Week 3 in the Big 12 started sorting teams out, and it did so fast. Texas Tech and Arizona State moved into the early conference picture, BYU stayed in the mix, and a few programs spent the weekend hanging on by their fingertips. It was one of those Saturdays that left just as many questions as answers.
Texas Tech’s 28-26 win over Houston on Friday night kept the Red Raiders in the hunt, but it also reinforced a strange early-season theme: this doesn’t look like the 2025 Texas Tech team. The Red Raiders are 0-3 against the spread this season after going 12-2 against the spread in 2025, which is part of why the conference feels so open right now.
The encouraging part for Texas Tech is that Friday was its last ranked game on the schedule for now. Still, BYU and Utah have already looked better than expected, and West Virginia and Oklahoma State are in the conversation too.
Houston and Arizona are still around, and Kansas State hasn’t even really entered the picture yet.
West Virginia’s 3-0 start got a major boost with a Top 25 win over Virginia in Charlotte, and the Mountaineers looked like the more complete team from start to finish. Michael Hawkins Jr. turned in a performance that put him in rare company, becoming the first WVU quarterback with 3+ rush TD and 2+ pass TD a single game since White in 2008.
The defense grew stronger as the game went along, with Zac Alley’s blitz packages creating problems Virginia never solved. For Rich Rodriguez, this was the best win of his era at West Virginia, and it might be the most important one too, especially with Oklahoma State next on deck in conference play.
Not every Big 12 team made life that easy on itself. Cincinnati and UCF both flirted with disaster before escaping.
The Bearcats were down 28-7 to Miami (OH) at halftime before ripping off 28 second-half points to pull out a 35-31 win. Cole Tabb’s 53-yard touchdown with 1:29 left gave Cincinnati the lead, and it was the program’s biggest comeback since it erased a 21-0 deficit in 2018 to beat Ohio University 34-30.
For Scott Satterfield, that was the kind of result that can save a week.
UCF nearly followed a similar script in the wrong direction. Georgia State was up 24-20 at halftime, and the Knights’ defense kept giving up scoring drives to open the game and into the third quarter.
Eventually, UCF steadied itself, got a few stops and let the offense lean on big run plays to regain control in a 37-27 win. Scott Frost could breathe again after that one.
Losing either game would have been a disaster for the league.
The Big 12’s first FBS game in London, meanwhile, didn’t exactly make a case for an encore. Arizona State beat Kansas 24-17, but the score made it look better than the game actually was.
The offense from both sides was rough, and the result came down to Kansas special teams mistakes and turnovers that Arizona State converted into points. The travel probably didn’t help, but this was still a game that mostly dragged.
If the league does it again, a better television window than noon Eastern might be part of the plan.
And then there was Colorado, which saw its early-season shine take a major hit in a 41-7 loss to Northwestern. Deion Sanders was openly critical of his players afterward, and the performance backed him up.
Colorado was a 3-point underdog and got blown out by 30-plus, wiping away a lot of the goodwill from the Georgia Tech win. The stumble against Weber State already felt flat, and Saturday only made things worse against a Big Ten team that wasn’t exactly a powerhouse.
The offense is the bigger problem, especially with four turnovers on its first five drives. The defense has improved, but it can’t keep carrying that kind of load if the offense keeps falling apart.
In Other News...
Bearcats Escaped A Scare But One Problem Still Looks Serious
The Bearcats survived a tense cross-town test with a 35-31 win over Miami (OH), erasing a 28-7 halftime deficit in a game that exposed some real early issues. JC French IV helped steady Cincinnati after the break, and the defense settled in enough to keep Miami out of the end zone in the second half, turning what looked like a damaging night into a comeback victory.
Still, the box score did not hide everything. Miami quarterback David McComb put together a career-best passing performance, and Cincinnatis first-half defense spent too much time on its heels before tightening up later. The rally was impressive, but the Bearcats also left with a reminder that the margin for error is thin if the early-game problems show up again. [Read more 🡒]
Cincinnati Just Earned A New Ohio Bragging Right
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The study showed satisfaction rising across mega, large and medium airports in North America, with Tampa International Airport leading the large-airport category and Charleston International Airport topping medium airports. For Cincinnati, the state-level distinction is the kind of off-field bragging right that matters more than it might first seem, especially in a region where ease of travel can shape how fans, visitors and businesses move in and out of town. [Read more 🡒]
JC French Gave Bearcats Fans A Rivalry Win To Believe In
At TQL Stadium, JC French gave Cincinnati fans exactly the kind of rivalry performance they were hoping to see, and then some. The Bearcats quarterback turned in a career night with 309 passing yards, added two touchdown throws and also found the end zone on the ground as UC rallied for a 35-31 comeback win over Miami.
Miamis David McComb was nearly as sharp in a game that stayed tense into the closing minutes, piling up a career-best 334 passing yards. But the RedHawks could not overcome a late interception, and Cincinnatis defense made one final play to help seal a victory that felt especially meaningful in a game where both quarterbacks took their lumps and both offenses kept trading blows. [Read more 🡒]