Frogs Stay in the Big 12 Hunt After Crazy Weekend Slate

The Big 12 delivered another wild weekend with upsets, lightning delays and Provo madness.

Oct 18, 2025; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; TCU Horned Frogs running back Kevorian Barnes (2) reacts after scoring a touchdown Baylor Bears during the second half of a game at Amon G. Carter Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

The Big 12 has been marketed as the conference of parity, with most, if not every, team theoretically capable of beating one another each week. As such, that has made the race to claim the conference title one of the most hectic in any league over the past several seasons. Heading into 2025, it was assumed that would once again be the case. But through seven weeks, the exact opposite has been true: Texas Tech has taken the reins and doesn’t appear to be letting go anytime soon. Well, more on that in a bit.

TCU has long been thought to be in position to fight for a spot in the conference championship game, but with two losses in league play already this season, that dream feels a bit more distant. Still, there’s a path to get the Frogs to Arlington, and some important results this past weekend might have opened up the road a bit more—assuming TCU can take care of business the rest of the way.

The Frogs Take the Revivalry

Oct 18, 2025; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; The TCU Horned Frogs offensive line stands on the field between plays against the Baylor Bears during the first half of a game at Amon G. Carter Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

TCU and Baylor both desperately needed a win on Saturday, as it wasn’t just a rivalry contest. The winner would keep its dreams alive, while the loser would see those aspirations go down the drain. The Frogs took home the 42-36 victory, albeit after three lightning delays and some late-game shenanigans they’d probably like to put in the rearview mirror.

Baylor is now in a hole it probably can’t climb out of. The Bears already have two conference losses to teams ahead of them in the standings—Arizona State and TCU—and still have games remaining against Cincinnati, Utah and Houston, all schools capable of taking them down. With fans starting to turn on head coach Dave Aranda, it’s safe to say the vibes are officially in the toilet in Waco.

For TCU, getting back on track against Baylor helped it keep pace with some of the other schools that just keep winning. The Frogs will need more victories like this one to stay in the hunt.

Arizona State Gives Texas Tech its First Loss

Oct 18, 2025; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders wide receiver Caleb Douglas (5) is tackled by Arizona State Sun Devils defensive back Keith Abney II (1) and linebacker Jordan Crook (8) in the first half at Mountain America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

There’s just something in the air in Tempe that causes teams from Texas to go in there and put up stinky performances. The Frogs faltered against Arizona State several weeks ago for their first loss of the season, and Texas Tech fell short in a 26-22 heartbreaker on Saturday for its first defeat of 2025, too. It must be the delicious food at The Melt that distracts visiting teams from performing up to par.

In all seriousness, Arizona State did to Texas Tech what no other school has been able to do this season: control the pace of play. With Sam Leavitt back at quarterback, the Sun Devils looked like they’d finally woken up on the right side of the bed. Leavitt wasn’t the most efficient, but his 319 passing yards did the trick. Pair that with another exceptional Jordyn Tyson performance—he caught 10 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown—and Arizona State was able to get more done offensively against the Red Raiders than any other team this season.

Sure, Texas Tech was without starting quarterback Behren Morton, but with what redshirt freshman backup Will Hammond was able to do in Salt Lake City against Utah earlier in the year, it was assumed he might have more juice than he seemingly does. And while he did pick up the pace toward the end of the game and even gave his team the lead for a moment, his 167 passing yards just weren’t enough.

With this result, both Arizona State and Texas Tech are 3-1 in conference play, one game ahead of the 2-2 Horned Frogs. Of course, the Sun Devils hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over TCU, so the Frogs will need ASU to lose a couple more games if they want to leap ahead. And since TCU and Texas Tech inexplicably don’t play one another, the only way the Frogs can pass the Red Raiders is for the team from Lubbock to drop more games, which, after Saturday’s result, doesn’t seem as impossible as we might have thought.

BYU Wins the Holy War

Oct 18, 2025; Provo, Utah, USA; BYU Cougars quarterback Bear Bachmeier (47) runs for a touchdown against Utah Utes defensive tackle Pupu Sepulona (45), cornerback Elijah Davis (9) and linebacker Levani Damuni (3) during the second half at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

BYU-Utah is one of the most underrated rivalry games in America, and it did not disappoint on Saturday night in Provo. It was a rock fight, with both teams leaning on their ground attacks—Utah ran for 226 yards and BYU for 202—that went the way of the Cougars by a score of 24-21.

The game was freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier’s coming-out party. While his overall passing numbers weren’t overly impressive—he threw for 166 yards and a touchdown—anyone who watched knows it was his toughness that made the difference between BYU winning and losing. In fact, his ferocious touchdown run with 4:22 to go in the fourth quarter was the winning score for the Cougars.

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

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

BYU remained undefeated both overall and in conference play with the win, while Utah now has two losses in the Big 12. It’s not statistically likely that TCU will be able to catch up to the Cougars, though the two teams do play in Provo on Nov. 15. With Utah, however, the Frogs need to stay in front of the Utes, and that means hoping for more Utah losses and praying for more TCU victories.

Both of those propositions might be difficult to come by, as TCU has one of the toughest remaining Big 12 schedules with matchups against West Virginia, Iowa State, BYU, Houston, and Cincinnati still to come, while Utah has just Colorado, Cincinnati, Baylor, Kansas State, and Kansas. Who knows, though? It’s the Big 12, after all, and things are only going to get more insane.

Houston and Cincinnati Keep Stacking Up Dubs

Oct 18, 2025; Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats tight end Joe Royer (11) runs into the end zone for a touchdown during the first half against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Boone Pickens Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | William Purnell-Imagn Images

Not many people had both Houston and Cincinnati being 6-1 overall on their bingo cards. For those who did, congratulations, you predicted something so unlikely at the beginning of the season that the rest of us have no choice but to shower you with praise.

Cincinnati took down an overmatched and coachless Oklahoma State team with relative ease, and Houston had to rely on another walk-off field goal to beat Arizona. Still, both teams took home victories, and that’s all that matters in the chaotic Big 12.

TCU really could have used an upset by either Oklahoma State or Arizona, but with that not occurring, it’ll have to rely on some other team to come up and bite the Bearcats or Cougars. Luckily for the Frogs, they’ll get their own shot at doing just that later in the season. Needless to say, TCU needs to beat those teams if it wants any shot at competing for a conference championship.

Updated Conference Standings

1. No. 11 BYU (7-0, 4-0)
2. No. 21 Cincinnati (6-1, 4-0)
3. No. 24 Arizona State (5-2, 3-1)
4. No. 14 Texas Tech (6-1, 3-1)
5. Houston (6-1, 3-1)
6. Iowa State (5-2, 2-2)
7. TCU (5-2, 2-2)
8. Baylor (4-3, 2-2)
9. Kansas State (3-4, 2-2)
10. Utah (5-2, 2-2)
11. Kansas (4-3, 2-2)
12. Arizona (4-3, 1-3)
13. UCF (4-3, 1-3)
14. Colorado (3-4, 1-3)
15. West Virginia (2-5, 0-4)
16. Oklahoma State (1-6, 0-4)

BYU and Cincinnati sit atop the standings, with Arizona State, Texas Tech, and Houston all coming in at 3-1 and tied for second. A whopping six teams are 2-2, TCU among them, and five schools are 1-3 or worse. The Frogs have remaining contests against the first, second, fifth, and sixth place teams in the standings.