It’s onto Week 9 of the Big 12 football season. We have crossed the halfway mark of the season, and our midseason Big 12 marks are in. But with Week 8 in the books, let’s dive into this week’s Big 12 football power rankings. A reminder on how I do these rankings: They are based on what you have actually done on the field, not what we think you will do throughout the remainder of the season. So, with that, here’s a look at our Week 6 Big 12 football power rankings for the 2025 season.
1. BYU Cougars (Last Week: 4)
The BYU Cougars find themselves in the No. 1 spot this week after beating the Utah Utes at home in the Holy War on Saturday night. BYU dominated Utah in the trenches, something I didn’t see coming, and the win moves the Cougars to 7-0 on the season. Bear Bachmeier continues to impress more and more every week. This team is legit.
2. Cincinnati Bearcats (Last Week: No. 2)
The Cincinnati Bearcats remain at No. 2 after going to Stillwater and blasting Oklahoma State by 32. Cincinnati is bowl eligible for the first time since joining the Big 12 Conference, and this team continues to showcase arguably the most underrated offense in the league with a bend-but-don’t-break defense.
3. Arizona State Sun Devils (Last Week: 5)
Arizona State is back into the Top 3 after ending Texas Tech’s undefeated season on Saturday night in Tempe. Sam Leavitt was back and proved to be the most valuable quarterback in the Big 12 with an electric performance that led the Sun Devils to the upset. And that defense was tremendous against a Tech offense that spent most of the season doing whatever it wanted to do.
4. Texas Tech Red Raiders (Last Week: 1)
The Red Raiders lost their first game of the year on Saturday and while they made a comeback and nearly won the game, Arizona State put together one final drive to pull off the upset. Tech looked out of sorts, especially on offense, in the first half in particular. The Red Raiders still have all their goals in front of them, but if the season ended today, they’re not in the Big 12 Title Game.
5. Utah Utes (Last Week: 3)
The Utah Utes shot themselves in the foot a couple of times in this game, but the reality is they got pushed around by the Cougars. Devon Dampier was not great against an elite defense, and now I question whether or not he is a quarterback who can win big at a P4 level.
6. TCU Horned Frogs (Last Week: 7)
TCU was able to bounce back from a Week 7 loss to K-State and beat Baylor in dominant fashion on Saturday in Fort Worth. Josh Hoover was solid and the running game finally got going for the first time this season. I still have questions on this defense, and the team can be too sloppy at times, but there is talent there that can compete atop the Big 12.
7. Houston Cougars (Last Week: 11)
The Houston Cougars move up after a very solid walk-off win over the Arizona Wildcats. Arizona is better than its record after two-straight tough losses, while Houston’s offense showed a new wrinkle with Connor Weigman showcasing his ability to run the ball, which we hadn’t seen since the Colorado game. It gives this offense a different look, and it’s effective.
8. Kansas State Wildcats (Last Week: 6)
Kansas State was on a bye last week and just moves down a couple of slots due to what the teams in front of them did with TCU and Houston picking up quality wins. Yes, K-State is two weeks removed from a win vs. TCU, but it wasn’t absolute domination. TCU arguably gave that game away.
9. Colorado Buffaloes (Last Week: 8)
Colorado was also on a bye this past weekend, and if the CU upswing continues, and this team used the bye week effectively to continue to improve, which we’ve seen in recent weeks, than this team will be overlooked, and pull off a couple of upsets in the second half of the season.
10. Iowa State Cyclones (Last Week: No. 9)
Iowa State also enjoyed a bye, and hopefully spent some time trying to get healthy. This team had an overseas trip, a huge rivalry game, and a tough couple of road games at Cincinnati and Colorado. They needed some down time. If they can get healthier, that’s an added bonus.
11. Baylor Bears (Last Week: No. 8)
Baylor slides to No. 11 after a loss to TCU where this team’s defense continues to hamper the team. Sawyer Robertson can’t do it all. And if this team’s slide continues this season, Dave Aranda is going to back where he was in the first half of 2024: On the hot seat.
12. Arizona Wildcats (Last Week: No. 10)
This team is better than it’s 1-3 league record. They were right there against BYU and Houston the past two weeks. Coach Brennan has proven in Year 2 that this program is moving in the right direction, even if the record doesn’t make that obvious.
13. Kansas Jayhawks (Last Week: 12)
Kansas needed a bye week after getting slapped around by Texas Tech in Week 7. But now, it’s time to try and snap a 16-game losing streak against the Wildcats this weekend. We’ll find out if this defense was able to make some adjustments during the bye week.
14. UCF Knights (Last Week: 13)
UCF welcomed back Tayven Jackson and smashed West Virginia, and looked really good on both sides of the ball. I don’t know if UCF can get to bowl eligibility, because finding two more wins on this schedule isn’t easy (other than OSU). But if they can do it, it would be a huge accomplishment for Scott Frost in Year 1.
15. West Virginia Mountaineers (Last Week: 15)
That win over Pittsburgh feels like a lifetime ago. This team isn’t good, has injuries, and needs to look ahead to 2026, at this point.
16. Oklahoma State Cowboys (Last Week: 16)
Oklahoma State played a football game, and lost, again. But their banana suit fans, who followed up last week’s shirtless fans, are awesome. And that’s all I’ve got for now on the OSU football situation.
