Big 12 football is at its regular-season peak as College Gameday has hit up Big 12 campuses in back-to-back weeks for the first time since November 2022. Last week, Utah hammered Cincinnati in a battle of Top 25 teams as they jockeyed for Big 12 Championship Game positioning. This week, ESPN and Gameday will visit Lubbock, Texas, as Texas Tech hosts BYU in a battle of top 10 teams.
BYU is the last remaining undefeated team in the Big 12, while Texas Tech is probably the best team in the conference when they are at or near full strength. It should be an epic battle, and these two teams could match up again in early December at the Big 12 Championship Game. There’s still a chance Cincinnati or Utah could make their way back into the hunt as well.
Houston’s loss at home to West Virginia last weekend really hurt their chances to make a run, and Arizona State’s loss to Houston the week before that hurt their chances in the big picture as well. Some crazy things could happen, but it’s likely some combination of BYU, Texas Tech, Utah, or Cincinnati will be in the Big 12 Championship Game.
As we come down the home stretch of the football season, there will be plenty of excitement to be had there, but don’t sleep on what is happening with Big 12 basketball as the season just got underway this week!
While the Big 12 has BYU and Texas Tech in the running and major contenders to make the College Football Playoff, they are not generally seen as national title contenders. For basketball, on the other hand, they have six to seven teams that could be in the hunt, not only for the Big 12 title but for the national title. It’s a little bit different in basketball; once you get in the dance, it’s anybody’s game.
Houston, BYU, Kansas, Texas Tech, Arizona, Iowa State, and Baylor are all contenders in the Big 12. Houston was two points shy of winning the national championship in April. They are the favorites to win the Big 12 and have the second-best odds to win the national championship this season. The Big 12 will be an exciting conference to follow all season.
BYU (+425), Texas Tech (+500), Kansas (+500), and Arizona (+600) all have better odds to make the Final Four than to win the Big 12. That is so insane. Yes, Houston is the defending Big 12 champs and favorites, but they are still at plus odds (+180) to win the conference. Other than the race to the top, there will be several other storylines that will be fun to follow all season as well.
Texas Tech brought back reigning Big 12 player of the year JT Toppin, and he will lead a team of Red Raiders that made the Elite Eight last season. BYU is loaded with talent, including a projected top NBA Draft pick in AJ Dybantsa. Kansas has a reimagined team under Hall of Fame coach Bill Self, which features true freshman Darryn Peterson, who will compete with Dybantsa for the top pick in the NBA Draft in 2026. After KU’s debut win on Monday night, Green Bay head coach Doug Gottlieb compared Peterson to Kobe Bryant. That is high praise from someone like Gottlieb, who has followed the sport closely for three decades as a media member and now as a coach who got to see him up close and personal go up against his squad.
The top half of the conference is absolutely loaded, and there are some intriguing non-conference games on the horizon before Big 12 play begins in late December. Kansas alone will face North Carolina, Duke, Syracuse, and UConn over the next month of the season. The Players Era Men’s Championship will take place in Las Vegas the week of Thanksgiving and feature Houston, Kansas, Baylor, and Iowa State. That will be must-watch TV, even in a week that typically belongs to college football and the NFL.
This is the best time of year to be a fan of Big 12 sports. While the race to the Big 12 championship in football is heating up, Big 12 hoops is taking off and will give fans something to cheer for all the way through March. Pull up a chair, grab some popcorn, and enjoy the entertainment that we will get over the next month as football and basketball seasons overlap, leading into the holiday season.
