We got some real clarity in the Big 12 on Saturday. Houston fell out of the top tier of the Big 12 title race, while Utah established that it is a playoff-caliber team, despite long Big 12 championship game odds. 

Oh, and Texas Tech with a healthy Behren Morton at quarterback still looks like the best team in the league, though they’ll have to prove it against unbeaten BYU next week. 

Speaking of that, here are my five biggest takeaways from week ten of Big 12 football.

Biggest Week in (New) Big 12 History

The Big 12 got what it wanted on Saturday. Texas Tech took care of business at K-State, setting up a monster showdown between the Red Raiders and BYU this week. 

After the game in Manhattan went final, College Gameday almost instantly announced it would be heading to Lubbock for the first time since 2008. 

Here’s what it looked like the last time they were there. 

The Big 12 hasn’t had a matchup like this in the two-plus years since the first wave of new members joined the conference—at least not one that didn’t involve Texas and Oklahoma. Gameday did go to the Red River Rivalry in 2023 while the Longhorns and Sooners were on their way out. 

It’s no charity case, either. BYU-Texas Tech is the only top-ten matchup in the country next week. ACC favorites Miami and Georgia Tech were both upset on Saturday, which paved the way for the Cougars and Red Raiders to enter the top ten. 

Forget LSU-Alabama, Texas A&M-Missouri, or Indiana-Penn State. All eyes are on the Big 12. Maybe you could argue that Gameday going to Cincinnati-Utah was a stretch to do the Big 12 a favor. You can’t do that for Gameday’s trip to Lubbock. 

It’s also notable that the game is being shown on ABC. That hasn’t happened for a Big 12 game in two years. The network should give the Big 12 a significant ratings boost—19 of the 27 games this season with over five million viewers have been ABC games. 

With 16-team leagues now the norm, scheduling balance is tricky. But it’s worked out beautifully for the Big 12 this year. BYU, Texas Tech, Utah, and Cincinnati look like the league’s four best teams, and nearly all of them face each other this season. Even SEC country is taking notice of the heavyweight matchups.

National attention like this is rarified air for a league that routinely gets mocked by the SEC and Big Ten. Now, the Big 12 and two of the most passionate fan bases in the country get to bask in the spotlight all week.

BYU waited decades to join a power conference, and the Cougars are finally here and thriving. For Tech fans, the wait for a season like this has spanned almost twenty years. 

Both fan bases deserve this moment. 

Texas Tech Needs Behren Morton

I was at the Texas Tech–K-State game in Manhattan on Saturday, and I left convinced that with competent quarterback play, the Red Raiders are still the league’s best team.

That’s how vital QB Behren Morton is. Will Hammond flashed talent but lacked the consistency and stability Morton provides. Morton shook off some rust after missing two games, throwing for 249 yards and two touchdowns, plenty with the one-two punch of Cameron Dickey and J’Koby Williams in the backfield.

This game felt a lot like the Utah game in Salt Lake City. K-State was pretty competitive for three quarters, but the Red Raiders eventually broke them with their advantage at the line of scrimmage and ball-hawking linebacker Jacob Rodriguez. Rodrigeuz has now forced an NCAA-leading seven fumbles this season.  

Once the Wildcats trailed by multiple scores, Tech’s pass rush pinned its ears back and blew the game open. The Red Raiders finished with five turnovers forced, 12 tackles for loss, and two sacks. 

Game script matters against Tech. Arizona State beat them by playing from ahead while Hammond struggled. BYU has fallen into multiple early holes in Big 12 road games. Doing that in Lubbock next week would be fatal.

Utah is a Playoff-Caliber Team

I questioned why Utah was a 9.5-point favorite over Cincinnati on Saturday. The computers and their power ratings, which Vegas abides by, love the Utes because of their slew of blowout wins. 

I now bow to my electronic overlords. 

Utah waxed the Bearcats by 31. The Utes’ average margin of victory in seven wins this season to 36 points per game. Believe it or not, 31 points is actually the smallest margin of victory for the Utes in a Big 12 game this season. 

Utah got great balance from its offense on Saturday night as QB Devon Dampier easily outplayed Cincy QB Brendan Sorsby. Dampier had 291 total yards and two touchdowns, while Sorsby completed just 33% of his passes and turned it over more times in the game (2) than he had all season (1). 

The Utes also had the special teams edge, thanks in large part to a dazzling punt return touchdown from Mana Carvalho. 

I know it sounds crazy, but Utah is ranked sixth in the country in Bill Connelly’s SP+ rankings, and the Utes have better national championship odds than BYU right now. 

After jumping seven spots in the AP poll to #17 this week, I do think Utah has an outside chance to snag an at-large playoff bid if there’s enough chaos in front of them. 

Houston Wasn’t Ready For the Spotlight

I hate to say I told you so, but I did voice concerns about how Houston would handle West Virginia coming off the biggest win of the Willie Fritz era. 

The Mountaineers punched the Cougars in the mouth with back-to-back touchdown drives to start the game, never faded, and used a pick-six of Houston QB Conner Weigman to grab firm control of the game. 

It was a sloppy day all around for Houston. The Cougars turned it over four times, and it could have been worse. They recovered three of their own fumbles in the game. 

West Virginia ran all over a defense that had been one of the Big 12’s best against the run. Three Mountaineers topped 65 rushing yards, including freshman QB Scotty Fox Jr., who’s now delivered back-to-back strong outings.

The loss is a massive blow to the Cougars’ Big 12 title chances. They will need plenty of help to be in the mix with two conference losses. 

No matter what happens the rest of the way, this season has been a significant step forward for Fritz’s program, but the West Virginia loss serves as a difficult lesson learned for a program on the rise. 

Jeff Sims is a Warrior

One of the best sights of the entire college football Saturday was Arizona State quarterback Jeff Sims hugging his parents after a Herculean performance against Iowa State. 

Sims, now in his sixth college season, stayed at ASU knowing he’d open as Sam Leavitt’s backup again. But with Leavitt now out for the year, Sims stepped in and kept the Sun Devils’ Big 12 title hopes alive with 228 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

In the NIL and transfer-portal era, it’s rare to see a veteran stay put for the team. Sims did and delivered. 

Unfortunately, injuries have been the story of ASU’s season so far. The team was built around the electric combination of Leavitt and WR Jordyn Tyson, both of whom have now missed multiple games.

It’s still entirely possible that the Sun Devils could beat West Virginia, Colorado, and Arizona with Sims if some of the supporting cast can heal up. 

They’ll have plenty of time to do that over their upcoming bye week. Head coach Kenny Dillingham says he’s giving the team the entire week off because they’re so beat up. 

ASU needs help to defend its Big 12 championship, but the Sun Devils aren’t going down without a fight.

What You Need to Know

• Here’s a great flowchart from KSL’s Josh Furlong showing Big 12 championship game possibilities based on the outcomes of every remaining game. 

• This tweet also outlines the paths to the Big 12 championship game for the top five teams in the league. 

• Arizona smashed Colorado 52-17 in Boulder on Saturday. It’s the second straight week that the Buffs have lost by at least five touchdowns. Head coach Deion Sanders says he knows what the problem is. 

• This is the wildest graphic from the college football weekend. The Miami and Georgia Tech losses really helped the Big 12. 

• Take a deep dive into why this is the Big 12’s biggest week ever in my latest YouTube live stream. You can also find the Open For Business Big 12 podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify (or wherever you listen to podcasts).

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