{"id":901045,"date":"2026-10-31T12:28:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T12:28:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/901045\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T12:28:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T12:28:20","slug":"six-contenders-chase-a-big-12-title-with-five-weeks-left-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/901045\/","title":{"rendered":"Six contenders chase a Big 12 title with five weeks left \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

With five weeks left in the regular season, there are five Big 12 teams within one game of the league lead and another just a half-game back of that.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s not as wide-open as the SEC race this season, the Big 12 could see a number of different scenarios play out in determining the two participants for this year\u2019s Big 12 championship game.<\/p>\n

No. 6 Utah sits alone at the top with a 4-0 league mark \u2014 and 7-0 overall \u2014 while No. 8 BYU, No. 13 Texas Tech, No. 22 Arizona and No. 24 Oklahoma State all have just one conference loss and are 3-1.<\/p>\n

Just behind them is No. 18 Houston, which is 3-2.<\/p>\n

The remaining schedules for each of these teams aren\u2019t created equal, either, with each school facing only nine conference opponents each year in the 16-team league.<\/p>\n

How will that impact the league race?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how I would rank the remaining schedules for each of these six teams, in terms of difficulty, from easiest to hardest. <\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean teams with harder schedules won\u2019t reach the Big 12 championship game, it\u2019s just that the remaining path is tougher than the other contenders.<\/p>\n

\"\"Houston Cougars wide receiver Koby Young (2) escapes a tackle during a game against Utah at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News Ranking the most difficult remaining schedules of Big 12 contenders, from easiest to toughestNo. 18 Houston Cougars (6-2, 3-2 Big 12)<\/p>\n

Remaining games<\/p>\n

Nov. 7 \u2014 vs. CincinnatiNov. 13 \u2014 at ColoradoNov. 21 \u2014 at West VirginiaNov. 28\u00a0\u2014 vs. Baylor<\/p>\n

The Cougars will be on a bye this weekend, but after that, they are heavy favorites \u2014 according to ESPN Analytics \u2014 to win each of their final four games. Houston\u2019s two conference losses are by a combined 10 points, to Texas Tech and Utah, and in both of those games, they held a double-digit lead at one point. If three or more teams finish tied for second in the league with a 7-2 record, including Houston, the Cougars have some favorable tiebreakers to make the Big 12 title game.<\/p>\n

No. 24 Oklahoma State Cowboys (5-2, 3-1 Big 12)<\/p>\n

Remaining games<\/p>\n

Saturday \u2014 at Iowa StateNov. 7 \u2014 at Kansas StateNov. 14 \u2014\u00a0vs. No. 13 Texas TechNov. 21 \u2014 at Arizona StateNov. 28 \u2014 vs. Kansas<\/p>\n

Oklahoma State\u2019s only conference loss was by three points at Houston, and while three of the Cowboys\u2019 final five games are on the road, they are favored in each, according to ESPN Analytics. The biggest game remaining \u2014 and one that is likely to heavily impact the conference race \u2014 comes Nov. 14, when Oklahoma State hosts defending Big 12 champion Texas Tech.<\/p>\n

\"\"Central Florida running back Landen Chambers (11) runs for a two-yard touchdown in front of BYU safety Raider Damuni (3) during game, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. | AP Photo\/Phelan M. Ebenhack No. 8 BYU Cougars (6-1, 3-1 Big 12)<\/p>\n

Remaining games<\/p>\n

Saturday \u2014 vs. Arizona StateNov. 7 \u2014 at No. 6 UtahNov. 14 \u2014 vs. BaylorNov. 21 \u2014 at KansasNov. 28 \u2014 vs. Cincinnati<\/p>\n

Of BYU\u2019s final five games, three of them will be played at LaVell Edwards Stadium, and in all three of them \u2014 plus their road game at Kansas \u2014 the Cougars are heavy favorites in ESPN\u2019s metrics. BYU\u2019s rivalry matchup with Utah at Rice-Eccles Stadium is setting up to be not only the premier Big 12 game of the year \u2014 with the winner likely to make the Big 12 championship game \u2014 but one of college football\u2019s top matchups this season.<\/p>\n

No. 13 Texas Tech Red Raiders (6-1, 3-1 Big 12)<\/p>\n

Remaining games<\/p>\n

Saturday \u2014 vs. No. 22 ArizonaNov. 7 \u2014\u00a0vs. West VirginiaNov. 14 \u2014 at No. 24 Oklahoma StateNov. 21 \u2014 at BaylorNov. 26 \u2014\u00a0vs. TCU<\/p>\n

Through the first half of the season, Texas Tech only played one ranked team, beating Houston by two back in September. Over the final five weeks, they could face two ranked opponents \u2014 that includes a home matchup this weekend against Arizona, which has won five straight games, and a mid-November trip to Oklahoma State. Can the Red Raiders manufacture enough offense to beat both of these teams?<\/p>\n

\"\"Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita (1), middle, during game against Iowa State Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Tucson, Ariz. | Darryl Webb, Associated Press No. 22 Arizona Wildcats (6-1, 3-1 Big 12)<\/p>\n

Remaining games<\/p>\n

Saturday \u2014 at No. 13 Texas TechNov. 6 \u2014 vs. TCUNov. 14 \u2014 vs. No. 6 UtahNov. 21 \u2014\u00a0at Kansas StateNov. 28 \u2014 vs. Arizona State<\/p>\n

Like Texas Tech, the Wildcats have two remaining games against top-25 competition. No Big 12 team has beaten the Red Raiders in Lubbock since Nov. 9, 2024, but Arizona will try to break that streak this weekend. The Wildcats haven\u2019t lost since they fell at BYU in their conference opener, and in that game, Arizona held a halftime lead and had a chance to take a fourth-quarter lead. The Wildcats also get No. 6 Utah at home in mid-November, when both teams could be playing for a spot in the Big 12 championship game, and Arizona has three of its final five games at home.<\/p>\n

No. 6 Utah Utes (7-0, 4-0 Big 12)<\/p>\n

Remaining games<\/p>\n

Saturday \u2014 at CincinnatiNov. 7 \u2014 vs. No. 8 BYUNov. 14 \u2014 at No. 22 ArizonaNov. 21 \u2014 at TCUNov. 27 \u2014 vs. West Virginia<\/p>\n

Of the six primary contenders for a Big 12 championship game spot, the Utes have the toughest stretch. They play on the road three of the next four games, and that includes traveling to Cincinnati this weekend, hosting No. 8 BYU the week after that, and hitting the road again to face No. 22 Arizona. While ESPN Analytics has the Utes as the favorites in each of their final five games, this upcoming stretch will determine just how important Utah\u2019s final two games will be in the Big 12 chase \u2014 though Morgan Scalley\u2019s squad is undefeated and has met every challenge thus far in 2026.<\/p>\n

Other teams to monitor<\/p>\n

There are four other teams \u2014 Arizona State, Baylor, Cincinnati and UCF \u2014 that all currently have 2-2 records in Big 12 play.<\/p>\n

The Bearcats and Knights, in particular, are worth keeping an eye on, especially after both knocked off top-10 teams last weekend.<\/p>\n

UCF, which upset then-No. 2 BYU last weekend, is favored in four of its final five games and no longer has any ranked teams left on its schedule. The Knights could factor into the race if they finish strong, most likely in tiebreaker scenarios for other teams.<\/p>\n

Cincinnati has arguably the toughest final five games of any team in the Big 12, with a home matchup this week against No. 6 Utah and road games at No. 18 Houston and No. 8 BYU remaining. If Cincinnati can play spoiler, like it did last week in a 37-24 win over Texas Tech, the Bearcats are likely to impact the Big 12 race.<\/p>\n

\"\"Texas Tech running back Quinten Joyner (0) runs with the ball during game against Cincinnati, Saturday, Oct. 24 2026, in Cincinnati. | Lydia Schembre, Associated Press <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With five weeks left in the regular season, there are five Big 12 teams within one game of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":901046,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,398,396,397,8793,99],"class_list":["post-901045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-football","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-news-feed-national","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=901045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/901046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=901045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=901045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=901045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}