Week 7 gives the Big 12 a little bit of everything: a top-10 showdown in Provo, a rivalry with plenty of history behind it, and a few conference games that could tell us a lot about who’s real and who’s just hanging around.
Start with the biggest stage of the weekend. BYU gets Notre Dame at home in a game that feels like the center of the college football universe, with College GameDay headed to Provo.
It doesn’t get much bigger for a regular-season matchup. Even so, BYU is still stepping in as a double-digit underdog, and that says plenty about how the matchup is being viewed.
Notre Dame has the look of a national championship contender, but the Irish haven’t faced this kind of test yet. BYU, meanwhile, still has plenty of doubters wondering whether the talent gap is simply too steep.
That’s the question hanging over the entire weekend: can BYU hang with Notre Dame?
Kansas and Kansas State bring a different kind of pressure. The Sunflower Showdown always matters, even with both teams carrying a couple of losses.
These teams don’t need extra motivation when they see each other, and the history has been brutal for Kansas. Kansas State has won 17 straight in the series, and the Jayhawks haven’t taken one from the Wildcats since 2008.
Still, rivalry games have a way of ignoring the script. Kansas State hasn’t exactly been untouchable this year, and Kansas has enough issues of its own to make this feel unpredictable.
For Lance Leipold, there’s another layer: he’s 0-7 against Kansas State and Missouri since taking over in 2021. A win here would break that run in a hurry.
Another Big 12 game worth circling is Oklahoma State’s trip to Houston, where the quarterback talent should be front and center. Drew Mestemaker and Conner Weigman rank among the best quarterbacks in college football, and both offenses have the kind of firepower that can turn a game into a track meet.
The concern is on the other side of the ball. Neither defense has been consistently elite, even if Houston’s numbers have looked better on paper.
The wrinkle is that Houston hasn’t had to deal with an offense as dangerous as Oklahoma State’s. Points should come in bunches, but this one may come down to which defense can squeeze out the decisive stop or two.
There’s also Baylor, where DJ Lagway keeps building momentum. Through just three starts, the former five-star has thrown for 860 yards, eight touchdowns and only two interceptions.
The completion percentage still has room to climb, but the production is already there, and his last game against Arizona State was his best yet. The next chance to keep it rolling comes against TCU.
If Lagway carries that form into this one, Baylor starts looking a lot more dangerous in the Big 12 picture.
Then there’s West Virginia, which enters the weekend with a defense that has been hard to watch. The Mountaineers have one of the worst units in the Big 12, and arguably one of the worst in the country.
Defensive coordinator Zac Alley said the staff simplified things before the Arizona game, but the results didn’t change much, as West Virginia still gave up more than 50 points in the loss. Cincinnati now brings one of the top three rushing offenses in the conference into a matchup that could expose the same problem again.
West Virginia is allowing more than 163 rushing yards per game and has struggled to hold up against physical run games. Since JC French isn’t much of a threat through the air, the Mountaineers should be loading the box and daring Cincinnati to beat them another way.
The question is simple: can West Virginia finally stop the run?
In Other News...
Baylor Could Benefit From A CFP Shift Fans May Not Love
The College Football Playoff is again on the verge of a major makeover, and for Baylor the possible ripple effect cuts both ways. A larger field has been discussed as a path to giving more programs from the Big 12 a real postseason lane, which would be a welcome development for a league that has often had to fight for access against the sports traditional powers.
For Bears fans, the upside is obvious because more spots should mean more chances to stay in the hunt deep into November. But the broader concern is harder to ignore, since a wider playoff can also dull some of the urgency that makes the regular season matter so much. Baylor would likely see the benefits of the shift, yet the sport may have to decide whether the extra inclusion is worth what gets lost along the way. [Read more 🡒]
TCU Faces A Revivalry Gut Check With Baylor Gaining Ground
TCU comes out of its bye week facing a Baylor team that has quietly built real momentum in Big 12 play, and the matchup now has a very different look than it did a few weeks ago. The Horned Frogs are trying to steady a season that has started with a 2-3 record and an 0-2 conference mark, while Baylor arrives at 4-1 overall and unbeaten in league play, a contrast that has already shaped the discussion around the rivalry game.
Inside the staff predictions, the lean was clear, with most picks landing on Baylor and only a few sticking with TCU. Still, this series has a long memory, and TCUs edge in the all-time matchup hangs over a rivalry that has often ignored records and expectations. Baylor has the better current resume, but the question in this one is whether that gap is enough to change the familiar script when the teams finally line up again. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor Faces A TCU Showdown With Real Pressure On Aranda
The 122nd meeting between Baylor and TCU arrives with the familiar edge of a rivalry game, but this one carries extra weight because both sides have built early identity around defense. The matchup is expected to be a tight, low-scoring grind, the kind of Saturday that can hinge on one turnover, one field position swing, or one possession late.
For Dave Aranda, the stakes around this game go well beyond the rivalry banner. Baylor has shown enough to make fans believe there is something real to build on, and this trip into a major Big 12 measuring stick has only sharpened expectations. A win would give the Bears a strong early footing in the league race and a jolt of momentum in a season where every step forward matters. [Read more 🡒]