Boy, oh boy, is the Big 12 Championship race starting to heat up. As we progress further into the month of October, the teams that looked like surprises continue to impress, while some of the preseason favorites continue to flounder.
Iowa State (6-0) and BYU (6-0) are the only two teams in the league with perfect records still intact, Texas Tech has worked its way to 3-0 in league play, while five other teams find themselves at 2-1 in Big 12 play.
Meanwhile, Utah (4-2) is 1-2 in Big 12 play and has lost back-to-back games and Oklahoma State is 0-3 in Big 12 contests. Who saw that coming?
This past weekend gave us another data point to file away in the Big 12 race, but also gives us another list of things to overreact to. So, let’s get after it.
BYU Has the Best Homefield Advantage in the Big 12
Not an Overreaction: There are plenty of terrific venues and college towns spread out across the Big 12. Stillwater (OK), Ames (IA), Morgantown (WV), and Salt Lake City (UT) are all challenging places to go and play good football on the road. However, from the looks of it, there’s no place like Provo (UT).
After being picked to finish near the bottom of the Big 12 in the preseason media poll, the BYU Cougars are off to a 6-0 start and are already bowl eligible after going 5-7 a season ago. They say that defense travels, and it certainly has for the Cougars in 2024, but facing BYU in the confines of LaVell Edwards Stadium is a whole different ball game. In three home games this season, BYU is outscoring its opponents 120-41 (40.0-13.7 avg) and has forced a whopping eight turnovers in those games.
The BYU crowd is filled with the least hostile individuals you will ever meet on a Big 12 road trip, but as a collection of over 64,000, they create one of the most raucous environments in college football. The latest victim of BYU’s torture chamber was Noah Fifita and Arizona, who learned firsthand that the Cougars might have the best defense in the Big 12. The Cougars forced four turnovers and kept Arizona off-script all afternoon in a 41-19 win.
Colorado is Out of the Race After K-State Loss
Overreaction: Kansas State and Colorado provided one of the best games of the weekend Saturday night in Boulder, as the Wildcats outlasted the Buffs in a 31-28 game that came down to the final minutes. Now, a lot of people are going to look at that box score and say, “Well, it was fun while it lasted, but Colorado’s gonna fall off now.” Not so fast, folks.
Shedeur Sanders kept the Buffaloes in this football game and put them in position to win late in the fourth quarter after completing 34 of 40 attempts for 388 yards and three touchdowns. Oh, and one little note I’d forgotten to mention — he did that after Jimmy Horn Jr. and Travis Hunter left the game with injuries.
To top things off with just how crazy this game was, Sanders had -50 rushing yards (yes, negative fifty) on the night, and Colorado as a team had -29 yards on the ground (-1.5 avg). Still, Colorado was in the game and was on the verge of beating the Big 12 favorite. When Hunter and Horn get back on the field, this team will continue to be dangerous — and more so than most of us thought.
Arizona State is the Most Dangerous One-Loss Big 12 Team
Not an Overreaction: In last week’s HCS Roundtable, each member of our staff answered who they thought the most dangerous one-loss Big 12 team was going forward. Like the idiot that I am, I said it was Utah, mostly because I believed that Cam Rising’s return would elevate the play of its offense.
That prediction didn’t hold up so well, as Arizona State picked Rising off three times (and might’ve ended his career) and beat the Utes, 27-19. The win was monumental for the Sun Devils’ program, and the scene afterwards was unforgettable — but the performance left a lasting impact, too. Kenny Dillingham’s team “Out-Utah’ed” Utah. They were the tougher team, they were the most disciplined team, they made less mistakes, and ultimately, they won the game.
Now, at 5-1, I’m looking at Arizona State, and I’m starting to realize that this Sun Devils team might be the squad that we expected Utah to be this season. Cam Skattebo is the most versatile player in college football, not named Travis Hunter, and while he’s churning out yards and touchdowns on offense, his defense is forcing turnovers and getting off the field. I made a mistake last week in picking Utah as the most dangerous one-loss team in the Big 12 — it was the team they were set to face that evening.
