Week 8 ripped the Big 12 wide open, and the league’s power picture looks a whole lot different now.
Utah sits alone at the top after surviving Houston, while BYU’s first loss of the season opened the door for movement near the top. Texas Tech took a heavy hit at Cincinnati, Oklahoma State kept hanging around, and Arizona kept building its case with another emphatic showing. There was movement everywhere, from the race for the top spot to the teams trying to climb out of the bottom.
Here’s the full shuffle after Week 8.
- Utah Utes (Last Week: No. 4)
Utah is the last unbeaten standing in the Big 12 after beating Houston on Saturday night in Salt Lake City. Devon Dampier took control in the second half, doing much of his damage on the ground, and the Utes’ defense came through against a Houston offense that had been rolling into the matchup. This was the test people had been waiting for, and Utah passed it.
- Houston Cougars (Last Week: No. 2)
Houston drops, but not all the way out of the top two. That’s mostly because the teams behind them had worse weekends.
If you’re sorting by “quality losses,” the Cougars still deserve a strong spot after taking a second-half lead on the road against a Top 10 Utah team before things unraveled. They’ve also already faced Utah, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech in league play, which is the toughest conference schedule anyone has seen so far.
- BYU Cougars (Last Week: No. 1)
BYU beat Notre Dame, then turned around and lost on the road to UCF. That’s exactly the kind of trap game that can sneak up on a team. The Cougars still have a path to winning the Big 12, but this was a rough spot, and UCF coming off a bye made it even tougher.
- Oklahoma State Cowboys (Last Week: No. 5)
Oklahoma State rises after a strong showing, especially in the second half against Colorado. The Cowboys are still right in the Big 12 title conversation thanks to that narrow 3-point loss to Houston. The defense has its shaky moments, but the offense keeps humming, and that’s enough to keep them in the hunt.
- Arizona Wildcats (Last Week: No. 5)
Arizona is still getting overlooked. Noah Fifta is running the passing game at an elite level, just like expected, but the real surprise is the front seven, which was all over Iowa State in a 39-3 win. The Wildcats are top five in the Big 12 in both scoring defense and total defense, and that’s not a detail enough people are talking about.
- Texas Tech Red Raiders (Last Week: No. 3)
Texas Tech took a bad one at Cincinnati and got blown out. The Red Raiders haven’t looked elite yet, and it’s probably time to stop viewing them through the lens of future projections or recruiting hype. This was a rough reality check.
- Cincinnati Bearcats (Last Week: No. 9)
That was the kind of win Cincinnati has been waiting for. Scott Satterfield just picked up what is clearly the biggest victory of his time with the Bearcats, and the program’s biggest since joining the Big 12. Cincinnati controlled the trenches against Texas Tech, including a rushing edge of nearly 100 yards, and looked like the better team from start to finish.
- UCF Knights (Last Week: No. 10)
UCF had already shown flashes in close games at Houston and Oklahoma State, and the bye week gave them the breathing room they needed. Keyone Jenkins got two extra weeks to settle in with the first team, and it showed in the upset of BYU. The defense, especially up front, was excellent in that win.
- West Virginia Mountaineers (Last Week: No. 8)
West Virginia has won two straight after a solid road win at TCU. The defense came up with some grit and made a couple of big plays late when the game was hanging in the balance. The Mountaineers are trending up, and now they get a bye before facing Texas Tech in Week 10.
- Arizona State Sun Devils (Last Week: No. 16)
Arizona State jumps several spots because two Big 12 wins matter, and the teams behind them can’t say that. The Sun Devils have beaten Kansas and Kansas State, with freshman quarterback Jake Fette and freshman running back Cardae Mack leading the way. This may not be a contending season, but the future could be bright, and Saturday may have been the start of it.
- Iowa State Cyclones (Last Week: No. 7)
Iowa State went to Tucson and got hammered 39-3. They stay ahead of Kansas State because their win over West Virginia is better than the Wildcats’ lone Big 12 victory over Kansas.
After that, though, the separation is thin. Spots 11 through 15 could be arranged a few different ways, and it wouldn’t cause much argument.
- Kansas State Wildcats (Last Week: No. 11)
Kansas State went to Arizona State and lost. They were without Avery Johnson, though it’s fair to wonder how much that really changes the outcome. The Wildcats had the lead, then let the game slip away with some poor second-half coaching decisions in Tempe.
- TCU Horned Frogs (Last Week: No. 12)
TCU’s defense did its part against a dangerous West Virginia offense and kept Michael Hawkins Jr. in check for stretches. But the offense remains the issue.
Against the Big 12’s worst defense, the Horned Frogs still couldn’t get past 20 points. That’s not a good sign.
- Kansas Jayhawks (Last Week: No. 15)
Kansas pulled off a fourth-quarter comeback to upset Baylor. Lance Leipold badly needed it, since it was only his second win in his last 10 Big 12 games. The Jayhawks still have a long climb ahead of them, but there are at least signs of progress.
- Baylor Bears (Last Week: No. 13)
Baylor blew a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter, and that ended the Dave Aranda era in Waco. The losses to TCU and Kansas were brutal, and even though Aranda was well liked, the move made sense. There just wasn’t enough evidence that the situation was improving, especially against teams Baylor could not afford to lose to.
- Colorado Buffaloes (Last Week: No. 14)
Colorado is back in the basement. The Buffaloes played a decent first half against Oklahoma State in Stillwater, then completely unraveled.
The Cowboys scored 37 unanswered points to finish it off, and mistakes and penalties were once again part of the problem for Deion Sanders’ team. The turnaround still doesn’t look close.
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Steve Lutz Has An Early Oklahoma State Guard Decision To Make
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Braydon Nelsons rise is one of the cleaner examples of that momentum, and William Mason added to it by scoring his first touchdown while carving out more snaps through his special teams work. LaDainian Fields helped the defense with interceptions, Lawson came up with a key play, and the depth chart still has a few questions attached to it, including the status of Ayo Adeyi, making this one of those weeks where the box score only tells part of the story. [Read more 🡒]