How could CU make the Big 12 Championship game?

On November 30, 2024By Littum

DENVER (KDVR) — No. The 23rd-ranked University of Colorado Boulder Buffaloes are 8-3 heading into their final regular-season game against Oklahoma State University, meaning they still have a chance to participate in the Dr. Pepper Big 12 Football 2024 Championship Game, also after Saturday’s loss to the University of Kansas.

Four Big 12 teams – Arizona State University, Iowa State University, Brigham Young University and CU – all have 6-2 conference records in their last games. With CU’s other two wins and one loss coming against non-conference opponents.

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Five more teams – Baylor University, Kansas State University, Texas Christian University, Texas Tech University and West Virginia University – have 5-3 conference records heading into the last week. That means it’s still possible, but unlikely, that they could end up advancing in the championship game.

How CU could end up in the championship game

The simplest scenario is that only the Buffs and one other team with a 6-2 record win their game this week.

According to the Big 12, in that scenario both 7-2 teams would automatically advance to the championship game.

Things get a bit more complicated if there are three teams that finish with a tied 7-2 record.

In this scenario, where the Buffs win out and have a 7-2 conference record, there are two situations where CU gets to play in the conference championship — both require BYU to lose to Houston and Texas Tech to beat West Virginia.

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The first situation would occur if Baylor defeats Kansas and Cincinnati defeats TCU. In this case, CU would face Iowa State in the Big 12 championship.

The other situation, which occurs in any other outcome of the Baylor and TCU games, CU will face Arizona State in the conference championship.

If all four teams, currently 6-2, win this weekend, the championship will be between Arizona State and Iowa State.

Of course, there could also be an outcome where all the 6-2 teams lose this weekend, but that would mean a much more complicated tie-breaker situation with many possible outcomes depending on how the 5-3 teams perform.

Kickoff for the game at Folsom Field is 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 29.

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