Week two in the Big 12 is in the books. Here are my top five takeaways from a very up-and-down week across the league.

1. Arizona State’s Loss Really Hurts the League

I circled Arizona State at Mississippi State months ago as one of the absolute most important Big 12 games of the year. It was a classic high-risk, low-reward matchup: beat the SEC’s worst team and nobody notices; lose to them, and the entire conference wears it.

Unfortunately, the latter happened.

Playing in Starkville at night early in the season is no picnic, especially for a Sun Devils team still adjusting to life without Cam Skattebo. 

The game nearly turned into a great story of resilience for Kenny Dillingham’s team. Down 17–0 and held under 100 yards in the first half, ASU clawed back with 17 unanswered points, then drove to the Mississippi State 3-yard line in the final two minutes. After three straight stuffed runs, Dillingham opted for a field goal to go up 20–17.

Then disaster struck. A blown coverage allowed a 58-yard touchdown with 30 seconds left. Mississippi State won 24–20.

Even Mississippi State QB Blake Shapen admitted he couldn’t believe it:

“There was nobody there. Very surprising, I didn’t expect that to happen.”

An SEC at-large hopeful could easily shake off a loss in Starkville. The Big 12 won’t get the same benefit of the doubt. This one will hang over the league if an at-large playoff case needs to be made in November.

There was another close call in Columbia, Missouri. 

Kansas jumped out to a 21-6 lead over Mizzou, and still held a four-point lead with under seven minutes left, with the Tigers facing fourth and seven. One more stop, and KU likely comes away with a massive win for the conference. 

Unfortunately, Missouri converted and scored to take the lead. KU receiver Emmanuel Henderson had a crucial third-down drop on the ensuing drive, and Lance Leipold foolishly punted on fourth down. 

Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, and the Big 12 was close to coming through twice against the SEC on Saturday.

2. Sawyer Robertson is a Dawg, As the Kids Say

Baylor provided some redemption. The Bears stormed back from 38–24 down with under five minutes left to stun SMU 48–45 in double OT.

Quarterback Sawyer Robertson was electric: 440 yards, four touchdowns, zero interceptions. He followed up a 419-yard outing against Auburn and is now earning real Heisman chatter.

He’s also the first Big 12 quarterback since Patrick Mahomes in 2016 to throw for 400+ yards in each of the first two games of the season.

Baylor’s defense still has plenty of issues, but Robertson is doing everything he can to make Baylor a legitimate playoff and Big 12 title contender.

It also marked the second straight season the Big 12 has won at SMU (BYU did it last year), a fun wrinkle given SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee’s “top three conference” boast about the ACC this summer.

3. Iowa State is the Best Program in the State

Imagine being an Iowa State fan right now.

The Cyclones have top-tier head coaches in football and men’s basketball locked down. They already have wins over their two rivals, K-State and Iowa, and we’re barely over a week into September. And for the first time in a generation, Iowa State has a better football program than both of them. 

The Cyclones have won five of the last six against K-State, and their current season is obviously much better than whatever you call what the Wildcats have put together in 2025. 

ISU has also won two straight and three of four against the Hawkeyes. The Cyclones are busy making conference championship games, while Iowa is floundering in hollow eight-win seasons and a perpetually memeable offense.

There’s no denying that head coach Matt Campbell has one of the Big 12’s best programs, and it wasn’t that long ago that he was taking friendly fire from his own fan base after losing at Ohio (there’s hope, Mountaineers). 

Saturday’s 16-13 CyHawk win was a program win. The Cyclones had to grind it out with toughness, but it was abundantly clear throughout that they were the superior side. 

To the victor go the spoils, and Iowa State fans deserve to revel in the golden age of Cyclones athletics. 

4. K-State Could be 2024 Oklahoma State

On the flip side of Farmageddon, K-State’s season already feels cursed.

The Wildcats’ 24-21 loss to Army was undeniably weird and a little bit fluky. 

The Black Knights had the ball for 27 of 30 minutes in the second half. K-State ran only 13 second-half plays. The Wildcats’ defense was on the field for 45 straight plays because of a kickoff return touchdown and the most miraculous squib kick (or do we consider this an onside kick?) you’ll ever see. 

But excuses only go so far when you’re already 1-2 with a loss to a rival and a near-loss to a 5-7 FCS team. 

There is a staggering list of setbacks and drama so far this season for the Wildcats.

• Starting LT George Fitzpatrick hasn’t played all season because of a heat-related incident in summer workouts.

• Star defensive end Ryan Davis suffered an injury in fall camp that’s kept him out of the first three games. 

• Star running back Dylan Edwards was injured on his first snap of the season. 

• K-State lost for the fifth time in six years to Iowa State in Dublin. 

• Quarterback Avery Johnson’s father and brother got in a public fight after the Iowa State game. 

• Edwards called out fans and people close to him for doubting his injury in a since-deleted tweet.  

• The Wildcats needed a last-minute drive to survive North Dakota. 

• Army beats K-State. 

• Starting receiver JB Bradley, a rare bright spot this year, was injured while catching a TD pass that was overturned. He’s out for multiple weeks.

Chris Klieman keeps pointing to circumstances, but at some point, you just need to go win a damn game.

This team has no toughness or grit to it. They have plenty of skill, but there are no alphas on the roster.

Now, the Wildcats have a short turnaround for a Friday night game at Arizona, where they’re slight underdogs. 

Can an already fragile locker room survive another loss? The possibility of this team turning into 2024 Oklahoma State or Florida State is absolutely on the table. 

5. It Feels Like It’s Over for Mike Gundy

Oklahoma State’s 69–3 loss at Oregon felt like the end of an era.

The Ducks scored on their second snap, and by halftime had more touchdowns (6) than OSU had first downs (5). Oregon beat down the Cowboys like they were a bad FCS team. 

Watching this game reminded me of the feeling I had watching Bill Snyder’s 2018 team give up 700 yards of offense to Kyler Murray and Oklahoma. I knew it was over at that moment. 

Gundy has survived plenty before, but this feels different. He’s coming off a winless Big 12 season, had to take a pay cut to keep his job, and now has two 52+ point losses in his last three games.

Making matters worse, he openly admitted last week that OSU has lagged badly in NIL investment. That’s not a badge of honor in 2025; it’s a death sentence. 

Athletic director Chad Weiberg is in a tough spot. Gundy is synonymous with Oklahoma State football, but continuing down this road risks burying the program at the absolute worst possible time.

What You Need to Know

• I love this Big 12 tiers list from the Gamblin’ Gauchos. Utah, Iowa State, and TCU are the clear top three based on resume so far, but Texas Tech and BYU aren’t far behind.

• Texas Tech mega-booster Cody Campbell is sparring with the SEC over the SCORE Act. He says it doesn’t go far enough, while the SEC insists every Division I conference supports it.

• Brutal blow for WVU: star RB Jahiem White is out for the season after being injured against Ohio.

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