The college football season is in full swing and the Big 12 Conference had five games on the schedule in Week 10. Despite there being six teams on bye weeks, there was plenty on the line as the college football season entered its final month of the regular season.
As has been the case too often this season, there was no 11:00 a.m. CST kick off this week in the Big 12, but once we hit the 2:30 p.m. CST window, we were off to the races with four games underway, and the action wrapped up in Waco between Baylor and TCU.
Here are the Top 5 takeaways from Week 10 of the Big 12 football season.
Two Double-Digit Upsets
We entered the week with two teams as double-digit underdogs. Texas Tech was a 13-point dog at Iowa State and Houston was a 14-point dog vs. K-State. And not only did both the underdogs cover, but they won their respective games outright.
Texas Tech shocked Iowa State, who was coming off a bye week, with a 23-22 win. Then, it was Houston beating Kansas State 24-19 at home.
Big 12 underdogs were 24-15 against the spread entering Week 10 and 18-21 straight up. This is unbelievable.
When you include these two games, and the rest of Week 10 Big 12 underdogs are 26-17-1 and 20-24 straight up.
The Red Raiders had lost two in a row and had their Big 12 title hopes on life support heading to Ames, but now they’re right back in the race and host Colorado next week in an elimination game. Meantime, Kansas State chances took a huge hit with their second loss in Big 12 play.
Both these outcomes were unexpected, but then again, in this conference, this year, maybe they shouldn’t have come as all that big of a surprise.
Related: Zack Kittley Responds to Fan Who Wants to Tattoo Texas Tech OC on His Butt
Did UCF Find a Quarterback?
Dylan Rizk put together one of the best quarterback performances of the season in Orlando, throwing for 294 yards and three touchdowns. Rizk was the fourth starting quarterback of the season, getting a chance after the continued struggles of KJ Jefferson, EJ Colson, and Jaccuri Brown. The redshirt freshman finished the game with just five incompletions in the contest, completing 20 of 25 passes with zero turnovers.
And it’s amazing what happens when you have a passing game that actually opens things up for the running game, which is exactly what happened for UCF in the Space Game on Saturday. The Knights rushed for over 300 yards in the 56-12 win over Arizona. RJ Harvey moved into second place on the school’s all-time rushing list with 184 yards and three scores.
There’s no changing the fact that this has been a disappointing season for the Knights, but if they have found their quarterback for 2025, one who can actually throw the ball, that’s a huge step in the right direction for the program.
Oh, and don’t bet against UCF in the Space Game. The Knights not only improved to 8-0 all-time in Space Games, but increased its already lopsided average margin of victory. The Knights have beaten their eight opponents by a combined score of 405-159. That’s an average win of 30.8 points per game.
Oklahoma State’s Mess Continues
The disaster in Stillwater continues as Oklahoma State lost to Arizona State 42-21, in a game that included a multi-hour weather delay. At halftime, when the delay occurred, Oklahoma State was down 21-14. Then, the second half happened, and it got flat-out ugly for the Pokes.
But it may have been even uglier in the postgame, when head coach Mike Gundy said, “We need to do a better job of coaching, in my opinion. … I’m not so sure I agreed with our schemes.”
Huh? You’re the HEAD COACH! And for the record, Oklahoma State fans who have two eyes and half a brain haven’t agreed with the schemes all season.
Mike Gundy isn’t going anywhere. He has changed this program forever, and only for the better, over his 19 years. But it’s fair to be critical based on just how poorly this season has gone, with the losses not even all that close. They’re 0-6 in the Big 12, and four losses have been by double digits, and those losses have been by an average of 19.25 points.
The TCU-Baylor Rivalry Keeps Growing
With all the defections and new teams in the Big 12, we’ve spent time wondering how the Big 12 can get new rivalries going. Well, let’s not forget the Big 12 has some great ones, including one of the most underrated rivalries in the country in Baylor vs. TCU. And it played out that way on Saturday night with Baylor winning 37-34.
The good news is that TCU vs. Baylor is a protected rivalry in the Big 12 Conference. While the league missed a couple opportunities in the new-look league to protect games like Farmageddon, protecting this game was a no-brainer. It’s become a great rivalry since TCU joined the Big 12. Before Saturday, four of the last six games have been decided by 10 points or less. Now make it five of seven. It’s the second time in the last three seasons it’s come down to a game-winning field goal.
Gary Patterson and Art Briles had some epic match ups in the early 2010’s, with the 2011, 2013 and 2014 games decided by three points or less. And now, we’re on another impressive stretch, with three of the last four games coming down to the wire (2023 being the exception when TCU won 42-17).
Colorado, BYU Benefit Tremendously
Colorado and BYU both had bye weeks, but they both could not have asked for better Saturdays. Colorado leapfrogged to a tie for second place in the Big 12 thanks to Kansas State losing its second game of league play and Iowa State falling for the first time this season.
BYU now has a serious leg up on the field to end up in Arlington at the Big 12 Championship thanks to their 5-0 start in conference play, a full game up on Colorado and Iowa State. Meantime, Colorado is tied with Iowa State and suddenly finds itself in a great position to make it to Arlington. Next Saturday at Texas Tech is basically a Big 12 elimination game for both teams.
Here’s a look at the Playoff odds for the top Big 12 teams.
No matter what, it’s going to be a fun photo finish in this league the next four weeks. And I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait.
