The Big 12 may not be home to weekly 50-point shootouts anymore — though it can still supply those, too, largely thanks to Rich Rodriguez's return to West Virginia — but that doesn't mean there's not still loads of chaos in America's most wide-open conference. Take Saturday, for example, when both BYU and Texas Tech fell from the ranks of the nation's unbeaten with upset losses at UCF and Cincinnati, respectively.
Both the Cougars and Red Raiders were riding high after big wins last weekend. Now, they're suddenly looking up at Utah in the conference standings — with plenty of other teams breathing down their necks for a spot in the Big 12 title game. Of course, in the age of the 12-team College Football Playoff, one loss will never doom you. But how much work do BYU and Texas Tech have to do now, and how does the reshuffled conference landscape look? Let's dive in.
Updated Big 12 power rankings after two unbeatens go down in Week 8
- Utah Utes (6-0)
- BYU Cougars (6-1)
- Texas Tech Red Raiders (6-1)
- Houston Cougars (6-1)
- Arizona Wildcats (5-1)
- Oklahoma State Cowboys (4-2)
- Cincinnati (5-2)
- UCF Knights (4-3)
- West Virginia Mountaineers (5-3)
- Arizona State Sun Devils (4-3)
- Kansas State Wildcats (4-3)
- Iowa State Cyclones (3-3)
- TCU Horned Frogs (3-4)
- Kansas Jayhawks (3-4)
- Colorado Buffaloes (2-4)
Utah's path is wide open after BYU, Texas Tech lose
All of a sudden, this conference is Utah's to lose. The Utes are the lone remaining unbeaten in the Big 12, and if they can come out with a win at home against Houston on Saturday night, they'll have the inside track to both the conference title game and a College Football Playoff berth.
Of course, that'll be easier said than done with the way Conner Weigman and the Cougs are putting up points right now. And it's worth noting that Utah's closing schedule is a bear: After Houston come dangerous trips to Cincinnati and Arizona, sandwiched around the Holy War against BYU. Morgan Scalley's team is going to have to pass several tough tests to get to the end of the year unscathed. But Devon Dampier is playing excellent football right now, and if the defense can get back on track after an uncharacteristic glitch at Colorado last Saturday, the sky is the limit.
Who will emerge from the Big 12's second tier?
You could argue that the real winners from Saturday are the dark horses, as all of Houston, Arizona, Oklahoma State and even Cincinnati were given conference title game life now that Texas Tech and BYU have both taken a loss. Granted, it'll be tricky for the Bearcats, who already have two losses including a head-to-head defeat against Arizona that could loom large. But all of these teams can tell themselves that they control their own destinies down the home stretch.
That starts late Saturday night, with Houston traveling to face Utah. If the Cougs lose there, it'll be tough to come back from; they'll not only have two conference losses but also would lose the head-to-head tiebreaker against both the Utes and Texas Tech. Oklahoma State is a team to watch here in particular: Outside of a visit from the Red Raiders in November, their schedule is very favorable, as they miss BYU, Arizona and Cincinnati entirely.
Don't sleep on Cincinnati and UCF
Admittedly it's a long shot, as both already have two conference losses — and in the case of UCF, they've already lost the head-to-head tiebreaker with fellow contenders Oklahoma State and Houston. But here's the Golden Knights' closing schedule: vs. Baylor, at Kansas, vs. Arizona State, vs. Iowa State, at Colorado. Why can't they run the table there, given what this defense has shown and the strides Keyone Jenkins has made at QB?
Cincinnati, meanwhile, has its destiny in its hands. The Bearcats still have head-to-head matchups against Utah, Houston and BYU upcoming; find a way to win them all, and you'll almost certainly sew up a spot in the Big 12 title game. That's a lot to ask, of course — the Houston and BYU games come on the road, and this is the same team that just lost at West Virginia last weekend. But this is one of the more explosive offenses in the country, and in this conference, you never know.
TCU and Kansas State are blowing golden opportunities
If you had to pick the single most disappointing team in this conference to date, you'd have a hard time choosing between TCU and Kansas State. Both entered the year with experienced quarterbacks and real hopes of competing for a Big 12 title; both took ugly losses on Saturday (TCU at home against West Virginia, Kansas State on the road at Arizona State without Avery Johnson) that officially stuck a fork in any real hopes for this season beyond a bowl game.
Collin Klein is in his first year with the Wildcats, and he'll no doubt be given some grace especially considering the injury to Johnson. Sonny Dykes, meanwhile, may well have run out of rope — that national title game run was a long time ago now, and the Horned Frogs have produced steadily diminishing returns since. TCU was supposed to be a premier player in this conference with Texas and Oklahoma moving on, but instead they seem to have let other peer programs pass them by.
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