BYU Clinches Spot in the Big 12 Title Game Against Texas Tech

BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier scores a touchdown against Utah | BYU Photo

In just its third year in the Big 12 conference, BYU has clinched a spot in the Big 12 title game. On Friday night, no. 25 Arizona took down no. 20 Arizona State. With the Arizona win, both BYU and Texas Tech clinched spots in the Big 12 title game.

The Cougars and the Red Raiders will rematch in Arlington, Texas on December 6th. The winner of the Big 12 championship game will secure a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff. The loser of BYU-Texas Tech will still have a chance to earn an at-large bid in the playoff. For BYU, however, winning the Big 12 might be their only chance to make the playoff. As of Friday night, BYU is the first team out of the CFP.

It's worth noting that Arizona's win was also important for BYU's resume. The Cougars will end the season with two wins, at minimum, over top 25 teams. BYU took down Arizona on the road earlier this year. The Wildcats could jump up a few spots after taking down a top 20 team.

The BYU coaching staff deserves so much credit for getting this BYU team to the conference championship game. While this BYU roster was ready to compete for a Big 12 championship, the Cougars lost starting quarterback Jake Retzlaff to an honor code violation in July. The Cougars turned to true freshman Bear Bachmeier as the starting quarterback.

When Retzlaff left for Tulane, most national analysts assumed BYU would not be in the top tier of the Big 12. Fast forward to today and BYU is 10-1 heading into the final game of the season. Not only that, but the Cougars have gotten better production from Bachmeier than they did from Retzlaff, and they have improved on their 11-2 campaign in 2024.

In the end, it was BYU's win over archrival Utah that secured BYU's spot in the title game. Since BYU has a head-to-head win over Utah, the Cougars will go to the Big 12 title game regardless of the result against UCF.

The aforementioned Bear Bachmeier's game-sealing touchdown run against the Utes will forever be remembered for not only taking down rival Utah, but also sealing BYU's place in the Big 12 title game.

THERE'S A BEAR ON THE LOOSE IN PROVO 🐻🔥@BYUFootball pic.twitter.com/MnjRfYa2Tr

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 19, 2025

This will be the first time BYU will have played in a conference championship game since the 1990's when BYU played in the WAC.