Big 12 standings, explained: Updated 2025 tiebreakers for Texas Tech, BYU, Cincinnati and more
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Big 12 standings, explained: Updated 2025 tiebreakers for Texas Tech, BYU, Cincinnati and more originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Big 12 had one of the wildest conference championship races in recent years in 2024.
LIVE:Updated college football polls after Week 12
This year, the race is a little more straightforward. No. 5 Texas Tech and No. 11 BYU have one loss in conference play – and there's a good chance we will see a rematch of those two teams in the Big 12 championship game on Dec. 6 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
No. 12 Utah stayed alive with a 51-47 victory against Kansas State. No. 23 Houston fell out after a 17-14 loss to TCU. BYU knocked Cincinnati out with a 26-14 road victory. Arizona State remains alive after a 42-17 victory against Colorado.
How all that shakes out will determine whether the Big 12 gets one or two College Football Playoff berths. Here is a breakdown of the Big 12 race, with standings, tiebreakers, paths to the championship game and a look at the cumulative conference winning percentage for each of those contenders.
MORE: ACC tiebreaker scenarios
Big 12 football standings 2025
The Big 12 has four teams with two conference losses or less after Week 13. Here is a closer look at those standings:
| SCHOOL | OVERALL | BIG 12 | WEEK 13 |
| Texas Tech | 10-1 | 7-1 | Bye |
| BYU | 10-1 | 7-1 | Beat Cincinnati 26-14 |
| Utah | 9-2 | 6-2 | Beat Kansas State 51-47 |
| Arizona State | 8-3 | 6-2 | Beat Colorado 42-17 |
Big 12 tiebreaker rules for 2025
The Big 12 will use six these tie-breakers for the 2024 season in this order until the tie is broken:
Step 1: Head-to-head competition among the teams.
Step 2: Win percentage against all common conference opponents among the tied teams.
Step 3: 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
Step 4: Combined win percentage in conference games of conference opponents, or the strength-of-conference schedule.
Step 5: Total number of wins in a 12-game season
Step 6: Highest ranking by SportSource Analytics (team Rating Score metric) following the last weekend of regular-season games
Step 7: Coin toss.
MORE:Projecting the 2026 College Football Playoff bracket after Week 12
Big 12 contenders path to the championship game
Texas Tech (10-1, 7-1)
Remaining schedule: at West Virginia
Texas Tech controls its own destiny in the Big 12. The Red Raiders clinch a Big 12 championship berth with a victory against West Virginia. A loss would get complicated because of a common opponent tiebreaker with Utah, BYU and Arizona State. All of those teams beat the Mountaineers.
BYU (10-1, 7-1)
Remaining schedule: at Cincinnati
BYU beat Cincinnati 26-14 and moved one step closer to a rematch with Texas Tech in the Big 12 championship game. The Cougars would clinch that with a victory against UCF in the regular-season finale. A loss would hurt because Arizona State has a head-to-head victory against the Red Raiders.
MORE: CFP releases second set of rankings after Week 11
Utah (9-2, 6-2)
Remaining schedule: at Kansas
Utah beat Kansas State 51-47. The Utes need to beat Kansas in the finale, but the head-to-head losses to Texas Tech and BYU likely will keep Utah out of the Big 12 championship game. The Utes, however, do have a compelling playoff case with if they get to 10 wins.
Arizona State (8-3, 6-2)
Remaining schedule: vs. Arizona
The Sun Devils need to beat Arizona in the finale and hope for a loss from either BYU or Texas Tech to force a pile-up of two-loss teams. That would give the Sun Devils a common opponent advantage.
MORE: Picks against the spread for Week 12's Top 25 games
Big 12 common opponents tracker for 2025
Here is a look at the common opponents for all the Big 12 teams with two conference losses or less. We added the cumulative conference winning percentage – the fourth Big 12 tiebreaker – to show which teams are in the best position heading into Week 14:
| OPPONENT | TTECH | BYU | UTAH | ASU |
| Arizona | – | W 33-27 | – | Nov. 28 |
| Arizona State | L 26-22 | – | W 42-10 | – |
| Baylor | – | – | W 55-28 | W 27-24 |
| BYU | W 29-7 | – | L 24-21 | – |
| Cincinnati | – | W 26-14 | W 45-14 | – |
| Colorado | – | W 24-21 | W 53-7 | W 42-17 |
| Houston | W 35-11 | – | – | L 24-16 |
| Iowa State | – | W 41-27 | – | W 24-19 |
| Kansas | W 42-17 | – | Nov. 28 | – |
| Kansas State | W 43-20 | – | W 51-47 | – |
| Oklahoma State | W 42-0 | – | – | – |
| TCU | – | W 44-13 | – | W 27-24 |
| Texas Tech | L 29-7 | L 34-10 | W 26-22 | |
| UCF | W 48-9 | Nov. 29 | – | – |
| Utah | W 34-10 | W 24-21 | – | L 42-10 |
| West Virginia | Nov. 29 | W 38-24 | W 48-14 | W 25-23 |
| CUMULATIVE% | 35-37 | 36-36 | 38-34 | 37-35 |
Most likely Big 12 championship game scenario
There are some combinations, and they can be calculated here.
The most likely scenario is Texas Tech advancing to the Big 12 championship game. The Red Raiders lost their only conference game when quarterback Behren Morton was out, and they are considerable favorites against UCF before a bye week and a trip to West Virginia on Nov. 29.
BYU also will be heavy favorites against UCF. That is the most-logical Big 12 championship game, and a rematch appears to be in the cards.
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