Ranking Big 12 Week 6 Matchups: From Kansas State vs. Baylor to West Virginia vs. BYU

The Big 12 Conference will be one game short of a full slate of league games when it enters Week 6 of the season.

That weekend, which is Oct. 3-4, also carries the league slate into October for the first time, which means there should be some sorting of the conference race — at least in the early stages.

Two teams are off — Arizona State and Utah.  

The Big 12 games that week stretch from Orlando, Fla., to Tucson, Ariz., with a Friday night game chipped in at Provo, Utah.

Each week at Heartland College Sports I am ranking the schedule for each week of the 2025 football season from least competitive to most competitive. So, let’s dig into Week 6.

All games are Saturday, Oct. 4, unless otherwise noted.

Texas Tech at Houston

If you’re on board with the Red Raiders being one of the best teams in the league, then this road trip, while tricky, should be a happy one for Texas Tech. Houston’s development during September will be key to making this game more competitive than it looks on paper.

Oklahoma State at Arizona

The problem is there is no good read on either one of these teams. Neither is expected to do much in the Big 12 this season. That’s why there’s potential for this one to end up quite lopsided by the end of the game.

West Virginia at BYU

Time: Friday, Oct. 3, 9:30 p.m. CT, ESPN

WVU is used to clean mountain air, and they’ll get plenty of it in Provo. The HCS staff has been to Friday night games at LaVell Edwards and, well, it’s a rough place to play, even as nice as the fans are. The Cougars could run away with this one.

Iowa State at Cincinnati

The Cyclones are a solid road team and that should translate well for a game that will probably be an early kickoff at Nippert. The Bearcats should be better, but on paper they don’t match up that well with ISU.

Kansas at UCF

It’s not clear who UCF’s starting quarterback will be. It’s not clear if Jalon Daniels can have a bounce-back from last year’s tepid campaign behind center for Kansas. Still, there is enough talent on both sides to lead one to believe this game has a good chance to be competitive.

Colorado at TCU

Two seasons ago Deion Sanders made his Colorado coaching debut in Fort Worth, and it was one of the most entertaining games of the season. The Horned Frogs are a stealthy Big 12 contender. This should be a four-quarter watch once again.

Kansas State at Baylor

A game that should be worth everyone’s time and lines up as the week’s most competitive. Both have solid quarterback play, good weapons around them and quality pieces on defense. If Baylor improves on the defensive side, this game could be terrific.