The Big 12 is in the hunt for multiple CFP berths with No. 8 BYU and No. 9 Texas Tech set to battle

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BYU and Texas Tech are leading the Big 12's charge for multiple berths in the College Football Playoff for the first time.

A league that hasn’t won a national championship in two decades and scraps for a piece of the spotlight that shines brighter on the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference is basking in the possibility.

“I really hope that the Big 12 gets the respect that I think this conference deserves,” Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said.

There's other business to take care of first.

No. 8 BYU and No. 9 Texas Tech play Saturday in Lubbock, Texas. It's the first matchup of AP top 10 teams from the league since 2021. ESPN's “College GameDay” will be there, too.

“Lubbock's going to be jumping, for sure,” Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton said.

It might not be the only meeting this season between the teams that have played just twice previously. They could reunite in the Dec. 6 conference championship game, where the winner gets an automatic berth in the 12-team CFP. If the league doesn’t cannibalize itself, a second team could get in the playoff.

With a month of games still left, BYU (8-0, 5-0 Big 12) is alone in first place, just ahead of Texas Tech (8-1) and No. 25 Cincinnati (7-2), both at 5-1 in the league. No. 17 Utah (7-2) and others with two league losses hope to defy longer odds and wedge their way into the title game.

The first CFP rankings are being released Tuesday night.

McGuire wears his love for college football on his sleeve and says he’s gets “fired up” every year when watching the weekly CFP rankings come out.

“I’m a fan of that stuff,” McGuire said. “I’ve been that way since they’ve been doing it.”

BYU coach Kilani Sitake, on the other hand, could care less as long as a conference title is at stake.

“Nope,” Sitake said. “Haven’t talked about it before and probably won’t talk about it again."

Sitake’s players fall in line with their coach, and for good reason. Last year the Cougars started 9-0, then lost two straight and missed a spot in the Big 12 championship game.

“At this level of football, there’s always going to be a lot of noise,” BYU kicker Will Ferrin said. “I think the team is very good at staying in the present, blocking out the outside noise and just focusing on what’s going on here in the building and taking that week by week and day by day.”

The Big 12 has never had two teams in the CFP. Arizona State was the lone participant in the 2024 expanded playoff.

The league was shut out in four of the 10 seasons when the playoff was a four-team field. Oklahoma was the Big 12’s representative four times and TCU and Texas one apiece.

The 12-team field will be announced on Dec. 7.

Besides playing Texas Tech, BYU's other marquee matchup is Nov. 22 at Cincinnati. The Cougars have other remaining games against TCU and UCF. Texas Tech finishes the season against UCF and West Virginia.

Cincinnati, which qualified for the playoff as a member of the American Athletic Conference in 2021, is coming off a lopsided loss at Utah. The Bearcats don't play Texas Tech during the regular season, are idle this week and have games left against Arizona and TCU.

“We've still got a lot to play for — everything to play for, quite honestly,” Cincinnati coach Scott Satterfield said.

To have any chance at making the league title game, Arizona State, Houston, TCU and Utah must win out and hope the teams above them falter.

"Any given Saturday, crazy things can happen, and it usually happens in November,” McGuire said.

Several top teams have seen key players banged up.

Texas Tech's Morton returned from a two-game absence last week. Backup QB Will Hammond was lost for the season last month with a knee injury and defensive tackle Skyler Gill-Howard is out indefinitely after undergoing ankle surgery.

Big 12 rushing leader LJ Martin of BYU used a bye week to nurse an upper body injury. Sitake said Martin was practicing this week.

Cincinnati running back Evan Pryor missed the Utah game with an ankle injury and linebacker Jake Golday, tied for the Big 12 lead in tackles, left the game with an undisclosed injury.

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