Week 9 in the Big 12 brings a different kind of pressure than it did a few weeks ago. One coach is already out after Baylor fired Dave Aranda on Sunday, and now the conversation shifts to the names still standing in the spotlight.
For some, that spotlight is about job security. For others, it’s about whether this week can change the whole shape of a season.
Deion Sanders is back in the mix at Colorado, and the noise around him keeps getting louder. This week’s press conference brought another moment to file under “Stuff Deion Sanders does during press conferences,” as he picked a fight with Brian Howell, one of the most respected writers covering the beat.
Sanders apparently believed Howell was writing a book and profiting off his name. Howell’s response was simple: “I tried to get in touch with you.”
The reporting around Colorado’s loss to Oklahoma State only adds to the tension. The Buffaloes were good in stretches, but a couple of plays kept undoing them.
They’re strong on defense, shaky on offense, and still haven’t won since September. There’s uncertainty around how much longer this can go on, though a conversation with a colleague who covers Colorado pointed to Sanders probably having another year ahead of him.
Still, the buyout to move on from him is substantial, and that alone could keep the heat from boiling over unless Colorado starts winning soon.
At BYU, Kalani Sitake’s seat is not in danger, but the pressure is real because the stakes are massive. The Cougars took a loss to UCF, yet they still have a path to the Big 12 Championship Game and the College Football Playoff.
That said, there’s no room for another slip, especially with Utah coming up. In a strange way, the Arizona State game feels like the hinge point for BYU’s season.
If the Cougars win, the Utah game takes on added weight beyond the rivalry itself. If they lose, then that showdown becomes more about creating chaos in the conference than chasing the path BYU actually wants.
Arizona’s Brent Brennan is in a different place entirely. His job is no longer the question.
In fact, the case for him has already been made. The heat around him now comes from the opportunity in front of the Wildcats, who head to Lubbock for a Top 25 showdown with Texas Tech.
That game is, realistically, an elimination game for the Big 12 title race, even if stranger things have happened. Arizona has been playing some of the best football in the conference over the past month, maybe the best, but the Wildcats still haven’t gotten the national attention that matches what they’ve shown.
Led by quarterback Noah Fifita, Brennan’s team has a chance to change that in one afternoon. Beat the Red Raiders, and Arizona jumps up the rankings and forces the rest of the country to pay attention.
In Other News...
Cincinnati Just Helped Expose A Big 12 Problem Nobody Can Ignore
Week 8 turned into a rough reminder of how quickly the Big 12 picture can shift, with BYU and Texas Tech both taking damaging losses just as the conference race was starting to come into focus. Those setbacks matter far beyond a single Saturday, because both teams had been building toward a College Football Playoff push and suddenly have much less room for error. Add in Baylors decision to fire Dave Aranda after a close loss to Kansas, and the league already feels like it is moving in several directions at once.
At the top, Utah is still unbeaten and sitting alone atop the Big 12 after its win over Houston, which only adds to the pressure on the rest of the contenders chasing it. The next round of games now carries even more weight, especially with Arizona and Texas Tech set for a key matchup that could reshape the standings again. For BYU, the lesson is hard to miss: in this league, a bad weekend can change the conversation fast, and the margin between contender and also-ran is getting thinner by the week. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Gets Its Arizona State Rematch With Plenty Still Boiling
When BYU and Arizona State met in that controversial 2024 finish, the game ended with the kind of chaos that tends to linger well beyond the final whistle. Sun Devils fans rushed the field before the last play was reviewed, one second went back on the clock, and BYU still nearly pulled off a comeback with a Hail Mary attempt that had the whole night hanging in the balance. Even now, the meeting feels less like a buried result than a reminder of how quickly a game can turn into a grievance for one side and a rallying point for the other.
The rematch arrives Saturday with both programs carrying very different energy from that night. BYU has kept building since then, while Arizona State has had a rougher stretch and recently turned to a quarterback change with Cutter Boley being benched. Kenny Dillingham has already expressed remorse for how he handled the emotional aftermath of that 2024 game, but the stakes of this one are simple enough without any extra drama: BYU gets a chance to revisit a memory it would rather improve, and Arizona State gets one more shot to make sure the ending is cleaner this time. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Faces An Early Big 12 Test After Its First Setback
BYUs first setback of the season has quickly turned into an early reality check, and the timing could hardly be more important. The Cougars entered Big 12 play with momentum, but the wider league picture has already started to sharpen the stakes around every week, with teams like Utah, Texas Tech, Arizona and others all sorting themselves out in the conference race while notable performances keep changing the conversation.
For BYU, the next stretch is about how quickly it can respond and whether it can turn an early stumble into a useful reference point instead of a lingering issue. The matchup ahead brings the kind of Big 12 pressure that can reveal a lot in a hurry, and after the first loss, the Cougars no longer have the luxury of being an unknown. [Read more 🡒]