Week 9 brings another loaded stretch of Big 12 football, and the league’s race is packed with fresh pressure points. Cincinnati is coming off a statement win, BYU is trying to shake off a brutal swing in momentum, UCF suddenly has real life, Arizona still has something to prove, and TCU’s situation is getting harder to ignore.
The Bearcats are the first team worth watching closely. Last weekend, Cincinnati walked into a game against top-10 Texas Tech and came away with a 37-24 win that was far more lopsided than the score suggests.
It was a beating, plain and simple, and now they get another shot at a ranked opponent with Utah coming to town. The Utes are a tougher team than Texas Tech, but they are not untouchable.
Cincinnati is unbeaten at home this season, and Nippert Stadium has already shown it can be one of the hardest places to navigate in the Big 12. If the Bearcats do it again, they’ll send another jolt through the conference race.
BYU finds itself in a very different spot. The Cougars are still the better team than Arizona State, which is why they enter Saturday as more than a two-touchdown favorite.
But the numbers won’t settle this one; the game will. BYU’s last two weeks have been as emotional as anyone’s in college football.
The Cougars beat Notre Dame two weeks ago, then turned around and lost to unranked UCF on the road last week. That kind of swing changes the mood fast, and this weekend will show what kind of response they have left.
UCF, meanwhile, suddenly has momentum worth taking seriously. The Knights’ win over BYU changed the way they look moving forward, especially with backup quarterback Keyone Jenkins in the mix.
The offense appears to be finding something, even if only gradually, and the defense has already shown it can hold up. If the offense keeps trending the way it did last week, UCF has a real chance to get to a bowl game.
The remaining slate - Baylor, Kansas, Arizona State, Iowa State and Colorado - also invites a much bigger question: is there anything keeping this team from running the table and finishing 9-3? Baylor this weekend will be the first test of that idea.
Arizona enters Week 9 with a record that demands respect and a résumé that still leaves some room for doubt. The Wildcats are 6-1 and ranked in the Top 25, but the quality wins conversation is still open.
Their only game against a ranked opponent came against BYU, and that ended in a 28-17 road loss. They do own a win over Cincinnati, and that result looks a lot stronger now, but beyond that, the body of work is thin.
That could change in a hurry if Arizona goes to Lubbock and beats Texas Tech. If that happens, the Wildcats will force a much louder conversation about whether they belong among the Big 12’s true championship contenders.
And then there’s TCU, where the pressure is becoming impossible to miss. Sonny Dykes is heading into a matchup with Kansas after a week that brought the same kind of questions Baylor and Dave Aranda faced before things unraveled there.
TCU is not in the same exact spot, but the frustration around the program is obvious. Dykes took the Horned Frogs to the national championship game a few years ago, yet since that 2022 season he is 26-19 overall and 15-16 in Big 12 play.
That’s a steep fall from that peak, and TCU has not been able to turn that run into something lasting. Dykes signed a multi-year extension earlier this year, but if TCU drops to 3-5 overall and 1-4 in conference play, the school’s decision-makers will have a serious call to make about a coach whose move to a pro-style system has not delivered the results they wanted.
In Other News...
Kansas Faces A Road Test With One Huge Question Hanging Over It
A late-October trip to Fort Worth brings Kansas into a matchup that feels like a turning point for both programs, with the Jayhawks and TCU each sitting at 3-4 heading into their meeting at Amon G. Carter Stadium on Oct. 31, 2026. The Horned Frogs are also navigating some recent roster and staff turbulence after parting ways with offensive line coach A.J. Ricker, adding another layer of uncertainty to a game that already has plenty at stake for both sides.
TCUs availability report does not make the picture any clearer, especially with the backfield thinned out and Kansas still watching the status of quarterback Isaiah Marshall. If Marshall is available, the Jayhawks at least have a chance to lean into a familiar offensive identity on the road. If he is not, the margin for error gets even smaller in a game where both teams badly need to steady themselves before November. [Read more 🡒]
TCU Faces A Costly Kansas Test It Cant Afford To Blow
Saturdays matchup with Kansas comes at an inconvenient time for TCU, which is trying to keep its season on track while leaning on a defense that has usually given the Frogs a chance to control games. The offense still has enough playmaking around the passing game to be dangerous, but this is the kind of conference test where every possession matters and there is little margin for error if TCU wants to avoid letting a winnable game slip away.
Kansas brings some real pressure points of its own, starting with a front that can create problems in the backfield and a quarterback in Isaiah Marshall who can extend plays with his legs. TCU also has to sort through questions in its own backfield, which only adds to the stakes if the Frogs wind up asking more of their receivers and quarterback than planned. It is the sort of matchup that can swing on a few key snaps, and Kansas has enough disruptive pieces to make TCU earn every inch. [Read more 🡒]
TCU Faces A Home Test That Could Define Its Finish
TCU heads into the stretch run with a little room left for error, but not much. At 3-4 overall and 1-3 in Big 12 play, the Horned Frogs have five games left to try to steady a season that still has something tangible to chase, and the next one at home against Kansas feels like a natural pivot point. It is the kind of game that can either help calm the conversation around the program or leave the rest of the month feeling even heavier.
The matchup has also drawn a familiar round of prediction talk around the staff, with most leaning toward the Frogs in Fort Worth. That kind of confidence does not win games, of course, but it does reflect the sense that this is the type of home opportunity TCU needs to take advantage of if it wants the back half of the schedule to mean more than just getting through it. [Read more 🡒]