Cougars' last undefeated Big 12 team – Deseret News

The ninth-ranked BYU Cougars football team had this week off, but things couldn't have gone better for them on Saturday – at least as far as math is concerned – before the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season are announced next Tuesday.

Within almost exactly 30 minutes on Saturday night, two results from other games were very positive, not only making the Cougars the only undefeated team in the Big 12 Conference, but also giving them a little more cushion in the race for the conference crown.

First and most importantly, the Texas Tech Red Raiders defeated the 11th ranked and undefeated Iowa State Cyclones 23-22. Then the Houston Cougars defeated the 17th-ranked Kansas State Wildcats 24-19.

It can be argued that strong resumes from Iowa State and Kansas State would help BYU see nationally. However, if BYU can keep winning, the more others lose, the better.

With these results, the Big 12 standings (conference games only) among teams that entered the rankings on Saturday and are still in the College Football Playoff conversation are as follows:

• No. 9 BYU, 5-0.
• No. 11 Iowa State, 4-1.
• No. 23 Colorado, 4-1. (Like BYU, the Buffaloes also had a bye on Saturday).
• No. 17 Kansas State, 4-2.

The rest of the conference race is as follows Saturday night (again, conference games only) before the TCU-Baylor game concludes:

• Texas Tech, 4-2.
• Cincinnati, 3-2.
• Arizona State, 3-2.
• TCU, 3-2.
• West Virginia, 3-2.
• Houston, 3-3.
• Baylor, 2-3.
• UCF, 2-4.
• Utah, 1-4.
• Kansas, 1-4.
• Arizona, 1-5.
• Oklahoma State, 0-6.

BYU is now firmly in the lead as it prepares for its rivalry game against Utah next weekend. The Cyclones, meanwhile, will play the 2-6 Kansas Jayhawks on the road next week, while the Buffaloes will play Texas Tech on the road.

The biggest result on Saturday was certainly Texas Tech's win over Iowa State. The Cyclones were the last undefeated Big 12 team alongside BYU, making them BYU's biggest rival for a spot in the CFP at the time.

Trailing 17-16 with 4:31 remaining, Iowa State drove 65 yards in five plays and scored a touchdown to improve to 22-17 with just 2:11 remaining.

But the Red Raiders didn't go away. Texas Tech completed a 12-play, 71-yard drive to take a 23-22 lead when Tahj Brooks fired the ball into the end zone from five yards out with 20 seconds left.

Iowa State gained 12 yards on the first play of its final possession but couldn't do anything the rest of the way as the Red Raiders took the win.

Not to be outdone in that drama, a Houston team that was just 2-5 before beating Utah last week got the ball with 2:31 left Saturday and trailed Kansas State 19-17.

After pass interference early in the drive, Houston quarterback Zeon Chriss ran 41 yards for a touchdown, and after the extra point, Houston led 24-19.

After an empty possession by both teams, Kansas State got the ball back with 35 seconds left. The Wildcats gained 47 yards, but had to get it into the end zone on the final play and couldn't accomplish anything.