going to be top of mind over the final month of the regular season in order to determine who makes the Big 12 Championship Game.

Current Big 12 standings [Updated entering Week 11]

Just how we all thought the Big 12 was going to play out coming into the season, right? In all seriousness, seeing three of the legitimate favorites in the conference from the preseason — Utah, Arizona, Oklahoma State — occupying thee of the bottom-four spots in the standings is wild stuff. Frankly, though, that's wholly indicative of the parity and chaos we did somewhat expect in this conference.

As for where things currently sit, even after Iowa State's first loss of the season in Week 10 to Texas Tech, the Cyclones would still head to Arlington for the Big 12 Championship Game to face off with BYU. However, Colorado is currently lurking with only one conference loss this season. And Kansas State and the aforementioned Texas Tech are still alive if the top three in the Big 12 slip over the final four weeks.

Big 12 tiebreakers: How conference title game participants are determined

With 16 teams now in the Big 12, the tiebreakers and the order of how things are determined in the conference for the participants in the championship game are more important than ever. So in the event that tiebreakers need to be used, here is the order of how ties would be broken. The next step will only be used if the tie cannot be broken by the previous measure.

1. Ties will be broken based on head-to-head regular season record...
2. Ties will next be broken based on win percentage against common regular season opponents...
3. Ties will next be broken based on head-to-head record with the next highest common opponent in the Big 12 standings (this will continue down the standings)...
4. Ties will be broken based on the combined win percentage of their conference opponents...
5. Ties will be broken based on overall number of wins in the 2024 season...
6. Ties will be broken by the highest-ranked team according to SportSource Analytics after the final regular season games...
7. Ties will be broken by a coin toss.

There are a lot of measures in place before we ever get to the coin toss that is the final determination, so it's unlikely that we ever see that — but can you imagine?!

As things currently stand, the head-to-head record may not come into play as teams like Colorado have not played and will not face either BYU or Iowa State this season, the result of a 16-team conference and a nine-game conference schedule. In any case, though, there are plenty of other ways for the ties to be broken to determine the most deserving team of playing for the Big 12 title.

Most recent Big 12 football champions from the last 10 years

Much was made coming into the 2024 season in the wake of the Big 12 losing Texas and Oklahoma but adding four new members about the opportunities for new teams, especially in the 12-team College Football Playoff era with automatic conference champion bids. And as you can see by the recent run of champs, that should indeed be the case with only three Big 12 champions over the last 10 years coming outside of those two traditional powers.