Home Conferences FBS 2026 season

VERDICT BEGINS · 2026

Big 12

The Rebuilt League

The 2026 Big 12 season is underway — Texas Tech holds the early power lead, but the picture is still open.

Big 12 looks stronger on team quality than on season resume, which makes it a dangerous future-facing league.

#5overall

#5in FBS

+19.5RR50

+24.5upper strength

16teams

3top-25 teams

Big 12, at a glance.

Top 10 by power rating — 2026 season, through the latest games.

Team Power Record RR50

Texas Tech

2-0 +28.7

BYU

2-0 +28.1

Houston

2-0 +24.5

Kansas State

2-0 +24.3

Arizona

1-1 +24.1

Utah

2-0 +23.7

Baylor

1-1 +23.0

Arizona State

1-1 +21.6

TCU

1-1 +20.5

Kansas

1-1 +17.5

Power snapshot Projected 2026 standing

The Rebuilt League

The Big 12 absorbed UCF, BYU, Cincinnati, and Houston in 2023, then lost Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC and gained Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah in 2024 — three full rounds of realignment that redrew the conference map entirely. Boise State joined from the Mountain West in 2026, completing the post-Pac-12 landscape.

3 top-25 teams.

The depth argument for this conference rests on how many credible opponents are clustered behind the leader. The gap between the top and bottom is narrow — a sign of genuine parity.

Where things stand right now.

The 2026 Big 12 season is underway — Texas Tech holds the early power lead, but the picture is still open.

Tools Matchup Simulator Compare Teams Playoff Forecast Style map Head to head Power map

The Coaching Story

Texas Tech Went 12-2 With the 48th Recruiting Class

Texas Tech finished 12-2 in 2025 with a recruiting class ranked #48 nationally — the second-biggest coaching premium in the Big 12 by the numbers. Joey McGuire built a program that wins with scheme and development, not recruiting, in a conference where most programs with that recruiting rank finish 5-7. The Big 12's best coaching story is happening in Lubbock and most people aren't watching closely enough.

Why it matters →

The Collapse

Oklahoma State Went 1-11 With a Top-50 Class

Oklahoma State finished 2025 at 1-11 with a recruiting class ranked #53 nationally. The gap between raw talent and results was the widest in the conference — a program that built its identity on player development and coaching suddenly failing at both. Whether 2026 is a reset or a continued slide is the conference's most uncomfortable question.

Why it matters →

The Recruiting Question

Texas Has the Talent. The Results Say Otherwise.

Texas holds the #1 recruiting class in the conference entering 2026 — and went 10-3 in 2025, which sounds good until you compare it to what Texas Tech did with the #48 class. The Longhorns' talent floor is the highest in the league. Whether that translates to a conference title before the 2026 offseason realignment window reshapes the map again is the conference's defining power-structure question.

Why it matters →

Active arcs our read

Hot3mo ago

NFL denies supplemental draft for Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby

Will Texas Tech prevail in its dispute with the Big 12 over quarterback Brendan Sorsby?

Texas TechBYU

Hot3mo ago

Cincinnati cleared in Brendan Sorsby gambling case

What did Cincinnati know about Sorsby's gambling activities?

Cincinnati

Hot5wk ago

Coach Quotes: Jimmy Rogers stresses competition, different practice philosophies

Can Jimmy Rogers sustain this success as Iowa State's coach?

Iowa State

Active2wk ago

BYU opens 2026 season with Utah Tech victory

How will BYU perform in its Week 2 matchup against Arizona?

BYU

Active2mo ago

Texas Tech lands three-star tight end Zayden Smith

Does Zayden Smith's commitment keep Texas Tech's 2027 class in the national top five?

Texas Tech

All arcs →

Fan pulse Last 30 days · 9,614 mentions

21% positive 45% neutral 34% negative

Texas Tech

1,129

↓ negative

Kansas State

929

↓ negative

Utah

874

↓ negative

UCF

809

→ neutral

BYU

789

→ neutral

Arizona State

731

↓ negative

Fan confidence — FBS percentile

Where each Big 12 program stands nationally in fan sentiment (100th = most positive in FBS, 0 = least). Conference median: 50th percentile.

Bullish–

Bullish+8

Leaning-5

Leaning–

Leaning+2

Leaning-7

Leaning–

Leaning–

Mixed–

Mixed-3

Mixed-7

Mixed-3

Mixed–

Mixed+5

Mixed–

Souring-15

⚡

Most volatile: Utah

Fan confidence has swung 58 percentile points in the last 8 weeks — currently at the 76th percentile nationally.

Rivalry face-offs

Arizona vs Arizona State

Fan face-off →

The coaching premium

Recruiting class rank vs. SP+ performance — where coaches add or subtract value

Above line = coaching premium

Below line = underperforming

Gap = recruiting rank minus SP+ rank

Positive gap means the coaching staff won more than the recruiting class predicted. Data: Big 12 teams, 16 programs.

Coaching premium ↑

K-State

+24

Baylor

+23

Arizona

+15

Houston

+14

BYU

+11

Underperforming ↓

WVU

-124

Okla. St.

-78

Colorado

-69

Iowa St.

-68

Cincinnati

-52

Standings

2026 season, in progress — sorted by power rating. Stature tag = interim Zeitgeist calibration (medium confidence).

#	Team	Record	RR50	Resume
1	Texas Tech Power Program III#26	2-0	+28.7	+96.3
2	BYU National Program I#32	2-0	+28.1	+97.6
3	Houston National Program II#43	2-0	+24.5	+93.7
4	Kansas State Power Program III#27	2-0	+24.3	+97.3
5	Arizona National Program II#59	1-1	+24.1	+65.9
6	Utah Power Program II#20	2-0	+23.7	+72.9
7	Baylor National Program I#35	1-1	+23.0	+53.6
8	Arizona State National Program I#36	1-1	+21.6	+57.8
9	TCU Power Program II#23	1-1	+20.5	+22.0
10	Kansas Regional Program I#75	1-1	+17.5	+60.5
11	UCF National Program II#50	1-1	+16.4	+79.6
12	Cincinnati National Program II#46	2-0	+14.6	+92.7
13	Iowa State National Program I#39	1-1	+13.0	+92.1
14	Colorado Regional Program II#94	2-0	+12.7	+96.1
15	West Virginia National Program II#61	2-0	+11.0	+82.9
16	Oklahoma State National Program II#44	1-1	+8.5	+93.3

Projected Standings · Big 12 · 2026

Win Projection

Odds of winning at least N conference games from current power ratings — full slate played out, not locked to results. AVG = expected wins; W–L = most-likely record.

#	Team	W–L	PWR	AVG	≥9	≥8	≥7	≥6	≥5	≥4	≥3	≥2	≥1
Favorites
1	Texas Tech	7–2	+9.2	6.6	6	26	56	81	94	99	✓	✓	✓
2	BYU	6–3	+8.5	6.2	3	18	44	72	90	97	✓	✓	✓
3	Houston	6–3	+4.9	5.7	1	8	27	55	80	94	99	✓	✓
Challengers
4	Kansas State	6–3	+4.7	5.8	2	10	31	59	82	95	99	✓	✓
5	Utah	6–3	+4.2	5.5	1	7	24	50	76	92	98	✓	✓
6	Arizona	5–4	+4.6	5.2	1	5	18	43	70	89	97	✓	✓
7	Baylor	5–4	+3.5	5.0		3	14	36	63	85	96	99	✓
8	Arizona State	5–4	+2.1	4.7		2	9	28	55	80	94	99	✓
The Field
9	TCU	4–5	+1.0	4.3		1	6	20	44	70	89	98	✓
10	UCF	4–5	-3.1	4.1		1	5	16	38	65	86	97	✓
11	Kansas	4–5	-2.1	4.0		1	4	15	36	63	85	96	✓
12	Iowa State	3–6	-6.5	3.4			1	6	20	45	73	92	99
13	Cincinnati	3–6	-4.9	3.2			1	5	17	40	68	90	98
Rebuilding
14	Colorado	3–6	-6.8	3.0			1	4	14	35	63	86	98
15	West Virginia	3–6	-8.6	2.9				3	12	33	62	86	98
16	Oklahoma State	2–7	-11.0	2.5				1	7	22	49	78	95

How they play

Six advanced-stat dimensions per team, ranked against all 134 FBS programs, 2026 season. Every column reads higher-is-better. Click a column to sort.

ScoringConvertsBig playsDefensePacePass rate

Team	Scoring	Converts	Big plays	Defense	Pace	Pass rate	Identity
Texas Tech	+0.24	45.1%	+1.13	-0.07	73.5	42.2%	Balanced
BYU	+0.50	58.7%	+1.17	-0.04	62.0	38.7%	Efficient offense
Houston	+0.54	61.9%	+1.21	-0.02	68.0	36.8%	Efficient offense
Kansas State	+0.38	55.7%	+1.30	+0.21	72.5	42.1%	Lockdown defense
Arizona	+0.20	51.0%	+1.04	-0.12	67.0	50.7%	No explosive plays
Utah	+0.43	54.0%	+1.36	-0.11	68.5	39.4%	Efficient offense
Baylor	+0.20	44.0%	+1.24	+0.11	91.5	52.5%	High-tempo
Arizona State	+0.27	46.1%	+1.51	-0.02	67.0	52.2%	Big-play offense
TCU	+0.29	51.2%	+1.20	+0.05	70.0	45.7%	Balanced
Kansas	+0.35	44.4%	+1.55	-0.01	71.5	39.2%	Big-play offense
UCF	+0.24	42.1%	+1.43	+0.08	56.5	46.9%	Lockdown defense
Cincinnati	+0.41	51.2%	+1.24	-0.10	70.5	32.6%	Balanced
Iowa State	+0.16	32.2%	+1.44	+0.02	50.5	35.6%	Grind-it-out
Colorado	+0.26	41.8%	+1.36	-0.02	74.5	41.6%	Balanced
West Virginia	+0.29	48.6%	+1.19	-0.05	69.0	18.8%	Balanced
Oklahoma State	-0.02	40.0%	+1.08	-0.17	84.5	54.4%	High-tempo

Identity is the single dimension where a team is most above or below the FBS average (pace, defense, big plays, or converting drives) — "Balanced" means nothing stands out either way. CFBD 2026 advanced stats, excludes garbage time.

Top players

Big 12's highest CFB Index Scores, 2025 season.

#	Player	Team	National
1	Evan JohnsonCB	BYU	#5 of 364
2	Jamel JohnsonS	TCU	#5 of 544
3	Eric McAlisterWR	TCU	#7 of 485
4	Eddie Walls IIIEDGE	Houston	#16 of 420
5	John Henry DaleyEDGE	Utah	#17 of 420
6	Jay'Vion ColeCB	Arizona	#21 of 364
7	LJ MartinRB	BYU	#10 of 326
8	Desmond PurnellLB	Kansas State	#31 of 583
9	Amare ThomasWR	Houston	#17 of 485
10	Blake HeroldIDL	Kansas	#22 of 330

Where Big 12 stands nationally

Conference strength by RR50 (round-robin adjusted power).

1 SEC SEC

+22.8

2 B10 Big Ten

+21.7

3 IND FBS Independents

+20.4

4 P12 Pac-12

+20.2

5 B12 Big 12

+19.5

6 ACC ACC

+19.2

7 AAC American Athletic

+17.3

8 SB Sun Belt

+17.0

9 CUSA Conference USA

+16.6

10 MAC Mid-American

+16.2

Big 12 title odds

Best available American odds · sportsbook consensus.

#	Team	Odds
1	Texas Tech	+100
2	BYU	+440
3	Utah	+600
4	Kansas State	+1100
5	Houston	+1100
6	Arizona State	+1800
7	Oklahoma State	+2000
8	TCU	+2500
9	Arizona	+2700
10	Baylor	+3500