Big 12 football post-spring power rankings for 2026 season

SALT LAKE CITY (KSL.com) Big 12 football has turned the page from spring practices, with the 2026 season on the horizon.

The KSL Sports team gets you ready for the upcoming season with a new installment of power rankings.

Who will win the Big 12 championship and earn the automatic bid to the College Football Playoff?

Post-spring 2026 Big 12 football power rankings

Steve Bartle, Josh Furlong, Mitch Harper, and Sean Walker on the KSL Sports team voted on the post-spring Big 12 football power rankings. There was a clear consensus at the top of the poll.

1. Texas Tech Red Raiders

Notable games in 2026: Houston (Sept. 18), Arizona St. (Oct. 17), TCU (Nov. 26)

Highest vote on KSL Sports ballots: No. 1 (Unanimous)

The gap between Texas Tech and the top of the conference has shrunk after the Brendan Sorsby gambling news, but there’s still enough talent on the roster for the Red Raiders to win the conference with a weaker-looking schedule. The quarterback situation could likely be the biggest factor in Texas Tech’s success this season, but they managed to get to the College Football Playoff last season with a mediocre quarterback, and the Red Raiders don’t have to go through BYU or Utah this season. –Josh Furlong

Latter-day Saint quarterback Will Hammond is a more-than-capable backup. How quickly can he return after recovering from an ACL injury late last season? –Sean Walker

Texas Tech remains No. 1, but the gap is not as clean as it looked before the Brendan Sorsby uncertainty. The Red Raiders still have the league’s best overall roster profile. If the quarterback situation lingers or forces the Red Raiders into backup-level play, this becomes more of a 9-3 contender than a runaway favorite. –Steve Bartle

The Red Raiders remain the favorite because they have three excellent options at running back. Cameron Dickey and J’Koby Williams, Tech’s top running backs, return, along with former USC transfer Quinten Joyner, who was the assumed starter last year before suffering a season-ending injury. Don’t forget about adding Big 12 star linebacker Austin Romaine from K-State out of the transfer portal. Joey McGuire has it rolling in West Texas. –Mitch Harper

2. BYU Cougars

Notable games in 2026: Arizona (Sept. 12), Notre Dame (Oct. 17), at Utah (Nov. 7)

Highest vote on KSL Sports ballots: No. 2 (Unanimous)

Bear Bachmeier was among the top quarterbacks in the league as a freshman, and barring a sophomore slump should only get better. The Cougars also return reigning Big 12 offensive player of the year LJ Martin at RB and a huge chunk of production, with Oregon transfer Kyler Kasper at wide receiver and USC’s Walker Lyons at tight end expected to fill in gaps.

Anchored by Faletau Satuala and Evan Johnson, the defensive backfield can still be elite in Kelly Poppinga’s first season as defensive coordinator, and Cade Uluave is plenty capable of replacing Jack Kelly in a linebacker core anchored by Isaiah Glasker. –Walker

This is Kalani Sitake’s best roster as he enters year 11 at his alma mater. BYU has the best backfield in the Big 12, and they retain many of the key players from a squad that reached the Big 12 Championship Game last year. With five Big 12 games at home and a light travel schedule, it’s a manageable slate to make a return to Arlington in December. The biggest question marks for BYU are how they replace Chase Roberts and Parker Kingston at wide receiver and how the special teams fare. It’s easy to overlook that spot, but it’s an area where Sitake’s squads have won in the tight margins of the Big 12. –Harper

3. Utah Utes

Notable games in 2026: Arkansas (Sept. 12), BYU (Nov. 7), at Arizona (Nov. 14)

Highest vote on KSL Sports ballots: No. 3

Lowest vote: No. 4

Given all the changes the Utah program has undergone this offseason, public perception still holds Utah in high regard, meaning Morgan Scalley has a standard to carry even in year one. Devon Dampier will be the biggest key to Utah’s floor, while the rebuilt offensive line will determine the ceiling. The receiver room looked promising, and Utah seemed to find some answers defensively in spring ball. –Bartle

With Kyle Whittingham moving on, the natural inclination will be to see a drop off in success in Morgan Scalley’s first season. And though that’s certainly a possibility, especially as the team replaces a completely new offensive line, there’s plenty to be optimistic about for the Utes under a different regime. The schedule lays up well for the Utes, and Scalley did well in the offseason to reload position groups of need through the portal. A successful spring camp showcased depth and talent at every position. While it will be a tough challenge to chase last season’s success of 11-2, the Utes have the roster to be competitive and at the top of the league; however, the margin for error is slim in Scalley’s first season as a head coach. –Furlong

4. Houston Cougars

Notable games in 2026: at Texas Tech (Sept. 18), at K-State (Oct. 10), at Utah (Oct. 24)

Highest vote on KSL Sports ballots: No. 3

Lowest vote: No. 5

Willie Fritz has continuity with Conner Weigman and the offensive skill players around, which gives Houston a credible quarterback anchor, and the portal class gives the Cougars more line-of-scrimmage juice. The hesitation is ceiling proof. Houston seems like a team that can beat anyone, but also still lose to just about anyone. –Bartle

Houston returns 12 starters, which won’t include star running back Dean Connors (1,232 yards last year) but will include quarterback Conner Weigman. Add in running back Makhi Hughes, who ran for 1,378 yards as a true freshman under Fritz at Tulane before transferring to Oregon, and Houston will have plenty of expectations after last year’s 10-win campaign. –Walker

5. Arizona Wildcats

Notable games in 2026: at Texas Tech (Oct. 31), Arizona State (Nov. 28)

Highest vote on KSL Sports ballots: No. 4

Lowest vote: No. 6

Noah Fifita, last season, was the first Arizona quarterback to earn First Team All-Conference honors in 50 years. What’s the encore as Fifita enters his senior campaign? The good news is that his offensive coordinator, Seth Doege, returns, along with wide receiver Tre Spivey, who looks poised to take a big step forward. –Harper

Arizona has one of the best quarterback bets in the Big 12 in Noah Fifita. The Wildcats can absolutely play their way into the title race if Fifita is elite and the offensive line holds up. But replacing an entire secondary that led the league in takeaways is a pretty tall task. –Bartle

6. Arizona State Sun Devils

Notable games in 2026: at Texas A&M (Sept. 12), at Arizona (Nov. 28)

Highest vote on KSL Sports ballots: No. 5

Lowest vote: No. 7

The Sun Devils lost one of the best receivers in the conference (or even the country??) in Jordyn Tyson to the NFL, but added Colorado’s Omarion Miller. It’s hard to bet against Kenny Dillingham, even if last season’s 8-5 campaign was seen as a disappointment by some in the Valley of the Sun. –Walker

ASU has to get it right at quarterback. Dillingham struck gold with Sam Leavitt a few years ago out of the portal. Will he do the same with Cutter Boley from Kentucky? If Boley came out of spring as the clear-cut starter for ASU, the Sun Devils might be higher on my ballot. The talent on this ASU team from the portal is underrated. –Harper

7. TCU Horned Frogs

Notable games in 2026: vs North Carolina (Aug. 29, Dublin), at UCF (Sept. 26), at Texas Tech (Nov. 26)

Highest vote on KSL Sports ballots: No. 6

Lowest vote: No. 9

The quarterback transition from Josh Hoover to Harvard transfer Jaden Craig remains the entire story. If Craig adjusts quickly, TCU has enough roster talent and defensive competence to push into the top half of the league. If the offense stalls, this can become a frustrating 5-7 or 4-8 team. No. 7 is a compromise between talent and uncertainty. –Bartle

8. Kansas State Wildcats

Notable games in 2026: at Arizona State (Oct. 24), at Iowa State (Nov. 28)

Highest vote on KSL Sports ballots: No. 7

Lowest vote: No. 10

Collin Klein has a favorable schedule for a first-year head coach, skipping Texas Tech and BYU while drawing Utah and rival Kansas at home. Bowl eligibility seems possible, but how much more is questionable based on the returning talent. –Walker

9. Oklahoma State Cowboys

Notable games in 2026: Oregon (Sept. 12), at Houston (Oct. 17)

Highest vote on KSL Sports ballots: No. 7

Lowest vote: No. 13

Oklahoma State hasn’t won a Big 12 game since November 2023. Think about that for a second. The Pokes bring in Eric Morris from North Texas, who had the Mean Green knocking on the doorstep of a College Football Playoff appearance, and boasted the No. 1 offense in SP+ last season. QB Drew Mestemaker, RB Caleb Hawkins, and WR Wyatt Young all followed Morris from Denton to Stillwater. The offense will put up points, but what about the defense? –Harper

10. Baylor Bears

Notable games in 2026: vs Auburn (Sept. 5, Atlanta), TCU (Oct. 17)

Highest vote on KSL Sports ballots: No. 10

Lowest vote: No. 11

Baylor is one of the league’s more volatile teams. DJ Lagway is the reason optimism still exists. He immediately changes Baylor’s ceiling and gives the Bears a real chance to outperform the lower-middle profile. The defense still has to hold up, and Baylor has to show it can produce week-to-week offensive consistency before it belongs any higher. –Bartle

11. UCF Knights

Notable games in 2026: at Pitt (Sept. 12), at Oklahoma State (Oct. 10)

Highest vote on KSL Sports ballots: No. 9

Lowest vote: No. 14

The Knights’ offense needed a boost after averaging just 19.2 points per game in conference play a year ago. Can former James Madison starter Alonza Barnett III do just that? –Walker

12. Kansas Jayhawks

Notable games in 2026: Missouri (Sept. 11), vs Arizona State (Sept. 19, London)

Highest vote on KSL Sports ballots: No. 8

Lowest vote: No. 15

Back-to-back five-win seasons would have sounded nice in Lawrence five years ago, but times have changed after Lance Leipold coached Kansas to a bowl victory in 2023. Maybe bringing back the old gang with Andy Kotelnicki as the offensive playcaller will give the Jayhawks an identity again. They need to turn it around quickly because the pressure is there to fill up that expensive, renovated David Booth Stadium. –Harper

13. Cincinnati Bearcats

Notable games in 2026: at West Virginia (Oct. 17), at BYU (Nov. 28)

Highest vote on KSL Sports ballots: No. 12

Lowest vote: No. 14

Cincinnati remains near the bottom, but the profile is not hopeless. JC French IV flashed enough in spring to keep the offense interesting, and that matters because Cincinnati probably needs the offense to carry more of the burden this fall. –Bartle

14. West Virginia Mountaineers

Notable games in 2026: vs Virginia (Sept. 19, Charlotte), at Utah (Nov. 27)

Highest vote on KSL Sports ballots: No. 12

Lowest vote: No. 14

Rich Rodriguez turned over nearly the entire roster in his return to Morgantown, but now the Mountaineers only have 69 newcomers — a step in the right direction. Former Jacksonville State running back Cam Cook ran for 1,659 yards a year ago and will try to do the same in the Big 12. –Walker

15. Colorado Buffaloes

Notable games in 2026: at Georgia Tech (Sept. 3), at Baylor (Sept. 26)

Highest vote on KSL Sports ballots: No. 11

Lowest vote: No. 15

The nine-win season with Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders seems like a distant memory for Coach Prime’s Buffs. There were some key losses, including “The Franchise” Jordan Seaton, who went to LSU for a reported $4 million.

The good news is that they have an intriguing quarterback in Julian Lewis. After that, the defense is completely new, led by Texas transfer linebacker Liona Lefau. –Harper

16. Iowa State Cyclones

Notable games in 2026: at Iowa (Sept. 12), K-State (Nov. 28)

Highest vote on KSL Sports ballots: No. 16 (Unanimous)

Iowa State stays last because no team in the conference enters the fall with a steeper reset. Jimmy Rogers at least has a veteran quarterback option in Jaylen Raynor, and that gives the Cyclones something to build around. –Bartle