It’s shaping up to be somewhat of a major football weekend for the Big 12 Conference.
We’ll get our first Big 12 matchup between Arizona and BYU on Saturday, but there are three different Big 12-SEC matchups to watch this weekend: Missouri at Kansas, Arizona State at Texas A&M, and Arkansas at Utah. The oddsmakers favor the SEC in all but the Utah game, but could the Big 12, realistically, carve out a path to 3-0 this weekend in each of these games?
It might feel like a long shot, but it may not take much for the stars to align in each of these three matchups.
Kansas Must Beat Mizzou On the Ground
For Lance Leipold and the Jayhawks, the solution for finally knocking off Missouri, which rose to No. 23 in the AP College Football Top 25 this week, will be outscheming the Tigers with a bevy of runners. Kansas quarterback Isaiah Marshall and hard-nosed running back Yasin Willis will certainly wear on Missouri, but Kansas State transfer Dylan Edwards could become the real home-run hitter in open space if the Jayhawks, led by left guard Amir Herring and left tackle Calvin Clements, can create it for their speedster up front. The last time Missouri traveled to Lawrence in 2005, Kansas defeated the Tigers 13-3.
Missouri is a 5.5-point favorite with an over/under of 50.5 points.
Can Cutter Boley Pop Off Against the Aggies?
Kentucky transfer Cutter Boley shined for the Sun Devils in his debut at quarterback, completing 21 of 27 attempts for 387 yards and six touchdowns last week vs. Morgan State. They’ll need a similar breakout performance against a tough defense that returns five starters from last year (21.0 points allowed), including primary corner Dezz Ricks (26 tackles, 6 pass breakups in 2025). Boley is also up against returning Aggies QB Marcel Reed, who completed 62% of his passes for 3,169 yards, 25 touchdowns and 12 interceptions last year.
Texas A&M is a 14.5-point favorite with an over/under of 50.5 points.
Devon Dampier Continues Being Devon Dampier
On paper, Utah presents a much deeper football team than Arkansas, but the spread rests at 12.5 points favoring Morgan Scalley and the Utes following a 66-14 trouncing of FCS Idaho last weekend in Salt Lake City. They’ll host Ryan Silverfield and the Razorbacks on Saturday night in one of the final Big 12 matchups of the day.
Devon Dampier will have an interesting QB comparison with KJ Jackson, who threw for 267 yards, three touchdowns and one pick in his first start of 2026, a 31-14 win over North Alabama. I’d expect Utah to outpower Arkansas on the ground and through the air for a key Week 2 win, bumping them inside the top 20 of the AP College Football Top 25 next week.
