Big 12 football tiebreakers could impact Arizona State, Utah, BYU, Cincinnati, Texas Tech
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In its first season in the Big 12 Conference, the Arizona State football team tied for the best conference record with Iowa State, BYU and Colorado, all going 7-2 in Big 12 play.
But only two of them could face off in the Big 12 conference championship game.
Those two teams ended up being Arizona State and Iowa State, after the Big 12 tiebreaker policy was applied.
Could we see tiebreakers come into play in the conference again? Three Big 12 teams currently have one conference loss, while three others have two.
Here's a look at the current Big 12 standings and the Big 12 football tiebreaking procedures, in case we end up with another chaotic finish to conference play.
Big 12 football Week 12 picks:Arizona at Cincinnati | Kansas State at Oklahoma State | West Virginia at Arizona State | UCF at Texas Tech | Utah at Baylor | TCU at BYU | The Republic's predictions
Big 12 Conference standings
- Texas Tech – 6-1
- BYU – 5-1
- Cincinnati – 5-1
- Houston – 5-2
- Utah – 4-2
- Arizona State – 4-2
- Arizona – 3-3
- TCU – 3-3
- Baylor – 3-3
- Kansas State – 3-3
Big 12 tiebreakers for 2025 season
This gets complicated. The Big 12 has a complete tiebreaker policy laid out on its site, but here's a summary:
For ties between two teams:
- Head-to-head record among the tied teams
- Win percentage against all common conference opponents among the tied teams
- Win percentage against the next highest placed common opponent in the standings (based on the record in all games played within the conference), proceeding through the standings
- Combined win percentage in conference games of conference opponents (strength of conference schedule)
- Total number of wins in a 12-game season
- Highest ranking by SportSource Analytics (team Rating Score metric), following regular season
- Coin toss
For ties between more than two teams:
- The records of the three (or more) tied teams based on winning percentage among the tied teams
- The records of the three (or more) tied teams compared based on winning percentage against common conference opponents played by all other teams involved in the tie
- Record of the three (or more) tied teams against the next highest-placed common opponent in the standings, proceeding through the standings
- Record of the three (or more) tied teams based on combined win percentage in conference games of conference opponents (strength of conference schedule)
- Total number of wins in a 12-game season
- Highest ranking by SportSource Analytics (team Rating Score metric), following regular season
- Coin toss
Who has inside track to make Big 12 football title game now?
Texas Tech controls its own destiny to the title game, with games remaining against UCF and West Virginia.
BYU and Cincinnati also control their own destiny, with a game against each other on Nov. 22. BYU also faces TCU and UCF. Cincinnati also faces Arizona and TCU.
Houston, Utah and Arizona State all need help to make the Big 12 title game, but could get it with a BYU and a Cincinnati loss, potentially putting the Big 12 Conference tiebreakers into play.
When is Big 12 Conference championship game?
The 2025 Big 12 championship game is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 6 at 10 a.m. MST.
It will be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and will feature the two Big 12 teams with the highest winning percentage in conference games.
The game will air on ABC.
The teams? We just don't know yet.
College football Week 12 picks:Clemson at Louisville | Minnesota at Oregon | Wisconsin at Indiana | South Carolina at Texas A&M | Notre Dame at Pittsburgh | Michigan at Northwestern | Oklahoma at Alabama | Virginia at Duke | Georgia Tech at Boston College | NC State at Miami | Iowa at USC | New Mexico State at Tennessee | Florida at Ole Miss | Purdue at Washington | UCLA at Ohio State | Texas at Georgia | Mississippi State at Missouri
Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Big 12 football tiebreakers for who makes conference championship game
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