Big 12 Roundup: Part I

WACO, TEXAS – SEPTEMBER 19: A general view of the chains featuring a Big 12 Conference logo during the game against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs on September 19, 2026 at the McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas. (Photo by Will Mallory/Baylor Athletics/University Images via Getty Images)

FOOTBAAAAW!

How We Got Here

It’s been a weird few months for the conference since the last football season. Way back in December, the Big 12 had a big moment, when #4 Texas Tech (11-1) took on #11 BYU (11-1) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington for all the conference marbles and for a spot in the College Football Playoffs. The Red Raiders emerged victorious in that game but were blanked by Oregon in the CFP, and that may have been the end of the feel-good buzz around both Tech and the Big 12.

Meet the New Boss…

Let’s start with the big stuff. Major coaching changes happened in the short break between the end of the regular season and championship weekend in 2025. Kansas State replaced a Hall of Fame coach in Chris Klieman with Collin Klein, one of the biggest K-State names ever to take the field.

Meanwhile, just a few hours north, a seismic event happened in Ames. Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell decamped the school to take the lead role at Penn State. Campbell has brought both success and stability to the program and losing him to the Big Ten is an understandable source of anxiety for Cyclones fans. Fortunately, Iowa State moved quickly and named Wazzu’s Jimmy Rogers to the role. Although Wazzu was only 6-6 this past season, Rogers made his name in the FCS, guiding South Dakota State to a 15-0 run and a national title in 2023.

Kyle Whittingham no longer plies his trade in Salt Lake City having traded the mountain breezes of Utah for the fetid air of Ann Arbor, Michigan. I hear things are going well there. Meanwhile, his successor, Morgan Scalley, is about Utah as you can get and the program has made an almost seamless transition to a new era.

Oh, and of course, Mike Gundy will not be on the sidelines at Oklahoma State. Fired in September, he was replaced initially by Doug Meacham as the interim head coach and ultimately by Eric Morris, a Mike Leach protege who was most recently the head coach at North Texas.

And now for 2026

But enough about the past. It’s a new season and everyone got to start over with a blank state. It’s too early yet for real predictions. but Utah, BYU, and Texas Tech currently lead the 2026 Monster Energy Big 12 Football Standings (yes, it’s really called that) and the Cougars and Red Raiders could potentially make it back to the title game. Meanwhile, here’s how the 11 non-Kansas State teams in the conference have fared five weeks into this season.

Arizona (4-1, 1-1)

The Wildcats, those other ones from the desert, had an unexpectedly good season in 2025. But even with the entire coaching staff and much of the team returning, repeating that 9-4 performance would be almost unprecedented for a team that last had two consecutive nine-win seasons in the mid-1970s.

Still, Arizona has at least met early season expectations. The only blemish on the Wildcats’ record so far is a 28-17 road loss to BYU in Week 2. This past weekend, Arizona did to Cincinnati what K-State could not, holding the Bearcats to just 74 rushing yards in a 34-7 rout. Despite losing three receivers to injury in the first half of the game, Noah Fifita still accounted for 284 yards and three touchdowns in the win.

The Wildcats take their show on the road to Morgantown for a noon kickoff against West Virginia next.

Arizona State (2-2, 1-1)

For the Sun Devils, the 2025 season was a mixed bag, especially after their magical run to the CFP in 2024. Still, it began well enough, but an early loss to Utah in the Big 12 exposed some weaknesses and ultimately led to a late-season collapse for Arizona State. The team limped its way to a disappointing 8-4 season and preseason expectations for the team were predictably low.

In 2026, the team continues to struggle to string two wins together. The season began with a blowout win over Morgan State, which was quickly followed by a 48-20 trucking by Texas A&M. The team recovered a bit to deliver a 24-17 victory over Kansas at Wembley Stadium, but because no good deed ever goes unpunished, this win was followed by a Week 3 shellacking by Baylor. The 55-19 loss was so embarrassing that even head coach Kenny Dillingham admitted the game was “atrocious.”

Things might get a little easier for the Sun Devils this weekend with Hawaii visiting Tempe for a non-conference tilt.

Baylor (4-1, 2-0)

I don’t know how/why, but Baylor keeps <a href="https://www.us

Source: sports.yahoo.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.