Big 12 Power Rankings Going into Week 1

Support PFB with a PFB+ membership — $8 a month or $50 for a year.

After TCU let us all down played last weekend, the rest of the Big 12 starts their 2026 season over the next few days.

Before a Week 1 ball flies through the sky, though, we wanted to share a Big 12 power ranking entering the 2026 season.

1. Texas Tech

2025 Record: 12-2
Week 1 Opponent: Abilene Christian (Tech -42.5)

Until proven otherwise, the reigning champs are the reigning champs.

There’s some turnover happening in Lubbock, as the Red Raiders got five guys taken in the first three rounds of the NFL Daft, but Tech has the capital to fill those needs.

Per 247Sports, Texas Tech had the No. 6 recruiting class in the country, which ranked tops in the Big 12. The Red Raiders restocked the dominant defense from a season ago by adding four four-star defensive transfers in Mateen Ibirogba (DL), Austin Romaine (LB), Adam Trick (Edge) and Davin Martin (CB).

The biggest question the Red Raiders have entering the year comes at quarterback following the Brendan Sorsby saga of the summer. A junior, Will Hammond enters his first season as a full-time starter. He’s played in a dozen games throughout his first two seasons of college ball, where he’s completed 63% of his 166 attempts for 1,151 yards, nine touchdowns and five interceptions. He enters the year coming off an ACL tear, and the Red Raiders somewhat sneakily added former Florida State QB Tommy Castellanos late.

2. BYU

2025 Record: 12-2
Week 1 Opponent: Utah Tech (BYU -51.5)

The Cougars made the Big 12 title game last season, finishing 12-2 with both of those losses coming via Texas Tech.

BYU has the most returning starters of anyone in the league, per CBS Sports, and that includes quarterback Bear Bachmeier. As a true freshman last season, Bachmeier threw for 3,033 yards and 15 TDs to seven INTs, while running for another 527 yards and 11 touchdowns. Given his youth, there should be quite a bit of room for Bachmeier to continue to grow, and a 12-2 first season as a college starter is a prime spot to build from.

What also helps is he has running back LJ Martin standing next to him. Martin rushed for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns last season.

BYU took a league-low nine players out of the portal this offseason but even without the quantity of others, that class ranks sixth in the league, per 247.

The biggest hang-up the Cougars have seemed to have this offseason was off the field, as head coach Kalani Sitake is now set to report to Keith Vorkink rather than AD Brian Santiago after Sitake voiced some concerns about resources.

So long as that doesn’t seep into the season, it looks to be another solid year for the Cougars. They don’t play Texas Tech in the regular season but do have a highly anticipated nonconference game against Notre Dame on Oct. 17.

3. Utah

2025 Record: 11-2
Week 1 Opponent: Idaho (Utah -36.5)

The Utes’ only losses last season came to Texas Tech and BYU. Outside of those two games, they outscored foes a combined 506-188.

Utah returns just five starters from last season, but one of those is quarterback Devon Dampier. After transferring from New Mexico, Dampier threw for 2,490 yards, 24 touchdowns and five INTs while running for another 835 yards and 10 scores.

Utah added a few four-star weapons for Dampier via the portal in Utah State transfer Braden Pegan (926 rec. yards and five TDs last season) and San Jose State transfer Kyri Shoels (768 rec. yards and two TDs last season).

The thing you wonder about with Utah is the coaching change. Longtime defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley steps in for longtime coach Kyle Whittingham. Whittingham since took the Michigan job and brought a decent haul of players with him. I’m less worried about how Scalley will fair as head coach and more wondering how big a void the guys Whittingham took with him will leave.

4. Houston

2025 Record: 10-3
Week 1 Opponent: Oregon State (Houston -20.5)

Spots four through eight on my list here are essentially interchangeable.

Willie Fritz is a head coach who wins. The Cougars went 4-8 in Dana Holgorsen’s final year and then 4-8 again in Fritz’s first year before the 10-win explosion last season.

The Cougars return a dozen starters from last season, including quarterback Conner Weigman, who threw for 2,705 yards and 25 touchdowns in his first year in Houston. He also ran for 700 yards and 11 more scores. Should Weigman go down at any point, the Cougars also have a promising backup in Keisean Henderson — the No. 1 overall player in the 2026 recruiting class.

A worry to wonder with Houston in 2026 is six of their wins came by a score or less last season. Is that just Fritz being a good coach? Or will water find its level in 2026?

5. Arizona

2025 Record: 9-4
Week 1 Opponent: Northern Arizona (Arizona -32.5)

Arizona returns 10 starters from last season’s squad, including fifth-year quarterback Noah Fifita. Fifita has thrown for 9,183 yards and 73 touchdowns in his Arizona career to this point. He was named the Preseason All-Big 12 quarterback going into the year.

It’s not the most forgiving of Big 12 schedules for the Wildcats, though, as they’ll have to play BYU (in Provo), Texas Tech (in Lubbock), Utah, Kansas State (in Manhattan) and Arizona State.

The Arizona defense returns leading sack-getter from 2025 in linebacker Chase Kennedy and second-leading tackler Taye Brown.

6. Oklahoma State

2025 Record: 1-11
Week 1 Opponent: at Tulsa (Oklahoma State -13.5)

It certainly feels odd putting a team that finished 1-11 last season and hasn’t won a Big 12 game in two seasons in the top half of the league. But to call this the same team also doesn’t feel right given the fact that there are more than 90 newcomers on the roster.

If you’re reading this power ranking on this site, you probably know all you need to about the Cowboys. But, if you know nothing, OSU essentially imported the top offense in the country from last season — from play-caller/head coach Eric Morris to quarterback Drew Mestemaker to running back Caleb Hawkins to leading receiver Wyatt Young.

Potential concerns include the fact that OSU, regardless of who is wearing the uniform, hasn’t won a Big 12 game since Nov. 25, 2023. And also the fact that there are so many new pieces having to come together — a decent amount of whom haven’t played at the Power Five level.

7. Arizona State

2025 Record: 8-5
Week 1 Opponent: Morgan State (Arizona State -43.5)

Kenny Dillingham has led the Sun Devils into the Top 11 of the AP Poll in back-to-back seasons, but Arizona state returns just three starters from last year.

To counter that, Dillingham brought in the third-ranked portal class in the conference — trailing only Tech and OSU. That includes Kentucky transfer QB Cutter Boley, who 247Sports labeled a four-star prospect. He threw for 2,160 yards and 15 TD last season, also throwing a dozen picks.

Dillingham also got Boley a few weapons in Boston College transfer Reed Harris and Colorado transfer Omarion Miller, two four-star transfer receivers.

The worry with the Sun Devils is they lost star quarterback Sam Leavitt to LSU. 247Sports considered Leavitt the No. 1 player in the portal. ASU also lost running back Raleek Brown to Texas.

So, should Dillingham win big again in 2026, it’ll be with a different group of stars.

8. Kansas State

2025 Record: 6-6
Week 1 Opponent: Nicholls (K-State -41.5)

Last season was an odd one for K-State, starting with that game in Ireland and ending with Chris Klieman’s retirement.

But it’s spurred on what could be an exciting new era under former K-State QB/OC Collin Klein, who returns from a stint as Texas A&M’s OC. He pairs with returning quarterback Avery Johnson. Johnson took a slight step back in terms of production last season, but hypothetically, Klein’s return should help him.

K-State should have a formidable rushing attack between Johnson and running backs Joe Jackson and Rodney Fields.

The Wildcats also added four-star transfer edge rusher Wendell Gregory, who OSU fans will be familiar with. He should take another step forward with experience.

9. Baylor

2025 Record: 5-7
Week 1 Opponent: at Auburn (Auburn -7.5)

I think there’s a notable gap between K-State and Baylor, so much so that it almost feels odd having them next to each other.

Dave Aranda is probably the Big 12 coach who is most on the hot seat entering the season. Since winning the league in 2021, the Bears have gone 6-7, 3-9, 8-5, 5-7.

The big addition of the offseason is quarterback DJ Lagway from Florida. Lagway is a Baylor legacy and was a highly touted high school prospect. He played in 24 of Florida’s 25 games the past two seasons (his true freshman and sophomore seasons), throwing for 4,179 yards, 28 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. Lagway was part of the No. 5 portal class in the Big 12.

10. UCF

2025 Record: 5-7
Week 1 Opponent: Bethune Cookman (UCF -42.5)

Year 1 of UCF Tenure 2 for Scott Frost was a mixed bag, finishing 5-7 but 2-7 in the Big 12.

The Knights bring in former James Madison quarterback Alonza Barnett III and also have 10 returning starters.

In the past two seasons, Barnett threw for a combined 5,404 yards and 49 touchdowns while running for another 1,031 yards and 22 touchdowns.

11. West Virginia

2025 Record: 4-8
Week 1 Opponent: Coastal Carolina (WVU -21.5)

Rich Rodriguez’s second tenure in Morgantown had a signature moment at the beginning of the year when the Mountaineers bested Pitt in overtime in the Backyard Brawl, but WVU won just two games after that.

I’d expect the Mountaineer ground game to give teams trouble in 2026, starting with Jax State transfer running back Cam Cook, a preseason All-American who led the country with 1,659 rushing yards.

He’ll be in the backfield with QB Michael Hawkins, who transfers in from OU. Hawkins’ OU stint wasn’t always smooth, but he was thrown into the fire. In nine games, he has thrown for 950 yards, ran for 262 yards and accounted for eight touchdowns.

12. Cincinnati

2025 Record: 7-6
Week 1 Opponent: Boston College (Cincy -7.5)

With all the portal movement, it’s hard to have a good feeling about any of these teams, but I feel like I’m extra uneducated on the Bearcats.

They lost quarterback Brendan Sorsby, which is a big blow. He’s been replaced by Georgia Southern transfer JC French.

Cincy’s portal class ranks seventh in the league, and the top four players in that class, per 247, are receivers — led by four-star transfers Cade Wolford (Kent State) and Flynn Schiele (Colorado School of Mines).

The Bearcats also have three returning starters along the offensive line.

13. TCU

2025 Record: 9-4
Week 1 Opponent: Bye (lost to North Carolina in Week 1)

I fought with all I could from putting TCU lower after an uninspiring performance in Week 0 against North Carolina.

But aside from his four-year stint at Cal, Sonny Dykes has won everywhere he’s been. In 16 years as a head coach, Dykes has had 10 winning seasons at six losing seasons. So, for the time being, I’ll give the Horned Frogs some sort of benefit of the doubt.

Perhaps Harvard transfer QB Jaden Craig will look better stateside than his 20-for-32, 175-yard performance in Ireland.

14. Colorado

2025 Record: 3-9
Week 1 Opponent: at Georgia Tech (Georgia Tech -6.5)

I think the Buffaloes will be better in 2026 than they were in 2025. How much better? I’m not quite sure.

Not only was Colorado transitioning out of the Shedeur Sanders-Travis Hunter Era last season, but coach Deion Sanders was also dealing with some health concerns. It’s tough to know how much that played into the lack of success, but it couldn’t have helped.

Quarterback Julian Lewis was a high-level recruit and got to whet his appetite in four games last season. On top of that, Coach Prime brought in the fourth-ranked portal class in the conference, with the Buffs’ 43 portal commits trailing only OSU in the league in terms of numbers.

15. Kansas

2025 Record: 5-7
Week 1 Opponent: Long Island (Kansas -41.5)

After a promising start to Lance Leipold’s tenure, the Jayhawks have seemed to stagnate in recent seasons.

And now, KU goes into a year without quarterback Jalon Daniels, who played in the past six seasons in Lawrence.

Last week, Leipold named returning sophomore Isaiah Marshall as the teams’ Week 1 QB. He attempted three passes last season, completing them all for 28 yards. He ran 15 times for 160 yards.

KU’s portal haul ranked 13th in the league, with the Jayhawks being one of five Big 12 teams without a four-star transfer.

16. Iowa State

2025 Record: 8-4
Week 1 Opponent: SEMO (Iowa State -30.5)

I don’t blame Iowa State at all for the low standing I’ve given them going into the season. In fact, I don’t even blame Matt Campbell. I blame Penn State swinging and missing about nine times before they finally hit with Campbell, who the Nittany Lions probably should’ve been targeting all along.

The late coaching switch opened up the portal in Ames, and a ton of guys followed Campbell to Happy Valley. 247Sports ranks 19 outgoing transfers ahead of the top-rated guy the Cyclones brought in. That’s not ideal.

I like the quarterback new coach Jimmy Rogers brought in. Arkansas State transfer Jaylen Raynor put up 8,694 passing yards and 1,183 rushing yards while accounting for 67 touchdowns in three seasons.