The Big 12 hopes to send multiple teams to the College Football Playoff — and Saturday’s marquee matchup could figure prominently in that pursuit.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utes safety Jackson Bennee (23) pulls in a pass intended for Cal Poly before running it in for a touchdown in NCAA football in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.

In 2024, the Big 12 dubbed its final month of the regular season “the race to the Big 12 Championship.” What the campaign lacked in ingenuity, it more than made up for with drama: Nine of the league’s 16 teams were still alive in the conference title race entering the final weekend of the regular season.

That level of parity was a perfect match for the college football sickos who relish unpredictability and elaborate tiebreaker scenarios, but it’s also why the Big 12 sent just one team to the expanded College Football Playoff.

This year, the league tweaked its messaging. It abolished the preseason media poll after Arizona State went from worst to first last season, believing that off-base preseason rankings hurt teams like ASU and BYU from climbing the polls. Commissioner Brett Yormark acknowledged what it will take for the Big 12 to garner more respect within the power-conference hierarchy.

“I fully expect the Big 12 to earn multiple College Football Playoff bids this year and to show once again that we can compete,” Yormark said this summer at Big 12 media days. “We want to earn it on the field.”

It’s still early, but this season looks like a prime opportunity to do so. Through the opening weeks, with conference play set to begin this weekend, the table is set for the Big 12 to send multiple teams to the CFP. And Saturday’s marquee, top-20 Big Noon Kickoff between No. 17 Texas Tech and No. 16 Utah could figure prominently in that pursuit.

Arizona State’s unexpected rise to Big 12 champions last season fueled the conference’s wide-open reputation, but there may already be some tiers forming in 2025. There are three league teams ranked in the AP Top 25 poll, led by No. 12 Iowa State (4-0) and quarterback Rocco Becht with a resume that includes a neutral-site win over Kansas State (which has admittedly been free-falling ever since) and a Big Ten win over in-state rival Iowa. No. 16 Utah (3-0) looks rejuvenated after crashing out in 2024, thanks to a stout offensive line and dual-threat transfer quarterback Devon Dampier. And No. 17 Texas Tech (3-0) has capitalized on its gilded offseason haul in the transfer portal, albeit against some light competition thus far.

BYU and TCU are lurking. Same for Arizona State, Baylor and Kansas at 2-1, with each losing to SEC opponents. One or two would need to emerge and separate from that group to be a true Playoff factor, but the Big 12’s biggest advantage is how things have already unfolded outside the conference walls.

Notre Dame is still clinging to a top-25 ranking, but at 0-2, their Playoff hopes are extremely fragile, down to 20 percent, according to The Athletic’s projection model. Clemson’s situation at 1-2 is even more dismal, with just 12 percent odds in The Athletic’s projections in an underwhelming ACC. Those two programs stalling out of the gates could unlock a couple at-large Playoff spots.

Miami and Florida State are both top-10 at the moment, but their matchup on Oct. 4 might muddy the Playoff waters for the loser. It’s similar in the SEC, where the “It just means more” conference has embraced the Big 12’s parity vibes; there are currently 11 teams in the Top 25, but three of them have already suffered a loss and none feel like juggernauts just yet. There’s at least a decent chance the SEC eats its own down the stretch in a way that makes for fun games and storylines but hampers its number of Playoff contenders.

All of it has dealt the Big 12 a favorable hand, including the fact that Iowa State doesn’t have Utah or Texas Tech on its schedule. It’s why Saturday’s showdown between the Utes and Red Raiders is so critical, providing a path for the winner to make an undefeated run to the conference championship against the potentially unbeaten Cyclones. Iowa State has a 45-percent chance in The Athletic’s Playoff projections; Utah and Texas Tech are both at 33 percent. A win on Saturday for the Utes would bump them to roughly 46 percent, while a Red Raiders victory would boost their odds to 49 percent.

All of these scenarios presume a lot of wins the rest of the way, but any proper college football fan knows that hypothetical games are always undefeated.

Unbeaten Iowa State against unbeaten Utah or Texas Tech for the title is the Big 12’s surest route to putting multiple teams in the Playoff, but it’s not the only one. A power conference with multiple one-loss teams should have a strong argument, considering Notre Dame’s two losses and what could be a clustered SEC race. Meaning even the loser of Texas Tech-Utah is still reasonably in contention — along with all but two of the 16 teams in the Big 12 entering the weekend.

It’s also a long haul to December. Six Big 12 teams kick off league play this weekend, and six more will follow next weekend. A lot can and will happen between now and the conference title game on Dec. 6. Iowa State won’t face Utah or Texas Tech, but it does play BYU, Arizona State and TCU in consecutive weeks. The Utes have Arizona State, BYU and Baylor. Tech gets Kansas, Arizona State and BYU.

Maybe the Sun Devils’ road loss to Mississippi State or the Jayhawks’ road loss to Missouri were hard-fought blips that those teams will overcome. Maybe quarterbacks Sawyer Robertson and Josh Hoover sling themselves into the Heisman conversation and Baylor and TCU, respectively, into the title race. Maybe Houston, Cincinnati or Arizona have improved enough to play spoiler or darkhorse down the stretch, and maybe we’ll all be sitting here in late November marveling yet again at the 10-team scrum still in contention for a league championship, but knowing only one will advance to the CFP.

Regardless, the reality within the current Playoff structure and court of public opinion is that the Big 12 could use a little help to put multiple schools in the 12-team field. The 2025 season is currently propping that door open.

The simplest way for the Big 12 to change the narrative is to earn it on the field. The 2025 season has gifted the league its chance.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.