Who is in the Big 12 football championship game?
With a few hours left in the regular season, there were still four teams alive for a berth in the 2024 Big 12 football championship game.
Entering the week, nine teams still had a shot at appearing in the title game. But after wins by Colorado and Arizona State, the field was narrowed to the four two-loss teams: Colorado, ASU, Iowa State and BYU.
And with all four teams winning on Saturday — resulting in a four-way tie for first place — it came down to a series of tiebreakers to determine the top two teams. After all of the scenarios were run, the Big 12 announced Arizona State and Iowa State will play for the championship on Dec. 7 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Here are the scenarios that played out heading into the final three games of the Big 12 football regular season on Saturday night:
3 Games Remain.
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) November 30, 2024
And then there were 4️⃣ pic.twitter.com/udoeacnbVD
Arizona State vs. Iowa State
If both BYU and Iowa State win Saturday night — and the regular season ends in a four-way tie for first place — Arizona State and Iowa State would advance to the Big 12 championship game based on tiebreakers.
(Update: This is exactly what happened.)
Arizona State vs. Colorado
If both BYU and Iowa State lose Saturday night, Arizona State and Colorado would be alone atop the conference at 7-2 and would play for the Big 12 championship next week.
Arizona State vs. BYU
If Iowa State loses and BYU wins, Arizona State and BYU would advance to the Big 12 championship game based on tiebreakers.
Iowa State vs. Colorado
This is where it gets complex. And it does not favor Arizona State. If Iowa State wins and BYU loses — and Texas Tech, Baylor and Cincinnati win — Colorado and Iowa State would play for the Big 12 championship.
Texas Tech and Baylor already won today. Cincinnati is currently in progress against TCU.
Arizona State vs. Colorado
The last scenario is the wackiest one. If Iowa State wins and BYU loses — and Texas Tech wins and Baylor loses OR Cincinnati loses — Colorado and Arizona State would play for the Big 12 championship.
Bottom line if you're an Arizona State fan: you're rooting for BYU to beat Houston. If BYU wins, the Sun Devils are in. If BYU is upset, then it's possible the Sun Devils won't play next week. Stay tuned.
Saturday's Big 12 Scores
TCU 20, Cincinnati 13
Iowa State 29, Kansas State 21
BYU 30, Houston 18
Arizona State 49, Arizona 7
Baylor 45, Kansas 17
Texas Tech 52, West Virginia 15
Colorado 52, Oklahoma State 0 (Friday)
Utah 28, UCF 14 (Friday)
More Arizona State & Big 12 Analysis
Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. One of his favorite memories was covering the 1999 Fiesta Bowl - the first BCS National Championship Game - at Sun Devil Stadium.