Four Big 12 Teams Make Final AP Top 25

With the college football season officially over, the Big 12 can look toward 2025.

Arizona State celebrate together after Arizona State Sun Devils running back Cam Skattebo (4) scores a touchdown in the fourth quarter as the Texas Longhorns play the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Peach Bowl College Football Playoff quarterfinal at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, Jan. 1, 2025. | Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

2024 was a rather forgettable season for much of the Big 12, but a few teams still managed to make the most of last season.

On Monday, Ohio State beat Notre Dame in the National Championship to earn the first title in the 12-team playoff era. The Buckeyes’ triumph also meant the end of the 2024 season.

On Tuesday, the AP released its final poll for the 2024 campaign, which featured Ohio State at No. 1. On down the list were the rest of the College Football Playoff field and plenty of other teams that had a memorable year.

Among the 25 teams in the rankings, four came from the Big 12. The conference’s lone representative in the College Football Playoff was also the highest-ranked Big 12 school. Arizona State finished at No. 7 after it had one of the best seasons in school history in a year it was picked to finish dead last in the Big 12 in the preseason.

The Sun Devils’ rise to the top of the conference was one of the many unexpected things to happen in the Big 12 this season. The top Big 12 team for most of the regular season, BYU, finished next at No. 13. Big 12 runner-up Iowa State came in at No. 15, and Deion Sanders’ star-studded Colorado squad sneaked into the poll at No. 25. Kansas State and TCU missed out but still received votes. 

With only four teams in the final rankings, the Big 12 finished with fewer teams than the SEC (7) and Big Ten (5) and tied the ACC at four. Given the numbers, the conference’s depth didn’t turn out to be much of a problem, but the Big 12’s lack of teams at the top of the rankings put it firmly behind the SEC and Big Ten.

Going into next season, the Big 12 has plenty to look forward to. While none of the teams in the top five of the preseason poll finished the year ranked, the rest of the conference showed there is no shortage of depth. As the 12-team playoff era rages on, having a multitude of competitive teams could be an advantage. 

Only time will tell if the Big 12 has any teams that can truly compete for a championship in the superconference era, but it will always have a seat at the table.

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