Week 7 left the Big 12 with a very real case to make: this might be the deepest and most dangerous league in college football right now.
While five of the nation’s top 10 teams went down over the weekend, the Big 12’s biggest names held firm. BYU’s win over Notre Dame pushed the Cougars all the way to No.
- Texas Tech rolled Arizona State and moved up to No.
- Utah held off Colorado in a late-night fight and landed at No.
- Houston also made noise, climbing to No. 14 after beating a top-20 Oklahoma State team.
That kind of top-end resume is hard to ignore. The ACC has just one team in the top 10 and top 15, with Miami sitting at No.
- The SEC has two top-10 teams.
The Big Ten and Big 12 each have three teams inside the top 10, but with BYU at No. 2, the Big 12 gets the edge for now. Maybe that changes next week.
But after seven weeks, no other conference can match that blend of depth and elite positioning.
Not every Big 12 storyline was glowing, of course. Kansas walked into the Sunflower Showdown needing something to change and left with another painful collapse.
Kansas State erased a halftime deficit by scoring the final 17 points and taking a 35-24 win, stretching its rivalry streak to 18 straight. Once again, Kansas couldn’t finish, and that issue keeps hanging over Lance Leipold’s team.
At this point, it’s fair to ask whether the Jayhawks are sitting at the bottom of the league.
On the other end of the entertainment spectrum, West Virginia has become the conference’s must-see act. The Mountaineers don’t offer much on defense, but they make up for it by turning every week into a track meet.
Every West Virginia game has gone over the posted total this season, and each one has featured at least 55 combined points. The last three have all gone past 80 total points.
They may not be built for a title run, but they are built for chaos and fireworks.
Looking ahead to Week 8, BYU has to prove the Notre Dame win didn’t leave it vulnerable to a letdown. The Cougars head to Orlando to face UCF, a team coming off a bye and looking to spoil the party.
BYU is a touchdown favorite and clearly the more talented side, but emotional wins can have a way of flattening a team the next week. Add in the looming Holy War against Utah, and the stakes keep climbing.
Even without Alonza Barnett at quarterback for the Knights, this is the kind of game BYU can’t afford to treat lightly if it wants to stay in the College Football Playoff conversation.
Arizona also has a chance to keep its place in the mix. The schedule tightens later with road trips to Texas Tech and a home date against Utah, but first comes a huge conference test against Iowa State.
Both teams are coming off a bye, so there are no excuses on the preparation side. Arizona is a double-digit favorite and has a chance to show it still belongs in the Big 12 race.
The best matchup on the board might be No. 14 Houston at No.
10 Utah. It has all the makings of a conference-shaping game.
Houston just survived Oklahoma State by three, while Utah eked out a 27-24 win over Colorado. The pressure is obvious on both sides.
If Houston loses, defeats against Texas Tech and Utah would make its road to Arlington much trickier because of the tiebreaker picture. If the Cougars win, they jump right into the heart of the title race with a favorable schedule ahead.
Utah is in a similar spot: protect home field and stay near the top, or lose and watch the margin for error vanish.
Week 8 has no shortage of Big 12 intrigue, from Texas Tech’s trip to Cincinnati in the early window to Houston and Utah under the lights in Salt Lake City. Week 7 only sharpened the picture. The race is still wide open, and that’s exactly what makes this conference so compelling.
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Houston Faces A Big 12 Test That Could Change Everything
The next big checkpoint for Houston comes Oct. 24, when the No. 14 Cougars are scheduled to meet No. 10 Utah in a Big 12 game that could reverberate well beyond one night. Utah enters under first-year head coach Morgan Scalley and has built its identity around quarterback Devon Dampier and running back Wayshawn Parker, while the Cougars bring a strong rushing attack and a run defense that has held up well enough to keep them in the league race.
What makes this matchup especially intriguing is how neatly the styles line up: Houston wants to lean on the ground game and control the line of scrimmage, while Utahs defense has been one of the conferences toughest groups to deal with. For the Cougars, the stakes are obvious, because the outcome could go a long way toward shaping their path to the Big 12 Championship Game, and this is the kind of test that tends to reveal whether a contender is ready for the stretch run. [Read more 🡒]
Houston Is Earning The Kind Of Respect Fans Have Been Waiting For
Houstons rise under Willie Fritz is drawing the kind of attention that usually follows a team with real staying power, not just a hot start. The honors have started to pile up in-season, with senior tight end Patrick Overmyer, kicker Jonathan Dimas and Fritz all earning recognition from around the sport while the Cougars continue to make their case on a bigger stage.
Patrick Overmyers inclusion on the AP Midseason All-American Second Team reflects how much national notice Houstons offense is getting, and the line play has been just as important to that momentum. Shadre Hurst and Anthony Boswell landing on the AP Midseason All-American First Team gives the Cougars another sign that the respect is no longer limited to the local level, even if the full measure of where this season is headed is still unfolding. [Read more 🡒]