Week 3 in the Big 12 started sorting teams out, and it did so fast. Texas Tech and Arizona State moved into the early conference picture, BYU stayed in the mix, and a few programs spent the weekend hanging on by their fingertips. It was one of those Saturdays that left just as many questions as answers.
Texas Tech’s 28-26 win over Houston on Friday night kept the Red Raiders in the hunt, but it also reinforced a strange early-season theme: this doesn’t look like the 2025 Texas Tech team. The Red Raiders are 0-3 against the spread this season after going 12-2 against the spread in 2025, which is part of why the conference feels so open right now.
The encouraging part for Texas Tech is that Friday was its last ranked game on the schedule for now. Still, BYU and Utah have already looked better than expected, and West Virginia and Oklahoma State are in the conversation too.
Houston and Arizona are still around, and Kansas State hasn’t even really entered the picture yet.
West Virginia’s 3-0 start got a major boost with a Top 25 win over Virginia in Charlotte, and the Mountaineers looked like the more complete team from start to finish. Michael Hawkins Jr. turned in a performance that put him in rare company, becoming the first WVU quarterback with 3+ rush TD and 2+ pass TD a single game since White in 2008.
The defense grew stronger as the game went along, with Zac Alley’s blitz packages creating problems Virginia never solved. For Rich Rodriguez, this was the best win of his era at West Virginia, and it might be the most important one too, especially with Oklahoma State next on deck in conference play.
Not every Big 12 team made life that easy on itself. Cincinnati and UCF both flirted with disaster before escaping.
The Bearcats were down 28-7 to Miami (OH) at halftime before ripping off 28 second-half points to pull out a 35-31 win. Cole Tabb’s 53-yard touchdown with 1:29 left gave Cincinnati the lead, and it was the program’s biggest comeback since it erased a 21-0 deficit in 2018 to beat Ohio University 34-30.
For Scott Satterfield, that was the kind of result that can save a week.
UCF nearly followed a similar script in the wrong direction. Georgia State was up 24-20 at halftime, and the Knights’ defense kept giving up scoring drives to open the game and into the third quarter.
Eventually, UCF steadied itself, got a few stops and let the offense lean on big run plays to regain control in a 37-27 win. Scott Frost could breathe again after that one.
Losing either game would have been a disaster for the league.
The Big 12’s first FBS game in London, meanwhile, didn’t exactly make a case for an encore. Arizona State beat Kansas 24-17, but the score made it look better than the game actually was.
The offense from both sides was rough, and the result came down to Kansas special teams mistakes and turnovers that Arizona State converted into points. The travel probably didn’t help, but this was still a game that mostly dragged.
If the league does it again, a better television window than noon Eastern might be part of the plan.
And then there was Colorado, which saw its early-season shine take a major hit in a 41-7 loss to Northwestern. Deion Sanders was openly critical of his players afterward, and the performance backed him up.
Colorado was a 3-point underdog and got blown out by 30-plus, wiping away a lot of the goodwill from the Georgia Tech win. The stumble against Weber State already felt flat, and Saturday only made things worse against a Big Ten team that wasn’t exactly a powerhouse.
The offense is the bigger problem, especially with four turnovers on its first five drives. The defense has improved, but it can’t keep carrying that kind of load if the offense keeps falling apart.
In Other News...
Texas Techs Place In The New Top 25 Feels Bigger Now
Ole Miss win over LSU on Saturday rippled well beyond the SEC, and it gave the latest AP Top 25 a sharper look for teams trying to measure where they really stand. The Rebels moved all the way up to No. 4 after the 32-24 victory, while LSU slid to No. 10, and the rest of the league shuffled around them with Florida checking in at No. 21 and Mississippi State at No. 24.
For Texas Tech, the bigger takeaway is how crowded and volatile the middle of the poll feels right now. Oklahoma dropped out despite winning, SMU and Houston both saw movement after their recent games, and every weekly change only adds weight to where the Red Raiders landed in the new ranking. In a poll this unsettled, being inside it matters, but staying there is going to take another clean answer on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech Suddenly Has Company In A Big 12 Rankings Fight
Week 3 brought a little more clutter to the Big 12s upper tier, and Texas Tech is now sharing the spotlight with a few familiar names. Four league teams are in the latest AP Top 25, with BYU surging to No. 9 after beating Colorado State, while Utah, Houston and the Red Raiders all stayed in the poll. West Virginia is also lurking just outside, drawing votes and inching closer to a ranking of its own.
For Texas Tech, that means the early-season conversation around the Big 12 is starting to feel crowded in a hurry. The Red Raiders are still in the mix, but with BYUs rise and Utah and Houston holding their spots, every week is beginning to matter a little more for anyone trying to stay relevant in the national picture. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Techs Big Win Still Left One Message Unchanged
Texas Techs 28-26 win over No. 22 Houston in Lubbock gave the Red Raiders a much-needed result against a ranked opponent, but it did not bring the kind of ranking jump that often follows a signature victory. Instead, Texas Tech climbed only one spot in the Associated Press Poll and two in the Coaches Poll, a reminder that the path upward is rarely as quick as the on-field celebration suggests.
The modest movement leaves the Red Raiders in the same familiar spot they have been trying to escape all season: good enough to draw attention, not yet far enough along to change the broader perception. For a team with bigger expectations hanging over it, the win helped, but it also reinforced how much more there is to prove before the rankings start reflecting the kind of statement Texas Tech wants to make. [Read more 🡒]