Copyright Salt Lake City Deseret News
When the calendar flips over to November on Saturday, there will be four Big 12 teams within one game of the top of the conference standings and four others just one game back. It sets up a final month of the regular season that could prove entertaining and create chaos in a league that is fighting to improve its national perception in College Football Playoff settings. What kind of chaos could break out the first weekend of November? Here’s a look at three key Big 12 matchups during Week 10 of the 2025 season. No. 17 Cincinnati at No. 24 Utah Saturday, 8:15 p.m. MDT (ESPN) The first meeting of these two new Big 12 programs has plenty of importance attached to it. The Bearcats (7-1, 5-0 Big 12) come into the matchup on a seven-game winning streak and are one of two teams, along with BYU, that are currently unbeaten in Big 12 play. In their six wins, the Utes (6-2, 3-2 Big 12) have outscored their opponents by an average score of 46.7 to 9.3, though they’ve lost twice to ranked opponents in Texas Tech and BYU. Utah would likely fall out of the conference chase with one more Big 12 loss. That sets the stakes high for this game, and it has ESPN’s “College GameDay” coming to Salt Lake City. Devon Dampier is expected to return to the field for Utah after true freshman Byrd Ficklin filled in at quarterback last week in the Utes’ 53-7 victory over Colorado. Utah is coming off a game where it ran for 422 yards while holding the Buffaloes to 140 yards total, including — 18 in the first half. The Bearcats are expected to be without one of their top offensive playmakers, running back Evan Pryor, who leads the team in rushing. That will put more of the workload on fellow back Tawnee Walker and quarterback Brendan Sorsby. Cincinnati is near the middle of the Big 12 in several defensive categories. Can the Bearcats do enough on that side of the ball to keep a normally potent Utah offense in check? No. 13 Texas Tech at Kansas State Saturday, 1:30 p.m. MDT (Fox) These two original members of the Big 12 Conference are set for the latest round of a series that Kansas State has dominated in recent years. The Wildcats have won eight straight against Texas Tech, dating back a decade. This time, though, the Red Raiders (7-1, 4-1 Big 12) are the favorites. Texas Tech has been rolling much of the season after overhauling its roster with the No. 2-ranked transfer portal class, and the results have been impressive. Texas Tech will get starting quarterback Behren Morton back from injury this week, and the Red Raiders’ defense is tops in the Big 12. Can Kansas State (4-4, 3-2 Big 12) play spoiler? The Wildcats have managed to overcome a 1-4 start to the season and get back to .500 on the year after winning three of their last four games. Kansas State, while still in the league race, can’t afford any more losses. If the Wildcats can prevail for a ninth-straight time against Texas Tech, though, it would benefit several other teams in the Big 12 race, including Kansas State. Arizona State at Iowa State Saturday, 11 a.m. MDT (TNT) The rematch of last year’s Big 12 championship game has lost some luster, with Iowa State (5-3, 2-3 Big 12) on a three-game losing streak and Arizona State (5-3, 3-2 Big 12) having lost two of its past three games. The Sun Devils still have faint hopes to defend their league title, though they can’t afford any more slip-ups. While Arizona State’s schedule lightens up after Saturday, it won’t get back into the conference chase without some help. Then, significant news dropped Friday: Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt will undergo season-ending surgery for a lingering foot issue, Sun Devils coach Kenny Dillingham told Arizona Sports’ “Bickley & Marotta” radio show. Iowa State, meanwhile, hasn’t won in a month, with two of its three losses coming to Cincinnati and BYU. The Cyclones aren’t officially eliminated from the conference chase yet, but for the eight teams with three or more conference losses at this point, chaos would need to go into overdrive for anyone on the bottom half of the league standings to have a shot at the Big 12 championship game. Iowa State will have the home-field advantage in this rematch, one year after Arizona State blitzed the Cyclones 45-19 in the 2024 Big 12 championship game. Big 12 standings As of Friday, Oct. 31
