Iowa State’s Big 12 championship rooting guide: What Cyclones need

On By Littum

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Iowa State football’s back-to-back losses to Texas Tech and Kansas put a dent in its Big 12 championship hopes.

However, hope is not entirely lost Cyclones.

No. 21 Iowa State (8-2, 5-2 Big 12) still has a chance to win its conference. But it’s going to take some help from other programs.

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BYU, Colorado, Iowa State and Arizona State are near the top in terms of Big 12 championship game chances, while Baylor, Kansas State, TCU, Texas Tech and West Virginia are also technically still in contention (though it will take complete chaos for those programs to reach Arlington, Texas).

Regardless of how the final two weeks of the regular season play out, any hope Iowa State has of reaching the Big 12 title will hinge on winning its final two games against Utah and Kansas State.

Here are the scenarios Iowa State needs to reach the Big 12 championship game in 2024:

Iowa State Football Big 12 championship game rooting guide

Iowa State does not control its own destiny in the Big 12 championship game, which came after losing to Kansas for its second straight loss earlier this season.

Iowa State obviously needs to win its last two games while hoping for other losses, as Colorado and BYU both have one conference loss compared to the Cyclones’ two. Heading into Week 13, Iowa State is tied with Arizona State in the conference standings.

Here’s what Iowa State needs for its easiest path to the Big 12 championship game:

  • Iowa State wins
  • BYU, Colorado, Arizona State all lose one of their last two games

There isn’t a scenario where Iowa State can sneak in without winning both of its final games. It needs the Cougars, Buffaloes and Wildcats each to lose a game.

This is the easiest scenario for Iowa State as it would be tied for first place with BYU, Colorado and Arizona State as each team would have two conference losses. Iowa State would enter as one of the teams in the Big 12 championship game based on Big 12 tiebreaker rules along with the Sun Devils.

The good news for Iowa State is that BYU and Arizona State play each other in Week 13, checking at least one box needed to make the Big 12 title game. The bad news is that the Cougars and Sun Devils play Houston and Arizona in Week 14, two sub-.500 teams that have a combined record of 8-12 heading into Week 13.

If ISU wants to play for the title, it will need one of Houston or Arizona to score a Week 14 matchup, depending on the outcome of BYU-Arizona State in Week 13. However, that still leaves Colorado as a roadblock in the way to Arlington. The Buffaloes finish their seasons with Kansas (4-6, 3-4) and Oklahoma State (3-7, 2-3).

Oddly enough, Colorado’s best chance to lose may come against the Jayhawks despite their record. Kansas has won three of its last four games, including back-to-back ranked wins vs. Iowa State and previously undefeated BYU.

There are a few other scenarios for Iowa State, but they’re a little more complicated. They can be found here.

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Big 12 tiebreaker rules

Here is full Big 12 tiebreaker rules for 2024:

  1. Two-team tie
    • ONE. Head-to-head competition between the two equal teams.
    • B. Win percentage against all regular conference opponents among the ties
    • team
    • C. Winning percentage against the second-highest ranked common opponent in the standings (based on the record in all games played in the conference), continuing through the standings. When arriving at a different group of tied teams, while comparing records, use each team’s winning percentage against the collective tied teams as a group (prior to that group’s own tie procedure) instead of the performance against individual tied teams
    • D. Combined winning percentage in conference play for conference opponents (i.e. strength of conference schedule).
    • E. Total number of wins in a 12 game season. The following conditions will apply to the calculation of the total number of victories: Only one victory against a team from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision or lower division will be counted annually. All games exempt from counting toward the annual maximum number of football contests per NCAA rules. (Applicable statute 17.10.5.2.1) is not included.
    • F. Highest ranking by SportSource Analytics (team rating score metric) after the final weekend of regular season games.
    • G. Coin toss
  2. Three-team tie
    • ONE. The records of the three (or more) tied teams will be compared based on the winning percentage in games among the tied teams:
      • If all teams involved in the tie did not play each other, but one team defeated all other teams involved in the tie, the team that defeated all other teams in the tie is removed from the tiebreaker and the remaining teams return to the beginning of the applicable tiebreaker process (ie two teams or three or more teams tied).
      • If all teams involved in the tie did not play each other and no team defeated all other teams involved in the tie, proceed to the next stage tiebreaker.
    • B. The records of the three (or more) tied teams will be compared based on winning percentage against all common conference opponents played by all other teams involved in the tie.
    • C. Record of the three (or more) teams tied against the second highest ranked common opponent in the standings (based on the record of all games played in the conference) continues through the standings. When arriving at a different group of tied teams, while comparing records, use each team’s winning percentage against the collective tied teams as a group (prior to that group’s own tie procedure) instead of the performance against individual tied teams.
    • D. Record of the three (or more) teams tied based on combined winning percentage in conference games of conference opponents (i.e. strength of conference schedule)
    • E. Total number of wins in a 12 game season. The following conditions will apply to the calculation of the total number of victories: Only one victory against a team from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision or lower division will be counted annually. All games exempt from counting toward the annual maximum number of football contests per NCAA rules. (Applicable statute 17.10.5.2.1) is not included.
    • F. Highest ranking by SportSource Analytics (team rating score metric) after the final weekend of regular season games.
    • G. Coin toss

Big 12 positions after week 12

Conference notes in parentheses.

Here are the latest Big 12 standings, including only teams still in championship contention:

  • T-1. BYU (6-1)
  • T-1. Colorado (6-1)
  • T-2. Arizona State (5-2)
  • T-2. Iowa State (5-2)
  • T-5. Baylor (4-3)
  • T-5. Kansas State (4-3)
  • T-5. TCU (4-3)
  • T-5. Texas Tech (4-3)
  • T-5. West Virginia (4-3)

Iowa State football 2024 schedule

Here’s a look at Iowa State’s 2024 football schedule, including the final results:

  • Saturday 31 August: vs. North Dakota (W, 21-3)
  • Saturday 7 September: at Iowa (W, 20-19)
  • Saturday 14 September: Goodbye
  • Saturday 21 September: vs. Arkansas State (W, 52-7)
  • Saturday 28 September: at Houston* (w, 20-0)
  • Saturday 5 October: vs. Baylor* (W, 43-21)
  • Saturday 12 October: at West Virginia* (W, 28-16)
  • Saturday 19 October: vs. UCF* (W, 38-35)
  • Saturday 26 October: Goodbye
  • Saturday 2 November: vs. Texas Tech* (L, 23-22)
  • Saturday 9 November: in Kansas* (L, 45-36)
  • Saturday 16 November: vs. Cincinnati* (W, 34-17)
  • Saturday 23 November: in Utah* | 6:30 p.m. CT
  • Saturday 30 November: vs. no. 25 Kansas State* | TBD

*Denotes Big 12 games