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Liam Howard

Chaos in the Big 12! How do the Buffs factor into the most contested race in college football?

Colorado defensive line Cincinnati

The Big 12 was shaken up in Week 10 of the college football season with several notable losses among the top teams in the conference standings. No. 11 Iowa State (7-1, 4-1 Big 12) fell at home to Texas Tech (6-3, 4-2 Big 12) while the Houston Cougars (4-5, 3-3 Big 12) pulled off an upset win over the No. 17 ranked Kansas State Wildcats (7-2, 4-2 Big 12).


What does this mean for the Colorado Buffaloes? The Buffs enjoyed sitting back and watching the action unfold this past week as they were one of eight ranked teams on a bye across the country. With Kansas State picking up their second conference loss of the year, Colorado has moved into third place in the conference standings heading into the final few weeks of the season. 


Current Big 12 standings, College Football Playoff rankings and conference records after Week 10:

1. No. 9 BYU (5-0)

2. No. 17 Iowa State (4-1)

3. No. 20 Colorado (4-1)

4. No. 19 Kansas State (4-2)

5. Texas Tech (4-2)

6. Cincinnati (3-2)

7. Arizona State (3-2)

8. West Virginia (3-2)


The Buffs can’t get stuck with paying attention to the two teams above them in the rankings, as a few teams currently below them also pose a threat. Most notably, Texas Tech is one to look out for as they host the Buffaloes this coming week and would jump ahead of them in the standings and find themselves knocking at the door of the Big 12 Championship game with a win. 


So what do the Buffaloes need to make the conference championship? The easiest path for CU is to win their remaining games and hope for some help from there. They would need one more loss from Iowa State or two losses from BYU to make their way in (without needing a strength of schedule tiebreaker), so here are some notable games to look out for on each of those teams’ schedules going forward:


Iowa State:

@ Kansas (11/9)

@ Utah (11/23)

Vs. No. 19 Kansas State (11/30)


BYU:

@ Utah (11/9)

Vs. Kansas (11/16)

@ Arizona State (11/23)


While the Buffaloes don’t control their destiny at this point, there is still quite a bit they can do to influence it. None of the remaining games for any of the top teams in the Big 12 are cakewalks, so as the weather gets colder and this exciting college football season winds down, stay tuned to this tight conference title race as anything can happen. Stakes are higher than ever with a guaranteed spot (and first-round bye) in the College Football Playoff on the line, and with all of the top five teams in the conference looking for their first trip to the playoff, history is waiting to be made.

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