The Big 12 is already looking upside down five weeks into the season, and the league’s two most recognizable coaching names are suddenly stuck near the bottom.
Four years after Sonny Dykes piloted TCU to a 13-win run and a spot in the national championship game, and two years after Deion Sanders pushed Colorado to nine wins with Travis Hunter taking home the Heisman Trophy, both coaches are now running teams that have crashed toward the basement of the conference standings.
That kind of turn can happen fast in college football. One week you’re riding high, the next you’re trying to stop the bleeding.
So after Week 5, the Big 12 picture looks a lot different - and Baylor’s rise is one of the biggest reasons why.
- BYU (4-0, 2-0 Big 12): The Cougars won 17-10 against TCU in a game that fit the definition of an ugly win, even while they managed only 216 yards of offense. This week could get tricky if running back LJ Martin and linebacker Isaiah Glasker are still on the injury report against Iowa State.
- Texas Tech (5-0, 2-0 Big 12): The Red Raiders have taken some criticism for not looking as dominant as they did a year ago in Lubbock, but the 5-0 start still matters. The defense remains strong, and that deserves real credit.
- Utah (4-0, 1-0 Big 12): Bill Connelly’s new ratings formula, which measures teams only by what they’ve done this season, puts Utah at No. 2 nationally behind Georgia. That’s a pretty strong sign that the Utes belong in the conversation at the top of the league.
- Baylor (4-1, 2-0 Big 12): Dave Aranda is not completely out of the woods, but Baylor’s 55-19 road win at Arizona State gave his job security a much-needed boost. The Bears have been outperforming expectations, and with a favorable stretch ahead, an 8-1 start is on the table.
- Houston (4-1, 1-1 Big 12): The Cougars delivered one of the week’s wildest recoveries, erasing a 17-0 deficit early in the third quarter and beating UCF 27-17. Quarterback Conner Weigman powered the comeback with three rushing touchdowns, though the crowd size hardly matched the moment.
- Arizona (4-1, 1-1 Big 12): The Wildcats had their shot at BYU and could have taken that game with a few different breaks. Their only loss remains that narrow defeat, and they backed it up by rolling Cincinnati 34-7.
- Oklahoma State (3-1, 1-0 Big 12): The Cowboys are coming off their lone bye week of the season, and it will be interesting to see what they look like coming out of it. After a three-game winning streak, it’s fair to assume nobody in Stillwater wanted to sit last Saturday.
- Cincinnati (4-1, 1-1 Big 12): Traveling all the way to Arizona for a late-night game is never easy for an East Coast team, but that doesn’t excuse a 34-7 loss. The Bearcats were simply outclassed.
- Kansas State (3-1, 0-1 Big 12): Cincinnati’s dud in the desert also raises a few questions about Kansas State’s start.
Maybe the Wildcats’ 3-0 opening was helped by a softer non-conference slate than it first appeared. Collin Klein’s group gets Houston next, which offers a chance to answer back.
- Iowa State (3-2, 1-1 Big 12): Jimmy Rogers deserves a correction.
Iowa State looked like a candidate to sit at the very bottom of the league on paper, but that has not been the case at all. The Cyclones have stayed competitive against a demanding schedule and piled up 577 yards in a win over West Virginia.
- West Virginia (3-2, 0-2 Big 12): The Mountaineers could be unbeaten right now, but they’ve left too many opportunities on the table. Rich Rodriguez’s next job is getting the defense to hold up.
- UCF (3-2, 1-1 Big 12): The Knights were in position for a major leap after building a 17-0 lead at Houston, but the game slipped away completely from there. It was a hard fall back to earth.
- Arizona State (2-2, 1-1 Big 12): The Sun Devils will hope their lopsided loss to Baylor had something to do with jet lag after the international game against Kansas in London. If not, the situation is a lot more concerning.
- Kansas (2-2, 0-1 Big 12): The Jayhawks may have figured something out after their overseas trip. Following a bye, they crushed Middle Tennessee 55-0 at home, which makes them one of the few teams to bounce back well after playing abroad.
- TCU (2-3, 0-2 Big 12): Sonny Dykes probably isn’t in immediate danger, but the pressure can rise quickly if this keeps going the wrong way for the Horned Frogs.
- Colorado (2-3, 0-2 Big 12): There was a funny explanation floating around for Colorado’s ugly offensive showing against Texas Tech - that a few Red Raiders fans somehow found a misplaced copy of the CU playbook before kickoff.
But that doesn’t explain the bigger issue. The Buffaloes have looked ineffective on offense in more than one game, and right now they look like a bad team under Coach Prime.
In Other News...
Kansas State Faces A Familiar Return As Injuries Start To Mount
Michael Bishops name still carries weight in Manhattan, and this weekend he will be back on the opposite sideline as Houstons offensive assistant when Kansas State lines up against the Cougars. It adds another layer to a matchup already tied closely to the programs past, especially with first-year Wildcats coach Collin Klein also coming from the same quarterback lineage and speaking with obvious respect about Bishops place in K-State history.
The more immediate concern for Kansas State, though, is the health of the roster heading into Saturday. The Wildcats are working through a growing list of injury updates before facing Houston, and those availability questions arrive at a time when the margin for error is already thin. With a familiar face returning and the injury report taking on extra importance, this one carries a little more intrigue than a typical early-season nonconference game. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas State Faces One Big Injury Question After Bye Week
Kansas State came out of its bye week still sorting through the aftermath of the loss to Cincinnati, and the biggest early update is that tight end Will Anciaux will not be back this season after suffering a lower leg injury in that game. The Wildcats now turn their attention to Houston at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, with the break providing some needed recovery time as they try to steady the roster going into the next stretch.
Receiver Jaron Tibbs is among the names to watch, as he continues to recover and may be available against the Cougars. Several other Wildcats remain day to day, leaving the staff with a familiar late-week injury watch as it pieces together the offense and overall depth for a game that could help set the tone after the bye. [Read more 🡒]