BYU’s upset win over Notre Dame has fundamentally shifted the College Football Playoff landscape for the Big 12. With the Cougars’ win (along with continued chaos in the Big Ten and SEC), the league has suddenly found itself with the potential to send 3 or 4 teams to the CFP this winter. With the stakes suddenly raised, here’s where the Big 12 sits entering Week 8:

16. Kansas

The Jayhawks played three quarters of tough, competitive football against in-state rival Kansas State on Saturday. In the fourth quarter, the offense fell apart. Quarterback Isaiah Marshall was inefficient and the Kansas defense couldn’t stop the run down the stretch. With their easiest three-game stretch of the season on the horizon, the Jayhawks have their three best opportunities for a Big 12 win. They’ll need to put a complete game together to find that victory in the coming weeks.

15. Colorado

Colorado was competitive on Saturday. That’s the best that the Buffaloes have been able to say after a game since week 3. They were strong in the trenches and their defense backed up a good game against Baylor with another strong performance. The Utes are an excellent team, and if Colorado plays like that against the bottom half of the Big 12, the Buffaloes will have plenty of winnable games in the second half of their schedule.

14. UCF

The Knights were on bye this week.

13. Arizona State

Cutter Boley was replaced at halftime on Saturday, and quarterback Mikey Keene had a solid day in his stead, throwing 2 touchdowns to 0 interceptions. That’s about the closest thing to a positive the Sun Devils can take from their loss to the Red Raiders on Saturday, as the Arizona State defense was ripped to shreds in the first half. Arizona State has plenty of questions to answer ahead of their battle with Kansas State next week, and those questions start with who the Sun Devils will start at quarterback on Saturday.

12. Baylor

Baylor didn’t have an offense on Saturday. Sometimes that happens in rivalry games, as football turns into a messy rock fight. DJ Lagway’s weak performance, though, wasn’t unique. He’s had a couple of these games throughout this season and his career. If he plays his best football, the Bears can compete with anyone. When Lagway plays the way he did on Saturday, Baylor can lose to anyone.

11. TCU

TCU’s defense came to play on Saturday. They held Baylor quarterback DJ Lagway below 5 yards per passing attempt while holding the Bear run game below 2 yards per carry. That’s how you break a rival’s back. Jaden Craig had his best game of the year, passing for 294 yards and 2 touchdowns. If TCU plays like this every week, they’ll continue to climb through the ranks of the Big 12. They need to show that this wasn’t a blip against a rival to earn any further rise.

10. Kansas State

Quarterback Avery Johnson had a solid bounceback game in the Wildcats’ rivalry win over Kansas, passing for 209 passing yards and a touchdown while protecting the football on Saturday. Thanks to 7 yards per carry from the Wildcat run game, including 159 yards from running back Joe Jackson and 132 from Johnson himself, that performance was enough to lift Kansas State to victory. The Wildcats have a 2-game road trip on the way against a pair of opponents that they should beat on paper, representing an opportunity to return to Manhattan with bowl eligibility in hand.

9. Cincinnati

Cincy’s offense was great, the defense wasn’t. That’s about how every game goes for the team on the other side of West Virginia. The Bearcats allowed a 24-point Mountaineer 4th quarter, surrendering a 13-point lead entering the final period. JC French and Cole Tabb were elite on Saturday, and few defenses in the country could have stopped Michael Hawkins on Saturday, but the Bearcat defense needs to come up with more plays in big moments as Cincinnati enters one of the toughest stretches of schedule for any team in the country this year against Texas Tech, Utah and Houston.

8. West Virginia

Michael Hawkins came out and had the game of his career on Saturday, slinging the ball for 464 passing yards and 3 touchdowns against Cincinnati. In spite of the Mountaineers’ least efficient game of the year on the ground, Hawkins maintained the elite level of play that West Virginia’s offense has showcased throughout the year. West Virginia marks a return to the Big 12 football of the early 2010s: ridiculous offense, no defense in sight. It’s a fun brand of football, but its limits were shown throughout the 4-team CFP era, when those elite offensive teams struggled against physical defenses from other leagues. With a more balanced Big 12 than that of the 2010s, the playstyle has more national upside, as the Mountaineers will have to go through the likes of BYU, Utah and Texas Tech and test themselves against strong defenses to have any hopes of reaching the CFP in future years, but it also provides them  with a stark weakness to those teams in conference play.

7. Iowa State

The Cyclones were on bye this week.

6. Oklahoma State

The Cowboys continued their hot streak with a potent performance against Houston, but their comeback falling short may have ended their CFP hopes. While their loss to Tulsa was clearly a flash in the pan, it remains on their record, and with a second loss now in the books, the Cowboys no longer have the 2024 Notre Dame comparison to lean on. Despite that, though, the Cowboys remain an excellent team. Fans in Stillwater will have plenty to celebrate the rest of this year and in years to come after the depths they reached in 2025.

5. Arizona

The Wildcats were on bye this week.

4. Houston

Connor Weigman should be getting way more Heisman hype than he is right now. A 5-touchdown game for the Cougar quarterback fueled a thrilling Houston win over a surging Oklahoma State team, holding off the Cowboys’ comeback. Weigman provides upside for the Cougars to beat any and every team in the country, and that upside will be tested on Saturday when they take on Utah in a battle that could end up determining a trip to the Big 12 title game or even the CFP.

3. Texas Tech

Texas Tech’s offense finally looked like the group the Red Raiders expected at the beginning of the year. 5 offensive touchdowns and 4 field goals highlighted a day in which Texas Tech averaged 9 yards per pass and 7 yards per rush. A fast-paced game allowed Arizona State to collect 25 points over the course of the day, but the Red Raider defense has shown its upside every single week. This kind of offense is what they’ll need to compete for a Big 12 title and a return to the CFP.

2. Utah

An ugly win is a win, but that doesn’t change how ugly Saturday was for Utah. The Utes got away with a bad game against Colorado on Saturday, particularly on offense, but they can’t afford the mistakes they had in Week 7 against Houston this week. Saturday’s matchup will be critical in determining who will head to Arlington for the Big 12 title game in December. Will Utah get complacent that a subpar performance against the Buffaloes was enough to win, or will their struggles fuel growth ahead of their battle with the Cougars?

1. BYU

Should there have been a second left? Yes. We’ll never know what would have happened had the Irish gotten their final play. Here’s what we do know: BYU competed with the No. 2 team in the country for 60 minutes, led with less than 2 seconds remaining, and had shut down Notre Dame’s offense throughout the game. Bear Bachmeier outplayed CJ Carr. The Cougars went blow for blow with Notre Dame at the point of attack. Those are facts, and they’re facts that show why the Cougars belong at the top of the conference and in the national top 2 entering Week 8.