Four weeks into the 2026 college football season, we’re starting to get a much clearer picture of the Big 12, although Week 4 gave us plenty of reasons to rethink the pecking order.
Utah delivered one of the conference’s biggest statements by going into Ames and beating Iowa State 31-17, while Cincinnati improved to 4-0 with an impressive 31-26 win over Kansas State. Oklahoma State finally snapped its 18-game Big 12 losing streak with a 41-24 win at West Virginia, and UCF surprised TCU in Orlando. Meanwhile, Texas Tech handled Sam Houston State, Baylor knocked off Colorado, Houston won on the road at Georgia Southern and Arizona rallied for a win at Washington State.
As always, these rankings are based on what each team has accomplished on the field so far this season. They are not a projection of where I believe teams will finish, nor are they necessarily a ranking of which teams I think are the most talented. Results, opponent quality and how a team has actually performed matter most.
So, after another weekend that shook up the conference, here are the Heartland College Sports Big 12 Football Power Rankings after Week 4..
1. Utah Utes (Last Week: No. 4)
The Utah Utes get the nod for the top spot this week. They have an extra data point over BYU and have dominated their opponents, including a double-digit win in Ames this weekend, which is never an easy place to play. They don’t have the best wins in the Big 12 (that nod goes to Oklahoma State), but they’ve been the most consistent, and they are 4-0 on the season, with a Big 12 and SEC win.
2. Oklahoma State Cowboys (Last Week: No. 5)
The Cowboys are fresh off a great win over the West Virginia Mountaineers in Morgantown. If not for the Tulsa loss, this team would be No. 1. Arkansas, who got smoked by Utah, just beat Tulsa 34-6, so it’s hard, based on the current resumes, to put OSU ahead of Utah. But with wins over Oregon and in Morgantown, those two wins are far more impressive than any other two wins for any team in this league right now.
3. BYU Cougars (Last Week: No. 1)
The BYU Cougars had the week off, and while they’re one data point short compared to much of the Big 12, so I’m moving them down one slot. Arizona hasn’t looked great since BYU had to come back to win that game, and Colorado State, who BYU beat last week, just lost to UTSA.
4. Texas Tech Red Raiders (Last Week: 2)
The Red Raiders slide down two slots due to another game where this team just didn’t look like it was close to meeting its talent potential. They beat Sam Houston State by a big margin, but this game was a slop-fest all around, with several turnovers and mistakes. Joey McGuire will bet he first to admit he needs to clean things up with Big 12 play here in full swing. If he doesn’t, this team won’t come close to a Big 12 Championship, nevermind a CFP appearance.
5. West Virginia Mountaineers (Last Week: No. 3)
The Mountaineers held a lead at home in the second half against Oklahoma State, but then it’s defense completely collapsed against Drew Mestemaker and the Cowboys offense. This team isn’t built to play from behind. They need to control the ball, the clock and use the running game to be their most effective. That was evident on Saturday. And that defense really needs to pick up if WVU wants to keep in contention this season.
No. 6: Cincinnati Bearcats (Last Week: No. 12)
What a great win for the Bearcats, who pulled off a solid upset over Kansas State. As I said on our YouTube Week 4 Reaction Show (subscribe with thousands of other Big 12 fans here!), Cincinnati out-Kansas-Stated Kansas State. They were tougher and better on both lines, and if this program can keep that up… watch out. They may be a surprise team in the league this fall.
No. 7: Houston Cougars (Last Week: No. 7)
The Cougars took care of business vs. Georgia Southern. It wasn’t their best performance, but they got out with a win, and there’s no reason to dock them over it, especially based on what happened below them.
No. 8: Kansas State Wildcats (Last Week: No. 6)
Kansas State drops a couple of spots after going on the road and losing to Cincinnati as a 7-point favorite. The Cats were out-muscled by Cincinnati, which I admit I didn’t see coming, at least not on both sides of the ball. And teams are basically going to force Avery Johnson to beat them through the air, which when combined with an inconsistent wide receiving corps, may be a way to beat the Cats this season.
No. 9: Arizona Wildcats (Last Week: No. 10)
Arizona climbs one spot this week after a Pac-12 win over Washington State. However, it’s the second-straight week that the Wildcats got off to a slow start against lesser competition. They can’t afford that next weekend when they hit the host the Cincinnati Bearcats.
No. 10: Arizona State Sun Devils (Last Week: No. 8)
Arizona State enjoyed an off week after winning vs. Kansas in London. Now, we get set for a showdown vs. 1-0 Baylor next weekend in a match up of two underrated Big 12 defenses, and two underrated (so far) Big 12 quarterbacks.
No. 11: Baylor Bears (Last Week: No. 13)
Baylor continues to move up after a 10-point win over Colorado. The defense was the star of the game, and DJ Lagway was back at quarterback. This team will go as far as the defense takes it, and we’ll see if that’s to a 2-0 Big 12 start vs. Arizona State this weekend.
No. 12: UCF Knights (Last Week: No. 14)
The Knights were home underdogs vs. TCU, and they got the job done with a 21-13 upset, led by a standout defense, notably all the line of scrimmage. The offense sputtered much of this game, but it was the defense that kept forcing TCU into punts or turnovers, and eventually allowed UCF to get some points on the board. Kudos to Alex Grinch and his side of the ball.
No. 13: Colorado Buffaloes (Last Week: No. 11)
Colorado falls to No. 14. Yeah, the last two weeks have been brutal, but they still have an ACC win under their belts from Week 1, even though that feels like last season at this point. But you can’t take that off their resume. However, if this season is going to avoid a rapid downward spiral, they need to give Texas Tech everything it can handle this weekend. Good luck,.
No. 14: Iowa State Cyclones (Last Week: No. 10)
Iowa State got off to a slow start vs. Utah and kept trying to dig out of their hole. But this team, like West Virginia, is not built to play from behind. At this point, Iowa State’s wins are SEMO and Bowling Green. Even though they’ve had moments in their losses, I can’t put them higher.
No. 15: Kansas Jayhawks (Last Week: No. 15)
Kansas is 1-2 after losses to Missouri and Arizona State, and the Jayhawks enjoyed a bye week this past Saturday. But for now, their lone win is LIU. But they avoid the No. 16 spot because, on paper, they outgained, and arguably outplayed Arizona State in London. But costly mistakes did them in.
No. 16: TCU Horned Frogs (Last Week: No. 14)
TCU is back in the basement after a brutal game at UCF where the offense was back to looking as incompetent as it did vs. UNC in Week 0. Kudos to UCF’s defense, but this was an inexcusable performance from Sonny Dykes and new OC Gordon Sammis, who is not exactly endearing himself to the Fort Worth Faithful.
