Arizona State-Houston Among Most Vital Week Nine Big 12 Games

TEMPE -- The Arizona State Sun Devils are once again at the forefront of the Big 12 race in the 2025 season following a victory over conference front-runner Texas Tech last week.

Week nine in the league is sure to prove to be another crucial one when it comes to shaping up the standings moving forward - with several league contenders squaring off.

Arizona State on SI ranks the most important games in the conference this week below.

1. (11) Brigham Young @ Iowa State

BYU is now the front-runner to finish at the the top of the standings in the league despite a difficult schedule to finish the regular season. Iowa State will be a stout challenge despite the Cyclones being rather injured relative to other Big 12 programs.

Rocco Becht will have a major opportunity to aid in re-inserting the team as a potential contenders with a home battle against a Cougars squad that has largely escaped recent conference bouts.

2. Houston @ #24 Arizona State

Arizona State will in all likelihood control their own destiny to reach a second consecutive Big 12 title game with a win, while they would face an uphill climb to return to that point with a loss.

Houston has a real opportunity to catapult themselves into the upper-echelon of the conference hierarchy with a win themselves - gifting this game much higher stakes than many anticipated heading into the season.

Sam Leavitt will have a major opportunity to display his Heisman level play once again as well in opposition of a fundamentally sound Houston defense.

3. Baylor @ #21 Cincinnati

This is another contest that has earned a much higher magnitude of importance in recent weeks, as Cincinnati is one of only two undefeated squads in conference play behind the standout play of QB Brendan Sorsby, while Baylor is currently fighting for a chance to still compete despite already posting two conference losses.

Baylor and QB Sawyer Robertson are looking to bounce back from a rough loss to TCU, and Cincinnati is looking to stay in the driver's seat in the conference race.

4. Colorado @ Utah

Utah is in a scenario where they absolutely have to win to remain alive in the race to reach the title game - a home contest with another 8:15 P.M. start time should serve the team well against a Colorado squad that has improved considerably in recent weeks.

Deion Sanders is sure to be motivated to secure this victory against a fellow mountain region rival.

Read more on why the Arizona State men's basketball team will exceed expectations in the 2025-26 season here, and on three major takeaways from the win over Texas Tech here.

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