Phil Steele Ranks Big 12 Schedules: Where Does WVU Land?
The Big 12 looks like it’ll be chaotic again in 2025, and Phil Steele’s rankings show where the WVU football 2025 schedule ranking sits compared to the rest of the league.
West Virginia finds itself right in the thick of it, with the fifth-toughest schedule in the league, and the 32nd hardest in the country. That’s not exactly an ideal welcome-back party for Rich Rodriguez as he starts his second run leading the Mountaineers.
West Virginia’s Road
WVU’s non-conference schedule includes the Backyard Brawl in Morgantown against Pitt, which is always challenging. From there, the Mountaineers jump into a conference schedule that features games with BYU, Arizona State, and Texas Tech.
Around the Big 12
- TCU faces the league’s toughest schedule (11th nationally), including trips to North Carolina and matchups with all four Big 12 teams that finished 7-2 last year.
- Colorado (2nd toughest in the Big 12) has to replace Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter while navigating a punishing league slate.
- Arizona and Baylor round out the top four in schedule difficulty, both dealing with tough draws of league contenders.
- Texas Tech has the conference’s easiest schedule (72nd nationally), avoids Power Four non-conference games entirely, and skips some of the top Big 12 contenders in league play.
Even a bowl game would say plenty about Rodriguez’s first season back, especially given WVU football’s 2025 schedule ranking.
Phil Steele’s 2025 Big 12 Strength of Schedule Rankings
| Rank | Team | National SOS Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | TCU | 11 |
| 2 | Colorado | 18 |
| 3 | Arizona | 27 |
| 4 | Baylor | 30 |
| 5 | West Virginia | 32 |
| 6 | Iowa State | 35 |
| 7 | Utah | 38 |
| 8 | Arizona State | 39 |
| 9 | Kansas State | 40 |
| 10 | BYU | 43 |
| 11 | Oklahoma State | 45 |
| 12 | Cincinnati | 51 |
| 13 | Houston | 57 |
| 14 | Kansas | 59 |
| 15 | UCF | 70 |
| 16 | Texas Tech | 72 |
• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot
• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting
• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel
• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan, @wesleyshoe
•Like us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
