Tag: Big 12 Football

UCF fires defensive coordinator Ted Roof, pressure falls on Gus Malzahn

UCF has made a change at DC but the pressure now falls at the feet of the head coach.

For the second consecutive season, the UCF Knights have suffered a five-game losing streak. Last year it happened after starting 3-0. Perhaps they decided it was such a joy that the same thing happened in 2024. UCF now needs to finish 3-1 over the final four to get to the postseason.

Following the 37-24 loss to BYU at FBC Mortgage Stadium, the Knights fired defensive coordinator Ted Roof on Monday. The news was reported by Brett McMurphy among others. Roof will be replaced by co-defensive coordinator Addison Williams, who was the DC last season.

Roof joined the team after serving as the Oklahoma Sooners defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2022 and 2023. This season his defense is No. 11 in scoring defense in the Big 12 (27.1 points per game) and No. 12 in total defense (379.1 yards per game).

The firing signals the pressure is on head coach Gus Malzahn after another season falling apart following a promising start. Prior to joining the Big 12, Malzahn was a combined 18-9 with a 1-1 record in bowl games. Since joining the Power Four, the UCF head coach is a meager 9-12 and 4-10 in Big 12 play.

The Knights are unlikely to make a move at the moment but it seems to be getting worse for the former Auburn Tigers head coach. His calling card is on the offensive side of the ball but so far this year, UCF has the No. 9 scoring offense in the Big 12 (30.4) and No. 2 total offense (454.8).

But for UCF it is more than numbers when the results aren’t following. In three of the losses during the current streak, the Knights have been outscored by a combined 51 points. The other two losses came by a combined 9 points. That can make a major difference in the perception. Two scores away from a 5-3 record and a 3-5 record.

If the trajectory continues for the Knights, head coach Gus Malzahn could be in hot water this offseason.

Choose your Big 12 fake field goal: BYU’s double snap or Texas Tech’s shoulder flip

Big 12 fake field goals!

The Big 12 went wild with the field goal fakes on Saturday.

During Brigham Young University’s road game against UCF, the team pulled off a very rare double snap on a field goal attempt that sent kicker Will Ferrin running for a successful first down.

You don’t often see two snaps on the same play, but BYU somehow pulled it off to maximum effect to keep the drive alive.

The other saw Texas Tech placekicker Reese Burkhardt snag a flip over the holder’s shoulder after the long snap and run it in for a touchdown against hosting TCU.

Both of these very savvy fake field goals helped out the teams bold enough to run them. After all, fortune favors those who don’t kick.

UPDATE: We have ANOTHER Big 12 fake field goal, this time from West Virginia.

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College Sports Wire tabs Colorado-Cincinnati as top Week 9 Big 12 game to watch

Colorado’s late-night showdown with Cincinnati is drawing massive intrigue

Boulder has become a hotbed of attention, drama and intrigue for head coach Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes since his hiring in 2022, and Saturday night’s matchup with the Cincinnati Bearcats will be no exception.

The Buffs surpassed their win total from Sanders’ first season at the helm last weekend and now sit one win away from the program’s first bowl game berth since 2020. Now, a fellow 5-2 opponent in Cincinnati comes to town with hopes to spoil the party.

College Sports Wire’s Patrick Conn billed the highly-anticipated clash of Big 12 contenders as his top Week 9 matchup to watch in the conference. Here’s what Conn had to say:

The Colorado Buffaloes are looking to keep pace with the top teams in the conference as the Big 12 title race approaches the final month of the season. Both the Buffs and Cincinnati Bearcats are tied for second in the conference at 3-1 in Big 12 play along with Kansas State and Texas Tech. Everyone is looking up the BYU Cougars and Iowa State Cyclones at 4-0.

This game will give the winner a leg up in the race down the stretch. The loser won’t be out by any means but makes their path to the title game more difficult.

Prediction: Colorado Buffaloes hold off Cincinnati in this one

Kickoff at Folsom Field is set for 8:15 p.m. MT.

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Cincinnati-Colorado headlines Week 9 matchups in the Big 12

Checking in on which games you should tune in for Week 9 in the Big 12.

The Big 12 championship race should tighten up a bit in Week 9 with several key matchups involving teams squarely in the chase to Arlington, Texas, on Dec. 7.

In all, 14 of the 16 conference teams will be in action with the Iowa State Cyclones and Arizona State Sun Devils on a bye week. Iowa State returns to action next week in Ames when they host the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Arizona State will travel to Stillwater to take on the reeling Oklahoma State Cowboys.

As for the rest of the Big 12, there is plenty of action to break down ahead of Saturday. These four games should be on your radar in Week 9:

Cincinnati Bearcats vs Colorado Buffaloes

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

The Colorado Buffaloes are looking to keep pace with the top teams in the conference as the Big 12 title race approaches the final month of the season. Both the Buffs and Cincinnati Bearcats are tied for second in the conference at 3-1 in Big 12 play along with Kansas State and Texas Tech. Everyone is looking up the BYU Cougars and Iowa State Cyclones at 4-0.

This game will give the winner a leg up in the race down the stretch. The loser won’t be out by any means but makes their path to the title game more difficult.

Prediction: Colorado Buffaloes hold off Cincinnati in this one

Kansas Jayhawks vs Kansas State Wildcats

Ben Queen-Imagn Images

The Sunflower Showdown has different goals on the line for this annual battle in the state of Kansas. The visiting Jayhawks are just trying to keep their postseason dreams alive as they come into the game at 2-5 (1-3). They are all but out of the conference title race but another loss would mean they must win all four games in November to earn a third straight bowl bid.

The Wildcats are winners of three straight games and are very much in the thick of the race. Which didn’t look to be the case after the BYU Cougars thumped them 38-9 in Provo. Avery Johnson has this Kansas State squad humming along as they head into this rivalry matchup.

Prediction: Kansas State finds a way to win again to improve to 4-1 in conference play. Kansas begins the countdown to basketball season, not that it hadn’t already started weeks ago.

BYU Cougars vs UCF Knights

Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

This matchup between the UCF Knights and BYU Cougars could throw a wrench in the Big 12 title race. The home team is just 1-3 in conference play but they have a chance to play spoiler to BYU’s bid at the conference title and a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoffs.

The Cougars survived a scare against the Oklahoma State Cowboys a week ago thanks to a late touchdown with just 10 seconds left in the game. This week should be about taking care of business against the Knights. Slowing down a mobile quarterback will be key on defense.

Prediction: Another close game but ultimately I will go with the visiting BYU Cougars by a touchdown.

Texas Tech Red Raiders vs TCU Horned Frogs

Rob Gray-Imagn Images

The “Battle for the Saddle” gets underway this weekend in the West Texas Championship. When I think West Texas, I think of Lubbock vs Fort Worth. Perhaps a new name for this game should be in play but I digress, on to bigger issues. Since the march to the CFP title game in 2022, it has been a lot of mediocre results for the Frogs, last week’s result notwithstanding. TCU sits in the middle of the pack in the Big 12 but a win this week will help their postseason outlook.

For Texas Tech, the Red Raiders are right in the mix for the conference title but last week’s result left a sour taste in their mouths. They must correct some of the defensive issues that were exposed against Baylor last week. The Red Raiders are just a game out of first place but a loss this week could send them spiraling with matchups against Iowa State and Colorado coming up before the open week.

Prediction: TCU does enough offensively to put pressure on Tech and defends the home turf in a close game.

Pair of Big 12 teams in latest CFP projection, BYU not among them

Despite perfect record, BYU not among CFP projections.

The Big 12’s college football regular season is roughly halfway through with each team having played four conference matchups. With five conference games left on each team’s remaining slate, there is still plenty to be determined with the Iowa State Cyclones and BYU Cougars leading the way. Iowa State is the highest-ranked team in the latest US LBM Coaches Poll checking in at No. 10 overall, BYU is on their heels at No. 12.

Beyond the top two teams in the conference, it is crowded at the top with six teams separated by just a game. One of those teams is the Colorado Buffaloes, who just keep winning football games in an impressive turnaround from Year 1 of the Deion Sanders era. The start of the season was a bit rough but Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter have this team humming along. This week the Buffs take on Cincinnati at home.

Before we dive into Week 9 action, Erick Smith of USA TODAY Sports released his weekly bowl projections. There are two teams from the conference projected to make the College Football Playoffs and one of them is not BYU.

College Football Playoff Projections

Chris Day/The Commercial Appeal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Despite a close call the last time out against the UCF Knights, who have been hot and cold, the Iowa State Cyclones are very much in the thick of the CFP chase. They land at No. 11 overall in Smith’s projections and would face the Oregon Ducks in Eugene in the opening round. That is a tough matchup but perhaps they beat the Ducks in a bowl game again, just as they did in the 2020-21 Playstation Fiesta Bowl?

As for the second team in the projections who hails from the Big 12 we have the Kansas State Wildcats. It might surprise some to see BYU get overlooked but the Wildcats are a proven commodity. They get the nod and based on the projection are viewed as the favorite to win the conference. The only argument and a valid one is BYU’s 38-9 win over Kansas State in Provo, Utah, on Sept. 21.

  • Iowa State vs Oregon (Campus site CFP first-round matchup)
  • Kansas State vs Texas (Fiesta Bowl, CFP quarterfinal matchup)

Big 12 Bowl Projections

Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Of the 16 teams in the conference, 11 are going bowling according to the latest projections.

  • Oklahoma State vs Maryland (Guaranteed Rate Bowl)
  • Cincinnati vs Vanderbilt (Liberty Bowl)
  • Utah vs Missouri (Las Vegas Bowl)
  • Colorado vs Duke (Holiday Bowl)
  • Texas Tech vs Pittsburgh (Pop-Tarts Bowl)
  • BYU vs Washington State (Alamo Bowl)
  • Arizona State vs Tulane (Independence Bowl)
  • TCU vs South Carolina (Texas Bowl)
  • West Virginia vs Marshall (First Responders Bowl)

Who gets left out of the postseason

Rob Gray-Imagn Images

The teams that are left out of the postseason projection all share an identical 1-3 conference record. The only team with one conference win that is projected to make the postseason is the Utah Utes, who are currently 4-3 overall. The Oklahoma State Cowboys are the only team in the Big 12 with a conference win at 0-4, were included in the postseason bowl projections. That’s a bold move Cotton, let’s see if it works out for them.

  • Houston (2-5, 1-3)
  • Baylor (3-4, 1-3)
  • Kansas (2-5, 1-3)
  • UCF (3-4, 1-3)
  • Arizona (3-4, 1-3)

Big 12 standings after Week 8

Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Updated Standings as of Oct. 23:

Team Conference Record Overall Record
BYU Cougars 4-0 7-0
Iowa State Cyclones 4-0 7-0
Kansas State Wildcats 3-1 6-1
Texas Tech Red Raiders 3-1 5-2
Cincinnati Bearcats 3-1 5-2
Colorado Buffaloes 3-1 5-2
Arizona State Sun Devils 2-2 5-2
TCU Horned Frogs 2-2 4-3
West Virginia Mountaineers 2-2 3-4
Arizona Wildcats 1-3 3-4
UCF Knights 1-3 3-4
Kansas Jayhawks 1-3 2-5
Utah Utes 1-3 4-3
Baylor Bears 1-3 3-4
Houston Cougars 1-3 2-5
Oklahoma State Cowboys 0-4 3-4

A Big 12 look at the post-Week 8 US LBM Coaches Poll

Cincinnati and Arizona State somehow both received more votes than Colorado in the latest Coaches Poll

We’ll have to wait at least another week before the Colorado Buffaloes are featured again in the US LBM Coaches Poll.

The post-Week 8 poll dropped Sunday and despite beating Arizona by 27 points on Saturday, the 5-2 Buffs were not among the five Big 12 football teams receiving votes. UCF, fresh off beating UCF in a thriller, was the highest-ranked team in the conference at No. 10, followed by fellow undefeated No. 12 BYU and No. 16 Kansas State.

Outside the top 25, Cincinnati earned two votes and Arizona State picked up one. The Buffs will host those 5-2 Bearcats at Folsom Field in Week 9.

To illustrate how unpredictable the Big 12 has been this season, Kansas, Utah, Arizona and Oklahoma State were all ranked in the preseason Coaches Poll. Now, none of those four are even receiving votes.

Take a complete look at the post-Week 8 US LBM Coaches Poll:

Rank Team Record Points
1 Oregon 7-0 1,323 (51)
2 Georgia 6-1 1,238 (2)
3 Penn State 6-0 1,197
4 Ohio State 5-1 1,107
5 Miami (FL) 7-0 1,087
6 Texas 6-1 1,082
7 LSU 6-1 946
8 Tennessee 6-1 916
9 Clemson 6-1 907
10 Iowa State 7-0 829
11 Notre Dame 6-1 809
12 BYU 7-0 740
13 Indiana 7-0 651
14 Texas A&M 6-1 641
15 Alabama 5-2 554
16 Kansas State 6-1 488
17 Missouri 6-1 486
18 Ole Miss 5-2 444
19 Boise State 5-1 379
20 Pittsburgh 6-0 359
21 Illinois 6-1 347
22 SMU 6-1 249
23 Army 7-0 185
24 Navy 6-0 115
25 Vanderbilt 5-2 37

Schools Dropped Out

No. 22 Michigan; No. 25 Nebraska;

Others Receiving Votes

UNLV 28; Syracuse 27; Washington State 25; Duke 7; Memphis 6; Liberty 6; Wisconsin 3; Tulane 3; Cincinnati 2; Nebraska 1; Arizona State 1;

Deion Sanders calls out former president for comments on Colorado

Former President Barack Obama said Colorado only had two good players before the Arizona game, and Buffs coach Deion Sanders called him out after his team thrashed the Wildcats.

If we know anything about Deion Sanders, it’s the Colorado coach keeps receipts. Whether local (or national) reporters, fans, broadcasters or other naysayers, coach Prime knows what was said, and he has no problem letting you know about it.

Even the former president of the United States isn’t off limits.

After Colorado’s 34-7 thrashing of the Arizona Wildcats on the road in Week 8, Sanders took to the podium to call out Barack Obama for a comment he made recently describing the Buffs as a team that only has two good players.

“President Obama is everything to me. I love him, I admire him, I respect him tremendously,” Sanders opened with, before continuing. “But, I heard what he said. President, I heard what you said man. … They got two good players? We got more than two good players. He did his homework, but president … come on man.”

Prime smiled through his comments, which is much easier to do after his team scored on the first drive of the game and never let up. Colorado’s defense held the Wildcats to a first-quarter touchdown and coasted to an easy victory to move to 5-2 (3-1 Big 12).

The Buffs host Cincinnati at home in Week 9, part of a favorable remaining schedule that includes road games at Texas Tech and Kansas and home battles against Utah and Oklahoma State.

Why these three Big 12 football teams could get upset in Week 8

The Big 12 is heating up, and with so much parity any team can topple another. Here are three teams in the most exciting conference in football that are on upset alert this weekend.

The Big 12 continues to be one of the most exciting conferences in all of football, and that’s in large part due to how open the conference is. The Colorado Buffaloes have two of the most talented players in America, but that’s not enough to win every week.

The Kansas Jayhawks entered the season as a darkhorse favorite to win the league behind the play of quarterback Jalon Daniels, but they sit at 1-5 presently. The Texas Tech Red Raiders snuck past the Abilene Christian Wildcats, but sit at 3-0 in conference play thus far.

With a league full of more parity than any other power conference in the NCAA, there are inevitably going to be upsets every week. This Saturday all sixteen Big 12 teams are in action, creating eight conference games and eight opportunities for upsets.

From the Oklahoma State Cowboys heading to a Provo snowstorm to play the BYU Cougars on Friday, until the final whistle in a TCU Horned Frogs and Utah Utes game that kicks off at 10:30 ET on Saturday, the Big 12 will entertain.

But which fan bases are in for the rude awakening that comes with an upset?

Rob Gray-Imagn Images

ARIZONA WILDCATS

Arizona hosts Colorado this weekend. While they’re a small favorite, it doesn’t feel like the Wildcats have any answer for quarterback Shedeur Sanders or wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter.

Sometimes it may feel more complicated than that, but Arizona is allowing over 350 yards of offense per game. When looking at mutual opponents, the Kansas State Wildcats handed Arizona their worst loss of the year and Colorado was nearly able to take them out just last weekend. Unless Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita finds a way to go blow for blow with Sanders, the Buffaloes will be heading back home victorious.

Joe Rondone, The Republic USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

KANSAS JAYHAWKS

At some point, Lance Leipold’s team will get an FBS win… but it just doesn’t feel like this weekend. Kansas has been favored all week, but that’s in large part because this is technically a home game between two struggling programs.

Kansas, located in Lawrence, has had to play their home games elsewhere this year. Saturday the Jayhawks host the Houston Cougars at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City less than 18 hours following Late Night at the Phog, the annual extravaganza surrounding the start of the KU basketball season.

Further, in all five Kansas losses this year they have struggled with running quarterbacks… like the starter Houston just found in their victory over the TCU Horned Frogs. Unless Jalon Daniels can be the quarterback he was a year ago, prior to several injuries, Houston looks like they’re heading to Willie Fritz’s first Cougar win streak.

Rob Gray-Imagn Images

KANSAS STATE WILDCATS

Yes, Kansas State does very well in our Big 12 Power Rankings. But weird things happen in Morgantown. Further, West Virginia’s defense has done a good job of slowing teams down on the ground this year.

Kansas State is looking to steam roll and bulldoze teams on their way to a rematch with the BYU Cougars in Arlington, but West Virginia has only had that happen to them twice this year and, while they couldn’t do anything with the Penn State Nittany Lions, West Virginia was able to comeback and beat Kansas despite the rush yards.

Which Big 12 head football coaches are vastly overpaid? Here are three to consider

The stats are out, and we can see how much money Big 12 football coaches are making and can see how they rank compared to their peers. But who’s the most overpaid in the conference?

On Wednesday USA TODAY Sports released its most up-to-date list of college football coach salaries. Some of the numbers are shocking. Mike Gundy of the Oklahoma State Cowboys is the highest earner in the Big 12 Conference. Deion Sanders, aka Coach Prime, brings all of his pomp and circumstance to the Colorado Buffaloes and is the fourth-highest-paid coach in the Big 12.

Fanbases across college football want to know where their coach ranked. In all actuality, they want to know if their head coach is overpaid. Fans scoured the list, found their favorite program’s coach, and looked above and below to see what “class” they were in. Three fanbases in the Big 12 might be disappointed to see where their head coach ranks among the most overpaid in college football, or at least among their peers. Who are the three most overpaid head coaches in the Big 12?

Dave Aranda, Baylor Bears

2024 Salary: $4.54 Million

Dave Aranda is 25-29 in his time at Baylor and has seen the program fall from 12-2 his second year to 3-9 last year and 2-4 this year. But what has to sting the folks in Waco? Jeff Traylor, head coach of the UTSA Road Runners, is making just over half of that. While Traylor has coached in Conference USA and the American Athletic Conference, he’s 41-18 in his career.

In the Power Four, former Baylor assistant Joey McGuire is the head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders making $250,000 less annually than Aranda. McGuire is 20-12 in his three years at Tech and is 3-0 in the Big 12 this year. And if Baylor wanted to pony up a little more?  For $5.25 Million the Kansas State Wildcats have Chris Klieman, who’s built one of the Big 12’s best programs.

Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State Cowboys

2024 Salary: $7.75 Million

It’s not that Mike Gundy has never been a good coach. Just last season, the Cowboys were 10-4 and in a Big 12 title game. It’s that the roller coaster seems to be ending, and the 2023 season feels like it’s going to be more of an outlier. After three straight 10-win seasons from 2015-2017, OSU has just two 10-win seasons since.

Admittedly, part of what works against Gundy is that his high price tag is, bluntly, that of a top-tier coach. Mario Cristobal, current head coach of the Miami Hurricanes, has revamped their entire program and has them as a favorite in the ACC in just his third year for just $33,000 more. At Oregon, he took the program to the College Football Playoff as well. What’s most impressive about Cristobal has been his work within the transfer portal and NIL spaces. Cristobal is a coach for the future of college football, where Gundy feels like its past.

Sonny Dykes, TCU Horned Frogs

2024 Salary: $5 Million

Dykes was just in a National Title game, where he and a large number of players he inherited from the previous regime lost in historic fashion. Since then, Dykes’ Horned Frogs are 8-10, with some embarrassing losses. Dykes makes just $250,000 less than Klieman, but it gets worse when you see his losses. Of his eight Big 12 Conference losses, five are to programs paying their head coach less money. It’s not that Kirby Smart, Georgia Bulldog head coach, is undefeated as the highest-paid coach in the sport. But Georgia has lost just 3 games in four years, and trends like that do tend to have people connecting the dots between paychecks and winning.

Will the Big 12 land two teams in College Football Playoff?

The Big 12 is having a fantastic year in football, but it’s going under the radar. Can the BYU Cougars and Iowa State Cyclones BOTH get the Big 12 into the College Football Playoff?

The Big 12 conference is well aware of how easily they can be unjustly left out of the biggest events of a college football postseason. The very first College Football Playoff left out a talented TCU Horned Frogs team and a great Baylor Bears team even though both teams were 11-1.

In 2016, the 2-loss Oklahoma Sooners were kept out even though they were a conference champion, while a non-conference champion Ohio State Buckeye team was let in. But this year? This year, if the results continue to roll in as they have, it will be a travesty if two Big 12 teams DON’T make the College Football Playoff.

We are halfway through the college football season, and the Big 12 has two undefeated teams. The No. 13 BYU Cougars and No. 9 Iowa State Cyclones are both 3-0 in Big 12 play and 6-0 overall. And, what makes this spicier, is that they won’t play each other until a hypothetical Big 12 Championship game in Arlington.

Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Is it a “Sure Thing?”

Both teams have games they might lose. BYU still has to play the Utah Utes in the “Holy War” rivalry game. While Utah still has questions to figure out, this is traditionally the epitome of the “throw out the record books.” Utah leads the all-time series 59-32-4, but BYU won their last matchup in 2021. This year? The vaunted BYU defense will likely get to feast on freshman quarterback Isaac Wilson. Yes, Isaac is the younger brother of BYU great and NFL quarterback Zach Wilson. Yes, that’s the “Holy War” for you.

Iowa State also has to play Utah, but they have to see the Texas Tech Red Raiders (5-1, 3-0 in Big 12 play) and No. 17 Kansas State Wildcats as well. That’s three tough games in the back half of the season… but they’re also all played in Ames, Iowa.

In a year where the Notre Dame Fighting Irish sit at No. 12 in the AP poll with a loss to the Northern Illinois Huskies, why can’t both BYU and ISU make it? No. 8 LSU Tigers team has a loss to the unranked USC Trojans. The  No. 11 Tennessee Volunteers have a loss to an unranked Arkansas Razorbacks (who are 0-1 against Big 12 opponents this year).

If the Big 12 football continues to have football so nice, why can’t the CFP invite it twice?