Week 5 is where the Big 12 starts to separate the real ones from the rest.
The nonconference slate is nearly done, October is here, and conference play is taking center stage for almost everybody in the league. Three Big 12 teams are sitting out this week, and Kansas is the lone exception to the conference-only feel, hosting Middle Tennessee in its final nonconference game of the regular season.
For everyone else, the pressure is real. Some teams are trying to plant a flag as actual Big 12 contenders. Others are just trying to show the problems from September can be cleaned up.
Four teams, in particular, have a clear point to make.
Houston has already shown it can hang with a top opponent. Two weeks ago, the Cougars came up just short against Texas Tech in a game that could wind up being one of the best in Big 12 play.
Last weekend, they responded by handling Georgia Southern 42-28 in a rare Power Four road trip to a Group of Six school. Now comes the next test: UCF at home on Saturday.
If Houston wants to stay in the Big 12 race, this is the kind of game it has to close out. The Cougars look like the more talented team.
Now they need to act like it.
Arizona’s challenge is more specific, and probably more dangerous. The Wildcats have had three weeks to stew over that loss to BYU, a game that slipped away in the second half.
Wins over Northern Illinois and Washington State have steadied things a bit, but this week brings a Cincinnati team that has already piled up more than 1,000 rushing yards through four games. The Bearcats leaned on the ground game to control the second half in their win over Kansas State, and that gives Arizona a very clear assignment: slow the run and get Cincinnati off the field.
If not, the Bearcats can drag this game into their own rhythm the same way they did against Kansas State.
Arizona State comes into Week 5 needing a different kind of answer. Two weeks after its trip to London, the Sun Devils still have to prove the offense can settle in and produce with more consistency.
That task gets tougher against Baylor. If you watched Baylor-Colorado on Saturday like I did, you saw a defense that can make life miserable in the Big 12.
The Bears bottled up Colorado for long stretches, limited the Buffaloes to only a few big plays and kept pressure on the quarterback. Arizona State now has to show it can handle that kind of heat and keep its offense from disappearing.
Then there’s West Virginia, where the assignment is as blunt as it gets: fix the defense, and do it fast. The Mountaineers were gashed for more than 600 yards of total offense by Oklahoma State last week.
The Cowboys found room on the ground against West Virginia’s three-high safety look, then picked apart the secondary in the second half. There’s a long list of things to clean up, but the clock is the problem.
West Virginia gets only one week to sort it out before heading to Ames to face an Iowa State team also chasing its first Big 12 win.
This week is about proof. Houston, Arizona, Arizona State and West Virginia all have something to show.
In Other News...
Houston Wants Fans To Turn This Home Game Into A Real Edge
An early kickoff at TDECU Stadium gives Houston a chance to set the tone from the opening whistle when UCF visits Saturday for the Cougars inaugural Built By Houston game. The program is leaning into the event with a push for fans to make the morning feel like more than just another home date, and the setup includes a slate of gameday extras meant to get people in the building and moving around before kickoff.
Fans can handle tickets and parking through the official mobile app, with pre-purchased parking available at discounted rates, and the stadium footprint will offer plenty to do once they arrive. Cougar Alley, the Bud Light Backyard, NASA exhibits and multiple team stores are all part of the presentation, giving Houston a chance to turn an 11 a.m. start into a fuller home-field atmosphere than the time slot might usually suggest. [Read more 🡒]
Houston Defense Keeps Flashing Promise But Fans See One Frustrating Problem
Houstons defense has started to show the kind of activity that can change a game, with multiple quarterback pressures and sacks popping up in recent outings. The flashes are there on film, and they match the sense around the program that this group is getting closer to turning disruptive moments into something more sustained.
Will James has kept the tone upbeat, pointing to the possibility of a defensive breakthrough even as the unit has left some plays on the field. For Houston, the frustrating part is not the effort or the pressure itself, but the way those chances have not always finished the job, leaving a clear next step as the season moves along. [Read more 🡒]
Houston Faces A Big 12 Test That Could Quiet Doubts Fast
Houston gets a quick chance to steady itself in Big 12 play when the No. 20 Cougars host UCF on Saturday at TDECU Stadium. Both teams enter at 3-1, but the conference records tell a different story, with Houston trying to bounce back from an 0-1 start while the Knights arrive with an early leg up after opening league play with a win.
The matchup also brings together two programs still sorting out their identities under Willie Fritz and Scott Frost, which adds another layer to a game that already feels important this early in October. Houstons health will matter, and UCFs offense comes in with clear strengths and a few soft spots, so this one has the feel of a fast-moving Big 12 test that could either quiet some doubts or make the next stretch of the schedule a little louder. [Read more 🡒]