There was a noticeable ebb and flow to the impression Big 12 teams were making Saturday.
At one moment, things were looking good. The next, not so great.
In the new 12-team College Football Playoff world, the conference’s national perception needs to improve, after Arizona State was the only Big 12 team to make the playoffs last season, despite there being a four-team race for the league crown.
Saturday had several results that will help, and hinder, that cause.
First, the good.
How the Big 12 helped its cause
There were six Big 12 teams facing opponents from other power conferences Saturday, and early in the day, two of those Big 12 programs earned defining wins.
Iowa State, in its annual grudge match with Iowa, won a defensive battle 16-13. The game-winning points came on a 54-yard Kyle Konrardy field goal with 1:52 to play, as the Cyclones earned a much-needed victory over their Big Ten opponent.
The Cyclones are now 3-0 on the season and in the best position currently in the Big 12 chase, especially after winning a Week 0 conference matchup against Kansas State.
Baylor, meanwhile, rallied for a Week 2 win over then-No. 17 SMU, beating the ACC’s Mustangs 48-45 in double overtime.
After the Bears lost a home game to the SEC’s Auburn last week, Baylor was in need of a win to help turn things around in what is arguably the most difficult first-half schedule among Big 12 programs.
Sawyer Robertson and the Bears delivered, rallying from two touchdowns down in the fourth before winning on a walk-off field goal. It came against a team, SMU, that made the playoffs last season, no less.
Big 12 schools ended up going 3-3 vs. power conference competition on Saturday, with BYU providing the final win, 27-3 over the ACC’s Stanford.
The late-Saturday matchup wasn’t the prettiest offensively for the Cougars, who struggled in the red zone, but BYU’s stout defense was more than enough to hold down a Stanford team that is expected to be one of the worst Power Four teams this season.
Among other positive results for the Big 12, Texas Tech blitzed Kent State 62-14, Utah trounced FCS Cal Poly 63-9, Cincinnati beat Bowling Green 34-20, Colorado topped Delaware 31-7, Houston bested in-city rival Rice 35-9, UCF rolled past North Carolina A&T 68-7 and Arizona blasted Weber State 48-3.
How the Big 12 hurt its cause
Unfortunately for the league, there were several results that spoiled what initially looked like it could be a (mostly) positive day.
Defending Big 12 champion Arizona State lost a heartbreaker to the SEC’s Mississippi State, 24-20, after giving up a 58-yard touchdown with 30 seconds remaining after taking a 20-17 lead with under two minutes to play.
The Sun Devils fell behind 17-0 before rallying, though they cost themselves a chance to earn a road win in SEC country against a Mississippi State team that is projected to finish near the bottom of its conference.
Another Big 12 team, Kansas, had a prime opportunity for an SEC win as well in its rivalry matchup with Missouri. The Jayhawks pushed out to a 21-6 lead at one point and even led 31-28 midway through the fourth quarter.
The Tigers rallied, though, scoring twice in the game’s final 4:30 to hand Kansas its first loss of the season. While it’s not a damaging loss by any means, it’s a missed opportunity for the Jayhawks and the Big 12.
Though Oklahoma State was a heavy underdog against No. 6 Oregon on Saturday, the result was embarrassing nonetheless. The Ducks ran the Cowboys roughshod in a 69-3 contest, a stark reminder of how quickly the Oklahoma State program has fallen.
Two other results were also particularly damaging to the Big 12.
Kansas State, once considered a favorite to win the league, fell to 1-2 with a 24-21 loss to Army, the same Scarlet Knights team that lost the previous week to FCS Tarleton State.
The Wildcats nearly lost to unranked FCS opponent North Dakota the week before as well and have looked far from a contender in the early part of the season. Avery Johnson and Kansas State must now try to rebound in a nonconference matchup on the road at Arizona, which is looking much improved.
The other rough loss came for West Virginia at Ohio. The Bobcats, who compete in the MAC, beat the Mountaineers 17-10, and while there weren’t high expectations for Rich Rodriguez’s squad in his return to West Virginia, a loss to a Group of Six team is bad for the Big 12 as a whole.
The consensus?
It’s still way too early to build a definitive conclusion on where the Big 12 will stand in the pecking order of power conferences by the end of 2025, but for now, it’s still clear that the parity in the league is an issue.
This summer, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said it’s imperative for one or two league teams to eventually emerge as annual CFP contenders, in terms of helping the conference’s national standing.
For this season, the Big 12 needs a pair of top teams to emerge and make a serious CFP run. At this point, it’s fair to wonder if the league will once again place just one team in the playoff.