The Big 12 has always been a wild ride, but this season? It’s chaos in the best way possible.
Just a few weeks ago, Kansas looked like it might finally be slipping. The Jayhawks were 1-2 in conference play for the first time in two decades after a loss to West Virginia at Hope Coliseum.
That’s a sentence you don’t write often - Kansas struggling in the Big 12. But since that stumble, the Jayhawks have flipped the switch.
They’ve rattled off win after win, climbed back into the top 10, and just knocked off previously unbeaten, top-ranked Arizona. So much for that early panic.
That unpredictability? It’s everywhere in this league.
UCF, who hosts West Virginia on Saturday, opened Big 12 play with a win over Kansas - yes, the same Kansas that just beat Arizona - and then promptly dropped one to Oklahoma State. Since then, the Knights have taken down Cincinnati and Kansas State, lost to Arizona and Iowa State, and picked up wins over Colorado, Arizona State, and Texas Tech.
Then came a stumble at Houston and a 20-point loss to Cincinnati - a team that had looked like it was spiraling but has now won two straight.
And that’s the theme across the board. TCU got blown out by 26 against Colorado, took a week off, then squeaked past Kansas State and followed that with a win over Iowa State. It’s a rollercoaster, and no one’s getting off any time soon.
West Virginia head coach Ross Hodge is well aware of the madness. He’s not trying to make sense of it - he’s just trying to survive it.
“The media and everyone have jobs to do, and you have to write the story and write the narrative after each game about what it means,” Hodge said. “But that’s why I always said you don’t know.”
He’s got a point. A win that looks routine one week suddenly becomes a résumé booster the next.
Hodge brought up his team’s road win over Arizona State - a game folks might’ve brushed off at the time - but then Arizona State turns around and beats Iowa State, and suddenly that win looks a lot more impressive. Same with Cincinnati.
Beat them, and it’s “well, you should.” But then they beat Iowa State, and you realize the league’s middle tier is more dangerous than it looks.
Right now, the Big 12 seems to be sorting itself into three tiers - though even that feels temporary. At the top, you’ve got Arizona, Houston, Kansas, Iowa State, and Texas Tech. You could argue for splitting that into two groups, and maybe BYU deserves a look despite a four-game skid that includes losses to Arizona, Kansas, and Houston.
At the bottom, Kansas State and Oklahoma State are both sitting at 1-10 in conference play. Baylor, which handed West Virginia its first home loss after a 13-0 start, has dropped its last two and is struggling to find its footing.
And then there’s the middle - the real meat of this conference - where eight teams are packed together with either four, five, or six Big 12 wins. It’s a logjam of teams that can beat anyone on any given night - or lose just as easily.
“The Big 12 is back to where it was,” Hodge said. “I do think it dipped down a little bit last year.
I think anybody would agree it wasn’t quite as good as what it was. This year, as strong as it is at the top, it’s probably pushed the middle and the bottom down even more.”
Hodge isn’t saying the top teams are unbeatable - far from it. In this league, no one’s safe. But the top tier has managed to separate just enough to make life miserable for everyone else.
“In the middle portion to the bottom of the league, there’s just a very, very small margin for error and separation on a nightly basis,” Hodge said. “Any team has the capability to beat any team.”
That’s not just coach-speak. It’s been proven every week.
As soon as you think you’ve figured a team out, they flip the script. Write someone off, and they come back swinging.
West Virginia’s own résumé is a microcosm of the league - a little bit of everything. The Mountaineers have that marquee win over Kansas, but also losses to Iowa State, Houston, Arizona, and Texas Tech.
The road ahead? Seven regular-season games, none against a team with a better Big 12 record.
But in this conference, that guarantees nothing.
“None of us know,” Hodge said. “Over the course of this last month, I think you can see a lot of movement both ways.”
So what’s the plan? For Hodge and his team, it’s simple - even if it’s not sexy.
“You’d better start thinking about the next game and not stray too far from that.”
In the Big 12 this year, tunnel vision might be the only way to survive the chaos.