BYU is the only undefeated team in the Big 12

Exactly as we all expected at the beginning of the season, BYU stands atop the Big 12 standings with an undefeated record and a top-10 spot in the AP Poll Top 25.

The Cougars seemed to be on a collision course with the previously 7-0 Iowa State Cyclones in the Big 12 championship game, but after the Cyclones fell 22-23 to the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday night, Kalani Sitake's football team stands alone at the top of the conference.

Who could have seen this coming?

The Big 12 has been the most unpredictable batch of football teams in this season of college football. With preseason favorites like Oklahoma State, Utah, and Kansas all plummeting to the depths and BYU, Iowa State, and Colorado all flipping speculation on its side, the outlook of this conference is unrecognizable from how we perceived it during non-conference play.

Suddenly, the BYU Cougars, who were expected to finish 13th in the conference this season, are the heavy favorites to secure the playoff auto-bid afforded to the Big 12, and the path is clearer now than ever with the fall of Kansas State and Iowa State in the matter of one evening.

The Cougars left for one week, and they came back to this?

The narrative of a weak Big 12 persists with week 10's results. Kansas State and Iowa State were two of the top programs for their conference to put on display in the front window. Conference cannibalism has forced them to take those two down in favor of a BYU team that just keeps winning, despite all odds (that's a joke aimed at you, Vegas).

BYU needs to finish the season undefeated, it's as simple as that. Their remaining schedule seems very winnable, and the Cougars will be favorites to win out for their remaining four battles against Utah, Kansas, Arizona State, and Houston.

But here's the catch: any team can beat any team on any week in this conference, and even though the Cougars look strong to this point in the year, a rivarly game against the Utes and a road contest against Sparky could spell trouble for undefeated BYU.

Could BYU find a way to the College Football Playoff without a perfect regular season record? Sure, but they’ll need to win the conference championship game.

Could BYU make the playoff without winning the Big 12 title? Sure, but they’ll need to go 12-0 in the regular season.

I know I’m not breaking any new ground here, but the Cougs put their hopes of playoff glory on the line every week. Staying alive means winning the game in front of them.

Houston just beat Kansas State, Arizona State and Utah are still very dangerous despite having shaky seasons of their own to this point. An unbeaten season will be challenging.

But who would’ve thought they could make it this far in the first place?

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