How Colorado can get to the Big 12 Championship. Tiebreakers explained

On November 30, 2024By Littum

Coach Deion Sanders and Colorado Buffaloes still has a narrow path to enter the Big 12 Conference championship game after falling into a four-way tie for first place with BYU, Arizona State and Iowa State.

There are two clear ways for them to get in with one game left in the regular season, as confirmed by the Big 12 on Sunday under the league’s tiebreaker rules.

First, the Buffs (8-3) must defeat Oklahoma State (3-8) at home in their regular-season football finale on Friday at

∎ Then they need at least two of the other three first-place teams to lose on Saturday, leaving the Buffs alone or in a two-way tie at the top with a 7-2 league record.

∎ Or they just have to have BYU lose to Houston and Texas Tech to beat West Virginia. Even if the Buffs end up in a three-way tie for first place in this scenario, that combination would favor them under the league’s tiebreaker rules.

If either of those scenarios happen, the Buffs will play for the Big 12 title on Dec. 7 in Arlington, Texas, despite suffering a damaging 37-21 loss Saturday against Kansas. If neither of those scenarios happen, the Buffs will next play in a non-playoff bowl game, such as the Holiday or Alamo Bowl on Dec. 27 or 28.

What if all four first-place Big 12 teams win?

If all four teams win next weekend, Arizona State will play Iowa State for the league title. Because Colorado hasn’t played the other four first-place teams, the tiebreaker gets complicated and involves records against regular conference opponents.

The four first-place teams share four Big 12 opponents: Kansas, Kansas State, Utah and Central Florida. Arizona State is 4-0 against those teams. BYU is 3-1. Colorado is 2-2. Iowa State is 2-1 and hosts Kansas State next week.

BYU hosts Houston and Arizona State plays in Arizona on Saturday. All four first place teams have 6-2 records in league play.

What if three teams are tied for first place?

The Big 12 spelled it out like this, according to which of the four first-place teams loses and leaves tied three times for first place.

∎ If Colorado loses to Oklahoma State and the other three teams win, it would be Arizona State vs. Iowa State in league play

∎ If Arizona State loses but the others win, it would be Iowa State vs. BYU playing for the championship.

∎ If Iowa State loses but the others win, it would be Arizona State vs. BYU.

∎ If BYU loses but the other three win, it becomes even more complicated under the league’s tiebreaker rules and involves records against the second-highest ranked common opponents in the league standings.

If BYU loses and the other three win, Colorado needs Texas Tech to beat West Virginia in the regular season finale. That’s because Arizona State and Iowa State both lost to Tech, while Colorado beat Tech this season.

Colorado would play in the Big 12 title game in that scenario against either Arizona State or Iowa State, depending on the results of other Big 12 games Saturday. If Baylor beats Kansas and Cincinnati beats TCU, Colorado’s opponent in this case would be Iowa State. If not, it would be Arizona State.

But if West Virginia beats Tech in that scenario, Colorado is out and Arizona State would play Iowa State for the league title.

What about the five teams tied for second place?

Five teams are tied for second in the league standings with 5-3 league records: Texas Tech, Baylor, TCU, West Virginia and Kansas State.

The league said they need to win out and see at least three of the four 6-2 teams lose.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: [email protected]