The Big 12 is absolutely wild right now, with three unbeaten teams crushing it at midseason , more than any other Power Four conference. It’s a complete shift in the college football landscape, and honestly, we should probably just throw out everything we thought we knew two months ago. This is the year of parity, especially with the 12-team playoff era potentially in its final frontier.
The Big 12 Is Coming for ALL the Playoff Spots
Commissioner Brett Yormark has BYU to thank for a lot of this chaos. Their last-second win over previously second-ranked Notre Dame was their first against a top-10 opponent since 2018, and it kept the Big 12 stacked with unbeatens. BYU, Texas Tech, and Utah are all sitting pretty inside the top-15, and let’s not forget, Houston is damn good, too. The schedule ahead is going to be insane. Unless Arizona trips up the Red Raiders on Oct. 31 in Lubbock, or hands Utah a loss on Nov. 14, that BYU-Utah showdown next month is going to have massive College Football Playoff implications. Get this: neither the Cougars nor the Utes even play Texas Tech during the regular season, so we could be looking at a wild three-team scenario for CFP contention.
Imagine this: Utah finishes 13-0 as the Big 12 champion, BYU’s only loss (11-1) is to Utah, and Texas Tech’s only loss (12-1) is also to Utah. If the CFP selection committee tries to put some nine-win SEC or Big Ten team above a one-loss BYU or a 12-win Texas Tech, there’s going to be a mutiny, no joke. This league is going to sort itself out, but it feels like a lock there will be a second Big 12 CFP entry beyond just the conference champion if we have a one-loss finisher.
UCLA’s Cinderella Story and Coach Chesney
Speaking of unexpected runs, Bob Chesney, UCLA’s first-year coach, is absolutely making a name for himself. His Bruins are one of the five Power Four unbeatens at midseason, and they’re arguably the unlikeliest of the bunch. Just a few weeks ago, they squashed Oregon on the road, and the rest of their season has been all about that survive-and-advance mentality. Oddsmakers had Chesney’s preseason win total for UCLA set at a humble 6.5. A win this Saturday against Michigan State would eclipse that, and they’d still have five games left! The guy has transformed UCLA with his defense-first mentality, and you have to wonder if he’s not already a lock for national coach of the year honors.
This college football season is proving that you can’t count anyone out. For UCLA, they can hit their preseason win total with a victory Saturday against Michigan State. Over in the Big 12, Texas Tech faces Arizona on Oct. 31 in Lubbock, a game that’ll definitely shape this crazy, unpredictable picture. Buckle up, because the second half is going to be wild.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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