Ranking the Big 12 with the incoming Pac-12 schools through Week 4
We continue our season-long series in which we rank the teams in the 2024 Big 12. This doesn’t include Oklahoma and Texas, since those two schools will be in the SEC next year. This does include the Four Corners schools from the Pac-12 — Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and Arizona State — since those schools will be part of the Big 12 next year.
It would be very interesting to see Texas play Utah right now, but those two schools are never going to be fellow Big 12 members. The year Texas leaves is the same year Utah enters. It’s the same for Oklahoma. We are getting one year with those schools playing UCF, Cincinnati, BYU, and Houston, but not for the Arizona schools, Utah, and Colorado.
Let’s rank the 2024 Big 12 through Week 4 of the 2023 season:
ARIZONA STATE
ASU played well against USC, but the resume has only an FCS win and nothing else. ASU has to be last on this list.
TEXAS TECH
Texas Tech and Baylor are both 1-3. Texas Tech lost to West Virginia this past weekend while Baylor lost to Texas. Tech has the worse loss. Tech lost to Oregon while Baylor lost to Utah, two relatively similar losses. Tech has the worse resume.
BAYLOR
Baylor being above Texas Tech was explained in the Texas Tech section.
OKLAHOMA STATE
Oklahoma State is 2-2 with an FCS win, a road win against a Power Five opponent (Arizona State), and a home loss to a Group of Five team (South Alabama). That’s a below-average resume.
CINCINNATI
Cincinnati has Oklahoma State’s resume: 2-2, FCS win, road win against a Power Five team (Pitt), and a home loss to a Group of Five team (Miami of Ohio). Cincy goes ahead of Oklahoma State because Pitt is a better loss than Arizona State, albeit narrowly.
HOUSTON
Houston has two low-end FBS wins, over UTSA and Sam Houston. That’s better than Oklahoma State and Cincy having an FCS win.
IOWA STATE
Iowa State has an FCS win, but it also has something Houston, Cincinnati and Oklahoma State don’t have: a Big 12 win by beating Oklahoma State. Iowa State is the best of the not-very-good 2-2 Big 12 teams.
ARIZONA
Arizona is 3-1, but it’s a weak 3-1: Northern Arizona, UTEP, Stanford. Arizona is the lowest-ranked 3-1 team in the 2024 Big 12.
TCU
TCU’s wins are over an FCS team, Houston, and SMU. That’s pretty light.
UCF
The win at Boise State doesn’t hold a lot of value, but Boise State did beat San Diego State. If Boise State does better in the coming weeks, the value of that win will grow.
KANSAS STATE
Kansas State’s win over UCF lifts it above UCF in the rankings, but there’s an FCS win on the slate as well, so KSU can’t rise too much.
WEST VIRGINIA
West Virginia has two Power Five wins, which Kansas State and other teams lack.
BYU
BYU has an FCS win, but also a quality road win at Arkansas. That’s better than most of the 3-1 teams in the 2024 Big 12.
COLORADO
Colorado has three FBS wins (no FCS), and two Power Five wins. That’s more than the other 3-1 teams in the 2024 Big 12.
KANSAS
Kansas is 4-0. That’s better than every other 2024 Big 12 team … except one.
UTAH
Utah has Baylor (road), Florida and UCLA on its resume without Cam Rising. That is the best body of work among 2024 Big 12 teams.
