Big 12 standings explained: Updated 2024 tiebreakers for BYU, Colorado and more

Will second-year coach Deion Sanders lead Colorado to the Big 12 championship game?

That’s the leading question in an exciting race that will continue to develop in the final three weeks of the season. The Buffaloes are one of five teams in the hunt to compete for the Big 12 championship game on Dec. 7 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Colorado is now tied for the lead in the conference standings. BYU lost 17-13 to Kansas to fall to 9-1 and 6-1 in the conference. Two teams with two losses in conference play – Iowa State and Arizona State – still have a chance. The Cyclones beat Cincinnati 34-17. The Sun Devils beat Kansas State 24-14.

Here’s a look at where those contenders are in the standings, their respective paths to the Big 12 championship and the tie-breaker rules if two teams — or three or more teams — are tied in the conference standings at the end of the regular season .

Big 12 football positions 2024

The Big 12 has four teams with two losses or fewer in conference play with two weeks left in the regular season. Here’s a look at those teams.

SCHOOL	BIG 12	TOTAL	PF	ON
BYU	6-1	9-1	316	195
Colorado	6-1	8-2	341	227
Arizona State	5-2	8-2	308	228
Iowa State	5-2	8-2	314	186

Big 12 tiebreaker rules for the 2024 season

The Big 12 will use six these tie-breakers for the 2024 season in this order until the tie is broken:

Step 1: Inter-team competition.

Step 2: Winning percentage against all regular conference opponents among even teams.

Step 3: Winning percentage against the second-highest ranked common opponent in the standings (based on the record of all games played within the conference) continues through the standings

Step 4: Combined winning percentage in conference play for conference opponents or conference strength schedule.

Step 5: Total number of wins in a 12 game season

Step 6: Highest ranking by SportSource Analytics (team rating score metric) after the final weekend of regular season games

Step 7: Coin toss.

Big 12 challenging road to the championship game

BYU (9-1, 6-1)

Remaining schedule: at Arizona State, vs. Houston

BYU lost 17-13 to Kansas, which snapped a streak of close wins. BYU is tied with Colorado for first place, and the Buffaloes would likely be favored in that game. The road trip to Arizona State is difficult as the Cougars haven’t played in Tempe since 1997.

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Colorado (8-2, 6-1)

Remaining schedule: at Kansas vs. Oklahoma State

What a three week stretch this could be for Colorado. The Buffaloes started it off with a convincing 49-24 win against Utah. The Kansas game is at Arrowhead Stadium and the Cowboys will be in spoiler mode in the finale. Colorado controls its own destiny in the race with two more wins.

Arizona State (8-2, 5-2)

Remaining schedule: vs. BYU in Arizona

What a turnaround for second-year coach Kenny Dillingham. The Sun Devils beat Kansas State on the road, and Sam Leavitt passed for 275 yards and three TDs. Arizona State beat the Wildcats to the brink of elimination and can spice up the conference race against BYU in Week 13.

Iowa State (8-2, 5-2)

Remaining schedule: in Utah, vs. Kansas State

The Cyclones snapped a two-game losing streak with a 34-17 win against Cincinnati and will need help down the stretch. Iowa State has a tough two-game stretch, and the Utah game is huge because the other three contenders beat the Utes.

Big 12 regular opponents tracker for 2024

Here’s a look at the common opponents for the four teams in action. Keep this chart handy for the last three weeks:

TEAM	BYU	COLO.	ISU	ASU
Arizona	W 41-19	W 34-7	–	Nov 30
Arizona State	Nov 23	–	–	–
Baylor	W 34-28	W 38-31	W 43-21	–
BYU	–	–	–	Nov 23
UCF	W 37-24	W 48-21	W 38-35	W 35-31
Cincinnati	–	W 34-23	W 34-17	L 24-14
Colorado	–	–	–	–
Houston	Nov 30	–	W 20-0	–
Iowa State	–	–	–	–
Kansas	L 17-13	Nov 23	L 45-36	W 35-31
Kansas State	W 38-9	L 31-28	Nov 30	W 24-14
Oklahoma State	W 38-35	Nov 29	–	W 42-21
TCU	–	–	–	–
Texas Tech	–	W 41-27	L 23-22	L 30-22
Utah	W 22-21	W 49-24	Nov 23	W 27-19
West Virginia	–	–	W 28-16	–

Most likely Big 12 championship game scenario

BYU and Colorado will make the Big 12 championship game with two more wins.

The Arizona State scenario will be interesting. Let’s say Arizona State wins and Kansas upsets Colorado in Week 13. The Cyclones knock off Kansas State and suddenly there would be a four-way tie between BYU, Colorado, Arizona State and Iowa State at 7-2.

The only head-to-head matchup between any of these teams is BYU vs. Arizona State. That would trickle down to winning percentage against common opponents. Those four teams played UCF, Kansas, Kansas State and Utah.

Arizona State is 4-0 against those teams. BYU is 3-1 and Iowa State would be 3-1 with a sweep. Colorado would be 2-2 and out of the mix. The next step would be the combined conference winning percentage of BYU and Iowa State’s conference opponents. Right now, it favors Iowa State (28-35, .444) over BYU (24-39, .381).