It’s onto Week 7 of the Big 12 football season. Teams are closing out their non-conference schedules, while everyone is now full steam ahead on conference play. Friday night featured one game between BYU and West Virginia, while the rest of the schedule unfolded on Saturday. A reminder on how I do these rankings: They are based on what you have actually done on the field, not what we think you will do throughout the remainder of the season. So, with that, here’s a look at our Week 6 Big 12 football power rankings for the 2025 season.
1. Texas Tech Red Raiders (Last Week: 1)
Texas Tech came off its bye, and picked up right where it left off in a dominant win over Houston. The Red Raiders have won every game by at least 24 points this season, and have beaten two teams in the top half in the Big 12, Utah and Houston, in dominant fashion. There is a big gap right now between No. 1 and No. 2.
2. Arizona State Sun Devils (Last Week: 2)
Arizona State had the week off following their comeback win over TCU. I see no reason to move them off the No. 2 spot right now. But this weekend is a huge match up at Utah that will help determine the Big 12 race going forward.
3. Cincinnati Bearcats (Last Week: 7)
Welcome to the Top 3, Cincinnati Bearcats! A 38-30 win over Iowa State propels the Bearcats into the No. 3 spot. It’s one of the best wins in the Big 12 this season, and the game wasn’t even as close as the final score indicates. Cincinnati owned the line of scrimmage in this game, which was the most impressive part of their performance, overall.
4. Iowa State Cyclones (Last Week: 3)
The Iowa State Cyclones still have an impressive resume, despite their loss to Cincinnati on Saturday. I’m moving them down one slot, for now. But there are reasons to be concerned coming off of that loss last week. The lines got pushed around, the injuries in the secondary may be starting to be felt, and Rocco Becht was off his game as well.
5. BYU Cougars (Last Week: 5)
The BYU Cougars stay in the Top 5 after cruising to a win over the West Virginia Mountaineers. BYU is undefeated, which not every team in front of them can say, Well, every team in front of BYU has a better win than the Cougars do thus far. BYU’s strength of schedule is ranked 105th in the country. However, their remaining SOS is 27th. We will learn about this team in the weeks to come.
6. TCU Horned Frogs (Last Week: 4)
TCU falls two slots, despite their win over Colorado. This is more about what the teams in front of them have done. Also, despite a 14-point win, this really wasn’t a two-score victory for TCU, who struggled on Saturday against the Buffaloes.
7. Utah Utes (Last Week: 6)
Utah bumps down to No. 7, not because of anything they did, since they had a bye, but more about what happened ahead of them. Also, what is Utah’s best win at this point? UCLA? West Virginia? They need a better win to get back into that Top 5.
Related: Big 12 Football Week 6: The Good, Bad, and Ugly
8. Baylor Bears (Last Week: 9)
Baylor was able to come back from two touchdowns down to beat the K-State Wildcats on Saturday. They can also thank poor clock management from Kansas State for helping their cause, but credit to Baylor for getting it done in crunch time, and the leadership of QB Sawyer Robertson continues to lead the Bears.
9. Houston Cougars (Last Week: 8)
Houston was 4-0, but had a soft schedule up until they played Texas Tech on Saturday. Now, they won’t be the only team to lose by three scores to Texas Tech this season, but still, Houston found itself overmatched, and they drop one spot this week, swapping with Baylor.
10. Arizona Wildcats (Last Week: 10)
Arizona stays at No. 10 after a blowout win over lowly Oklahoma State this past weekend. The Pokes are in brutal shape, so even though it was an impressive win, I can’t give Arizona too much credit for what happened, especially since they’re one week removed from a big loss to Iowa State.
11. Kansas State Wildcats (Last Week: 11)
The Wildcats had a chance to make fans forget a brutal non-conference. Instead, they gave fans a reason to remember that Kansas State is no 2-4, and a total of 13 points away from being 6-0. This isn’t horseshoes, so it really doesn’t matter, but it also says something about the program finding new ways to lose close games that makes this season incredibly frustrating for the fans.
12. Kansas Jayhawks (Last Week: 12)
Kansas went on the road and handled an improving UCF team on Saturday night in Orlando. Both K-State and KU have wins over UCF in the last two weeks, but I’m leaving KU behind K-State simply based on margin of victory in their comparable head-to-head match ups vs. the Knights.
13. Colorado Buffaloes (Last Week: 14)
Colorado lost to TCU, but I am moving them up because I thought they actually played a much better game than the final score would indicate. When you get down to the bottom four in the power rankings, you’re splitting hairs, but I saw enough from Colorado against a top-tier Big 12 team that I liked, so I’ve got them up one spot to No. 13.
14. UCF Knights (Last Week: 13)
UCF slides one spot after a second-straight loss to a team from Kansas, this one at home. This program is playing harder and much improved from last year, but in a league with this kind of competitive balance and depth, bowl eligibility would be a huge achievement for UCF this season.
15. West Virginia Mountaineers (Last Week: 15)
Well, they didn’t lose a Big 12 game by 30+ points this week, but it still was a blowout that included a late score to make the game look respectable at BYU. There’s work to do to rebuild this program.
16. Oklahoma State Cowboys (Last Week: 16)
Oklahoma State played a football game, and got crushed, again. The Pokes are in bad shape, but none of this is new to anyone in Stillwater. A long season is about to get much longer.
