Baylor’s trip to Provo now has a kickoff time.
The Big 12 released its Week 11 schedule, and the Bears will face BYU at 2:30 p.m. CT on FOX. Baylor heads into that matchup at 6-3 after rallying from an early hole to beat Iowa State, 42-31, with 28 unanswered points on Saturday.
That win kept Baylor alive in the race for the Big 12 Championship Game, but the road ahead is unforgiving. The Bears’ next three games are the toughest stretch left on the schedule: BYU on the road, then Texas Tech at home, and finally Houston away to finish the regular season.
BYU comes in at 7-2, but the Cougars have hit a rough patch after looking like one of the country’s hottest teams not long ago. They beat Notre Dame, 28-24, in a game that brought ESPN’s “College GameDay” to Provo, but since then they’ve dropped two of three. The skid started with a 39-31 overtime loss at UCF, followed by a 27-20 win over Arizona State, and then a 28-20 loss to Utah in the Holy War last weekend.
Against Utah, running back LJ Martin returned and scored a touchdown, but quarterback Bear Bachmeier had a difficult night. He passed for 272 yards and threw four interceptions, a combination that made it hard for BYU to keep pace.
This will be the sixth meeting between Baylor and BYU, with the series dating back to 1983. Baylor won the first matchup, 40-36, but the Cougars have taken two of the three meetings since 2021 and have won the last two. The most recent came in 2024, when BYU beat Baylor 34-28 in Waco.
In that game, Sawyer Robertson threw for 324 yards and three touchdowns, though he also had two interceptions. BYU jumped ahead 21-0 before Baylor fought back, cutting the margin to 10 with a third-quarter field goal. Josh Cameron’s 23-yard touchdown catch with 10 minutes left ended up being the final score of the game.
Baylor will look for a different result this time with the game in Provo.
In Other News...
Puka Nacua Just Gave BYU Fans A New Reason To Worry
Puka Nacua gave BYU fans an unwelcome scare on Sunday when he went down with a knee injury on the Rams final offensive snap against the Washington Commanders. Los Angeles does not believe he tore his ACL, but the next step is an MRI to determine how serious the injury is, and that alone is enough to make anyone connected to Provo hold their breath.
Before leaving the game, Nacua was doing what he has done so often for the Rams, piling up 14 catches for 150 yards and a touchdown. For BYU supporters who still follow every step of his pro career, the concern now is less about the stat line and more about what the tests reveal, because the answer could shape how soon one of the programs biggest stars is back on the field. [Read more 🡒]
UCF Just Kept BYUs Most Frustrating Loss In The Spotlight
A wild finish in Orlando kept one of the Big 12s most chaotic results from fading into the background, and it matters for BYU because UCF was the team that handed the Cougars one of their most frustrating losses. The Knights edged Kansas 33-32 in a game that swung back and forth all night, with multiple lead changes and a closing sequence that felt built for a highlight reel.
Alonza Barnett III, back after an injury, steered the late drive that set up the winning score, and Caden Pienings touchdown catch stood after a replay review. Will Stone then delivered the extra point after earlier missing one, sealing a victory that only added to the sense that UCF can still be a factor in the same conference picture BYU is trying to navigate. [Read more 🡒]
BYUs CFP Hopes Now Rest On A Brutal Big 12 Reality
Two straight eight-point losses have left BYU in a far more precarious spot than it was in just a couple of weeks ago. At 7-2, the Cougars still have a workable record, but the margin for error in the Big 12 has all but disappeared as the conference race tightens around them.
The challenge now is straightforward and unforgiving: BYU has to win its final three Big 12 games to keep its College Football Playoff hopes alive. Even then, the road is crowded, with Utah sitting atop the standings and Texas Tech, Houston and several others close enough to complicate every tiebreaker and every championship scenario. [Read more 🡒]