BYU is now at the head of the class. How far did Utah fall? – Deseret News

There’s a changing of the guard at the top of the Big 12 standings after Texas Tech suffered its first loss of the season, courtesy of Arizona State.

BYU, it’s your turn to take over the No. 1 mantle, after beating rival Utah 24-21 in a matchup of ranked teams.

Chaos is hitting the Big 12 again this season, and it’s making for an entertaining conference race with the final month of the regular season quickly closing in.

Can the Cougars build off their momentous win over the Utes? Last year, BYU stumbled after beating Utah, costing itself a spot in the Big 12 championship game. The Cougars’ upcoming schedule this year is also daunting.

For now, though, BYU fans can revel in being the top dog in the Big 12.

Here’s how the Big 12 stacks up heading into Week 9 of the college football season.

1. BYU Cougars (7-0, 4-0 Big 12)

• Previous ranking: No. 3 (⬆️ 2)
• Last week: Beat No. 23 Utah, 24-21
• Next game: Saturday at Iowa State, 1:30 p.m. MDT (Fox)

There’s a new No. 1 in town, after BYU beat rival Utah and Texas Tech lost to Arizona State.

The Cougars played a cleaner game than the Utes and scored back-to-back fourth-quarter touchdowns to take control against Utah. The clincher was a 22-yard touchdown run from Bear Bachmeier on third-and-11 with 4:22 to play. The Cougars now have three straight wins over the Utes.

The road doesn’t get any easier for BYU, which is now the only remaining undefeated team in the Big 12. The Cougars hit the road for a game at Iowa State, and the Cyclones had a bye week to help heal up and prepare for the matchup.

2. Cincinnati Bearcats (6-1, 4-0 Big 12)

• Previous ranking: No. 4 (⬆️ 2)
• Last week: Beat Oklahoma State, 49-17
• Next game: Saturday vs. Baylor, 2 p.m. MDT (ESPN2)

The Bearcats kept rolling, as they overwhelmed the Cowboys for their sixth-straight win. It’s even more impressive that Cincinnati won in a blowout on the road against a legacy Big 12 program.

There are some challenging games ahead for the Bearcats, which will give them the chance to earn their way into the Big 12 championship game. Fortunately for Cincinnati, three of their next four games are at home, including this weekend against a Baylor team coming off a loss at TCU. The Bearcats have the offensive weapons to run with, and beat, the Bears.

3. Arizona State Sun Devils (5-2, 3-1 Big 12)

• Previous ranking: No. 5 (⬆️ 2)
• Last week: Beat No. 7 Texas Tech, 26-22
• Next game: Saturday vs. Houston, 6 p.m. MDT (ESPN2)

From one week to the next, the outlook changed drastically for Arizona State. Following a 42-10 loss at Utah, the reigning Big 12 champions looked like they needed some real soul searching to stay in the league race. Then the Sun Devils, with quarterback Sam Leavitt back on the field, knocked off the toughest team in the conference, Texas Tech, even rallying late after the Red Raiders came back to take the lead.

These next couple of weeks will be among the most challenging for ASU. The Sun Devils start with hosting a 6-1 Houston team that is vastly improved under second-year coach Willie Fritz, then Arizona State must hit the road to take on Iowa State, another team that was expected to be a contender but lost back-to-back Big 12 games. Win both, and Arizona State is sitting in a good place going into the final few weeks of the season.

4. Texas Tech Red Raiders (6-1, 3-1 Big 12)

• Previous ranking: No. 1 (⬇️ 3)
• Last week: Lost to Arizona State, 26-22
• Next game: Saturday vs. Oklahoma State, 2 p.m. MDT (ESPNU)

For the first time this season, the Red Raiders looked beatable, and Arizona State was able to knock off Texas Tech with a last-minute touchdown after the Red Raiders briefly took the lead. Will Hammond had his struggles while starting in place of Behren Morton at quarterback, though he offered some promise as well. That’s one of a few places where injuries are catching up to Texas Tech right now.

The Red Raiders should be fine this week, with moribund Oklahoma State coming to Lubbock. That’s a perfect get-right game for Texas Tech after its first loss. Following that, the Red Raiders play at Kansas State and host BYU in their toughest remaining games on the schedule. It’s more than manageable, as long as another performance like last Saturday doesn’t occur.

5. Houston Cougars (6-1, 3-1 Big 12)

• Previous ranking: No. 6 (⬆️ 1)
• Last week: Beat Arizona, 31-28
• Next game: Saturday at No. 24 Arizona State, 6 p.m. MDT (ESPN2)

While there have been some surprising teams in the Big 12 over the first half of the season, perhaps none is bigger — in a positive way — than what Houston has done. The Cougars stood tall against Arizona and won on a last-second field goal, and now are bowl eligible.

There are bigger goals that could be achieved as well. The last time Houston faced a ranked opponent, the Cougars were run over by Texas Tech at home. Arizona State provides a litmus test for how close to ready the Cougars are at being a Big 12 contender.

6. Utah Utes (5-2, 2-2 Big 12)

Utah had more total yards than BYU and had its chances to go into Provo and snap its losing streak to the Cougars, but the Utes simply didn’t play clean enough to earn a win.

Utah lost the turnover battle 2-0 and were just 1 of 5 on fourth downs, including two failed attempts inside the 20 and another inside the 30. Convert one or two of those, and this could have easily gone differently.

Now, the Utes find themselves likely needing to win out and getting some help to make the Big 12 title game. As last year’s chaos in the league showed, anything is possible, and Utah has the personnel and a favorable schedule to take care of business, starting Saturday against Colorado. Can the Utes rebound from the emotional loss?

7. TCU Horned Frogs (5-2, 2-2 Big 12)

• Previous ranking: No. 11 (⬆️ 4)
• Last week: Beat Baylor, 42-36
• Next game: Saturday at West Virginia, 4 p.m. MDT (ESPN+)

Don’t look now, but TCU is right in the mix to make a run at a Big 12 championship berth. The Horned Frogs followed the lead of their star quarterback Josh Hoover (three touchdown passes) in holding off Baylor, and in doing so, they stayed in the top half of the league standings.

Can TCU manage a gauntlet of difficult games in November, though? The Horned Frogs finish October with a game at struggling West Virginia, then have a bye before their final month of the regular season goes like this — vs. Iowa State, at BYU, at Houston and vs. Cincinnati. If TCU manages to get itself to the Big 12 title game, the Horned Frogs will have earned it.

8. Iowa State Cyclones (5-2, 2-2 Big 12)

• Previous ranking: No. 8 (no change)
• Last week: Bye
• Next game: Saturday vs. No. 11 BYU, 1:30 p.m. MDT (Fox)

The Cyclones need to regroup, after they lost their first two games of the season prior to last week’s bye. Iowa State was getting banged up at some crucial positions before the bye week, and we’ll see Saturday how that rest paid off.

Iowa State could launch itself right back into the Big 12 conversation with a victory over unbeaten BYU, and back into the top-25 rankings. That’s the first of two straight absolutely critical home games, as the Cyclones host Arizona State the following week.

9. Baylor Bears (4-3, 2-2 Big 12)

• Previous ranking: No. 7 (⬇️ 2)
• Last week: Lost to TCU, 42-36
• Next game: Saturday at No. 21 Cincinnati, 2 p.m. MDT (ESPN2)

At this point, it feels like Baylor just doesn’t quite have the right formula to seriously challenge for the Big 12 crown, though the Bears are going to be competitive every week. Baylor couldn’t keep pace with a hot TCU team last week on the road, and now Baylor, with another loss, is likely out of league contention.

There’s another big test this week, with an afternoon game at Cincinnati, which is on a six-game win streak. The Bears also host Utah and Houston in the final month of the regular season. If Baylor can spring the upset this weekend, it can at least make things interesting in November.

10. Kansas State Wildcats (3-4, 2-2 Big 12)

• Previous ranking: No. 10 (no change)
• Last week: Bye
• Next game: Saturday at Kansas, 10 a.m. MDT (TNT)

Following a disastrous start to the season, Kansas State has looked improved over the past few weeks, before it took a bye last week. The Wildcats’ win over TCU was impressive, though Kansas State couldn’t quite hold its fourth-quarter lead in falling to Baylor by one point.

It leaves open the ever-so-slight possibility for Kansas State to rally and challenge for a spot in the Big 12 championship game in a year where the expectations were high going into the year. Up next is a road tilt against rival Kansas, another team that has had its ups and downs through seven games this season.

11. Arizona Wildcats (4-3, 1-3 Big 12)

1. Previous ranking: No. 9 (⬇️ 2)
2. Last week: Lost to Houston, 31-28
3. Next game: Nov. 1 at Colorado, TBD (TBD)

Arizona has had its chances to win the past two weeks against BYU and Houston, but has come up on the wrong end both times in close matchups. While Arizona has improved over last season, there are some shortcomings Brent Brennan and his staff need to overcome.

Now, the Wildcats get a bye to help sort out some things before they get back into play with a road game against Colorado. Arizona isn’t going to contend for the Big 12 crown, but the Wildcats can go to the postseason if they earn at least two wins in the final month of the regular season.

12. Colorado Buffaloes (3-4, 1-3 Big 12)

• Previous ranking: No. 12 (no change)
• Last week: Bye
• Next game: Saturday at Utah, 8:15 p.m. MDT (ESPN)

The last time we saw Deion Sanders’ group, they had their most impressive effort of the year in knocking Iowa State out of the top 25. That 24-17 Buffaloes victory gave some validation to the thought that Colorado might be better than its record suggests, considering the Buffaloes have two losses to unbeaten teams, Georgia Tech and BYU, by a combined 10 points.

Will the Buffaloes be rusty after a bye week, though? Colorado goes into Salt Lake City facing a Utah team fresh off a devastating loss to rival BYU, and it’s TBD whether the Utes will have a sharpened focus or come in flat after losing to the Cougars. Either way, Colorado needs one of its best efforts of the year to have a chance at the upset against the Utes.

13. Kansas Jayhawks (4-3, 2-2 Big 12)

• Previous ranking: No. 13 (no change)
• Last week: Bye
• Next game: Saturday vs. Kansas State, 10 a.m. MDT (TNT)

Kansas feels like a handful of other Big 12 teams: the Jayhawks are good enough to make things interesting for a while against some of the upper-tier teams in the league, but are lacking the consistency to make a real run in the conference.

Jalon Daniels is enjoying a bounce-back year following a trying 2024 season, and the Jayhawks could make things interesting if they win their next three games — vs. Kansas State, vs. Oklahoma State and at Arizona — before finishing the year at Iowa State and at home against Utah. Their recent history, though, suggests Kansas loses at least a couple more times.

14. UCF Knights (4-3, 1-3 Big 12)

• Previous ranking: No. 14 (no change)
• Last week: Beat West Virginia, 45-13
• Next game: Nov. 1 at Baylor, TBD (TBD)

UCF picked up its first win in Big 12 action by steamrolling West Virginia at home. The Knights have shown that they can handle beating the bad teams on their schedule, and with relative ease.

Are there two more wins on UCF’s remaining schedule, though? If so, the Knights would get themselves bowl eligible for the first time as a Big 12 member. UCF has home games against Houston and Oklahoma State, while it still must travel to Baylor, Texas Tech and BYU. That’s a tough group remaining on the schedule.

15. West Virginia Mountaineers (2-5, 0-4 Big 12)

• Previous ranking: No. 15 (no change)
• Last week: Lost to UCF, 45-13
• Next game: Saturday vs. TCU, 4 p.m. MDT (ESPN+)

With West Virginia on a four-game losing streak, it’s fair to wonder whether the Mountaineers will win another game this season. UCF easily handled the Mountaineers in a matchup of two bottom-tier teams in the Big 12 last week.

The schedule doesn’t ease up for West Virginia, either. The Mountaineers still have TCU, Colorado and Texas Tech at home, as well as Houston and Arizona State on the road. That’s a lot of upper-tier Big 12 teams remaining.

16. Oklahoma State Cowboys (1-6, 0-4 Big 12)

• Previous ranking: No. 16 (no change)
• Last week: Lost to No. 24 Cincinnati, 49-17
• Next game: Saturday at No. 14 Texas Tech, 2 p.m. MDT (ESPNU)

The struggles continued for Oklahoma State last week, and given the coaching situation, that’s going to be the reality through the remainder of the season. Cincinnati scored 21 points in the second quarter to build an insurmountable lead in taking down Oklahoma State.

Is there a win for the Cowboys anywhere the rest of the regular season? The most likely scenario seems to be a road contest at UCF on Nov. 22, and even then, Oklahoma State is a big underdog in ESPN’s Football Power Index. It doesn’t help that the Cowboys play three of their final five games away from home.