Big 12 football final power rankings: All 16 teams ranked after CFP

With the National Championship decided, another rollercoaster college football season is officially in the books. Before we jump ahead to talking about 2026, it’s time to pay the Big 12 Conference’s second season in the 16-team era its respects.

It’s a season that saw the conference champion secure one of the four byes in the College Football Playoff for the second year in a row. At the same time, other teams took home classic bowl wins against other Power 4 conference heavy hitters. The conference was once again among the deepest in the nation, with nine teams finishing with winning records.

Advertisement

So let’s look back on the season and rank all 16 teams now that the games have been played and the narratives settled.

16. Oklahoma State (1-11)

Any word other than nightmare wouldn’t aptly describe the Oklahoma State Cowboys‘ season. While the Cowboys headed into 2025 with a less-than-enthralling roster, what hope they had was squashed immediately with a loss to rival Tulsa in Week 2. From there, it was all downhill in legendary coach Mike Gundy’s final season, and the Cowboys ended winless in the Big 12 Conference.

Colorado showed countless flashes of a better team throughout the season, but was never able to put the pieces together. A painfully inconsistent offense, combined with their inability to contain the run game, led to some ugly blowout losses late in the year that tanked their stock. The Buffs stole only one conference game and lost to West Virginia, another struggling school, which places them toward the bottom of the conference.

Advertisement

14. UCF (5-7)

Scott Frost’s return to Space U was far from a renaissance for a program that has struggled to find its place in the Big 12. UCF’s offense held them back in the majority of those games, struggling to find consistency in both the running and passing game. The Knights won two conference games against Oklahoma State and West Virginia but remained largely uncompetitive against the conference’s top and middle teams.

13. West Virginia (4-8)

UCF and West Virginia had shockingly similar seasons, both returned an old, successful head coach, and won two conference games. While the Knights won the head-to-head matchup, the Mountaineers earned an impressive win over then-No. 22 Houston team and beat their rival, Pitt, early in the year. There’s an argument that Rich Rodriguez’s squad took the worst loss in the conference, losing on the road to Ohio, but the Mountaineers only got better as the year progressed.

Advertisement

12. Kansas (5-7)

The 2025 season was another disappointing effort for the Kansas Jayhawks, who found themselves painfully middling once again. Nice wins against UCF, West Virginia and Oklahoma State, as well as close losses to Cincinnati and Arizona, help the Jayhawks stay up in the rankings. However, it was far from a successful season, and their defense’s struggle to close games left them out of bowl season.

Baylor was considered a Big 12 title contender in the offseason, and they nearly were. Early huge wins against SMU and Kansas State offset the negative thoughts after close losses to TCU and Arizona State, but it wasn’t meant to be. The defense’s struggles never went away, and the Bears’ offense never quite met the challenge late in the year. The Bears ended the season on a low note, getting blown out by Arizona and Utah, keeping them just outside the top 10.

Advertisement

10. Kansas State (6-6)

Kansas State underwent one of the more impressive coaching jobs in the 2025 season. After starting extremely cold, the Wildcats got hot, even earning a nice win over TCU and keeping things interesting against Utah. Unfortunately, those wins came too little too late, and the team’s inconsistent play makes it hard to rank them above teams with better records.

After beating Kansas State, Iowa State was off to a screaming start, defeating in-state rival Iowa and moving itself into the top 25. However, their following four-game skid was among the worst in the conference. A loss to Colorado and a blowout loss to BYU highlighted the team’s flaws, and while they finished with three straight wins, only one was against a team that finished with a winning record.

Advertisement

8. Cincinnati (7-6)

Cincinnati ignited the Cyclones’ skid as a part of their up-and-down season. Late in the season, the Bearcats proved unable to keep up with the conference leaders, but stayed frisky, nearly knocking off Arizona. What kept Cincy above Iowa State was their ability to keep up with a demanding schedule and the play of Brendan Sorsby, whose playmaking ability gave them the chance to win any game.

7. Arizona State (8-5)

Arizona State was as resilient as any team in the nation, facing injuries at several key positions, including quarterback. Despite that, the Sun Devils battled in every game they played and earned the honor of being the only team in the conference to knock off Texas Tech. However, the wheels fell off at the end of the season, losing the Territorial Cup and their bowl game.

Advertisement

6. Arizona (9-4)

The Big 12 was full of surprises this season, and Arizona was one of the biggest. Projected to finish toward the bottom of the conference, they stormed out with some key wins over Kansas State and finished strong, beating Arizona State and Cincinnati. Unlike most of the teams below them, they proved they could compete with the Big 12’s best, taking BYU to overtime. While they fell in the Holiday Bowl, the Wildcats were not a team you wanted to see late last season.

5. TCU (9-4)

TCU was the epitome of a roller coaster last season, sometimes soaring high and other times finding itself in the gutter. One thing the Horned Frogs did was battle in nearly every game, only getting blown out once by BYU. TCU’s potent offense was as deadly as any in the country when clicking, and they closed out with a fantastic bowl win over USC.

Advertisement

4. Utah (11-2)

The Utah Utes were a force to be reckoned with for much of this season behind a dynamic offense and, at times, a stifling defense. Utah was fantastic in the middle of the season, posting several 50-point games against inferior competition. What keeps them pinned outside the top three despite a dominant bowl win was their two losses to much better teams, BYU and Texas Tech. Especially against the Red Raiders, the Utes looked like they didn’t belong on the same field as the potential Big 12 champs and never claimed a true great win on the season.

3. Houston (10-3)

If Arizona was one of the biggest surprises, Houston was the shock of the Big 12 Conference. The Cougars impressed with wins over Arizona State and Arizona, while keeping bad teams like Colorado and Oklahoma State at a distance. They shot up my rankings following their shocking bowl win over LSU, where they battled a good SEC team and came away with a fairly dominant victory.

Advertisement

2. BYU (12-2)

Heading into the year with a true freshman at quarterback, BYU had its fair share of doubters, whom they all proved wrong. The Cougars were led by Bear Bachmeier, whose future seems bright as a playmaker supported by BYU’s dominant defense. Despite being knocked off by Texas Tech twice, including in the conference championship game, the Cougars consistently found ways to win games, including in the Pop-Tarts Bowl to end the year.

1. Texas Tech (11-2)

Texas Tech was a well-oiled machine in Big 12 Conference play, typically hanging 40 or more points on anyone who dared step on the same field as them. While their College Football Playoff performance was more than underwhelming, the Red Raiders’ achievements in the regular season cannot be understated. They were the best team in the conference and proved it by winning the conference championship.

Advertisement

Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions.

This article originally appeared on Buffaloes Wire: Big 12 football power rankings following the CFP