ESPN ranks Big 12 Football teams from first to last after Week 10

It’s now the home stretch of the 2025 college football season, with Week 10 in the books and the first College Football Playoff selection committee rankings out. So, naturally, ESPN has updated its rankings for all the teams in the Big 12, from first to last.

These Big 12 rankings stem from the FPI metric that ESPN uses. FPI is primarily used as a predictive metric in football. In that respect, it’s looking to future outcomes, rather than simply on past performance. In a unique way from other power rankings, ESPN describes it as “FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is.”

The Big 12 Championship race is heating up in a conference field with parity. Keeping that in mind, here’s the latest Big 12 rankings from ESPN.

1. Utah Utes (7-2, 4-2)

The Utah Utes come in at the top of ESPN’s rankings for the Big 12. That’s despite only being fourth in the conference standings and sitting at 7-2. At the same time, it’s also coming off back-to-back blowout wins, including over Cincinnati.

With three games left in the regular season, Utah doesn’t have another game against one of the three teams ahead of them in the Big 12 standings. So, the Utes need some help to get to their conference championship game.

2. Texas Tech Red Raiders (8-1, 5-1)

The Texas Tech Red Raiders are the second-highest ranked Big 12 team in the initial College Football Playoff rankings. They’re also the second-highest ranked team in ESPN’s rankings for the conference. This comes as they sit on a two-game winning streak.

This week, Texas Tech is set to host the marquee game of the season within the Big 12. The BYU Cougars are coming to West Texas. The winner of that game is going to have massive CFP implications.

3. BYU Cougars (8-0, 5-0)

The BYU Cougars are currently the only unbeaten team in the Big 12. The Cougars are also the top-ranked Big 12 team in the CFP ranking. Despite that, the Cougars are sitting at just third in ESPN’s rankings.

This week, BYU has a chance to make a statement. The Cougars are scheduled to travel and play a road game against Texas Tech. There, the Cougars have a chance to take a stranglehold of the conference championship race.

4. TCU Horned Frogs (6-2, 3-2)

The TCU Horned Frogs have quietly had an excellent season. Sitting at 6-2 and 3-2 in conference play, the Horned Frogs have been a little mixed up in the middle of the conference standings. However, coming off two straight wins, TCU is feeling good.

All of that amounts to TCU being fourth in ESPN’s rankings of the Big 12. With four games remaining, TCU can now make a move to push for the conference championship game, starting with Saturday’s game against Iowa State. With several teams ranked around and above them in the conference standings, at the very least, TCU could cause some chaos.

5. Cincinnati Bearcats (7-2, 5-1)

The Cincinnati Bearcats are sitting at 7-2 and 5-1 in Big 12 play. That puts the Bearcats in a tie for second place in the conference standings and has them in an excellent position to push for the conference championship game. At the same time, they need to bounce back from a bad loss to Utah.

With three games left, Cincinnati still has a difficult schedule remaining. That might make it harder to get to the conference championship game. It also means they could create chaos within the country.

6. Kansas State Wildcats (4-5, 3-3)

The Kansas State Wildcats came into the season with conference championship expectations. So, being ESPN’s sixth-ranked team within the conference is a bit of a letdown. Even more of a letdown is being 4-5 and uncompetitive for the conference title race.

Kansas State is on a bye week this week. That should give them plenty of time to prepare for Oklahoma State in two weeks. Hopefully, it sparks a solid finish to the regular season.

7. Iowa State Cyclones (5-4, 2-4)

A season ago, Iowa State played for the Big 12 Championship Game. This year, the Cyclones are well on the outside looking in of that race, sitting at just 2-4 in conference play. Despite that, ESPN still has the Cyclones on the top half of its conference rankings.

Iowa State is currently coming off a loss to Arizona State. That was their fourth loss in a row to put them in this hole. Now, they’re looking at a tough game against TCU to try and bounce back in.

8. Arizona State Sun Devils (6-3, 4-2)

Arizona State won the Big 12 a year ago, but has largely been overlooked this season. Still, at 4-2 in conference play, they’re in the race. That’s a spot that would require chaos to get in, but it’s not impossible.

The major issue for the Sun Devils now is that quarterback Sam Leavitt is injured for the season, being replaced by Jeff Sims. Going through the end of the season with a backup at quarterback won’t be easy. That continues with a bye week before playing West Virginia.

9. Arizona Wildcats (5-3, 2-3)

The Arizona Wildcats have bounced back from a disaster last season. At 5-3, the Wildcats are on the edge of bowl eligibility. They’ve also now moved up into the Big 12 rankings from ESPN.

Arizona is set to host Kansas this upcoming week. The hope is that it’s the game the Wildcats get over that hump. However, they’ll have three more opportunities beyond that to get there and create some chaos in the conference.

10. Baylor Bears (5-4, 3-3)

The Baylor Bears got a confidence boosting win over UCF a week ago. With that dominant performance, ESPN has Baylor ranked 10th in the Big 12. With that win, Baylor moved to 5-4 and is on the edge of bowl eligibility.

Baylor had hoped to be a darkhorse contender in the Big 12 this season. That clearly hasn’t happened for the Bears. They can still finish strong, though, and that begins by using their bye week to prepare for the Utah Utes and make some noise within the conference title race.

11. Kansas Jayhawks (5-4, 3-3)
12. UCF Knights (4-4, 1-4)
13. Houston Cougars (7-2, 4-2)
14. Colorado Buffaloes (3-6, 1-5)
15. West Virginia Mountaineers (3-6, 1-5)
16. Oklahoma State Cowboys (1-8, 0-6)