BYU wins in Provo, Utah (Photo by BYU Athletics)
BYU will play for the Big 12 championship, and Utah and Utah State will wait to see where they go bowling.
BYU 11-1 (8-1 in the Big 12)
Kalani Sitake and his BYU team have made history. They’ll play for their Power Four conference crown on Saturday against Texas Tech. While both teams should be in the College Football Playoff, regardless of the outcome of the game, the winner is a lock and won’t have to sweat out Selection Sunday. BYU’s resume speaks for itself. The Cougars are one of only six teams to have at least six wins over bowl-eligible teams. They’re in the same company as Ohio State, Indiana, USC, Oregon, and James Madison. It would be great to see BYU represent the Beehive State and the Big 12 in the College Football Playoff.
Utah 10-2 (7-2 in the Big 12)
The teams from the Sunflower State ran the ball really well against Utah in these last two games, but the Utes overcame that in both contests. Devon Dampier had a big game for the Utes in their 31-21 victory over Kansas. Arizona’s defeat of Arizona State on Friday night eliminated ASU and Utah from the Big 12 title game. That will be BYU and Texas Tech, and would have been regardless of the outcome of their games.
BYU, Texas Tech, and Utah all deserve to be in the College Football Playoff this year. Thanks to the favoritism, though, especially for the SEC, the Big 12 will only get one of these three teams into the field of 12. That’s garbage. It will be the second straight year that the Big 12 will have had a deserving team that earned a berth in the playoff, be left out. Only this year, it will be two teams snubbed.
Hopefully, the Utes will make a good bowl game and play a quality Power Four opponent and demolish them. I always thought conference solidarity was a little corny, but seeing a conference get treated unfairly makes me want them to succeed. I hope the Big 12 has a fantastic postseason this year, led by BYU, Utah, and Texas Tech.
Utah State 6-6 (4-4 in the Mountain West)
The Aggies lost a heartbreaker at home to Boise State. They had a 24-19 lead well into the fourth quarter, and had the chance for a field goal that would give them an eight-point lead. Utah State instead decided to try to convert a fourth and short, and they were stopped. Boise State would get a touchdown to lead 25-24, and USU’s efforts to get a game-winning score of their own came up short. Utah State now waits to see where they will play a bowl game.
Weber State 4-8 (2-6 in the Big Sky)
Weber State’s season has concluded. The big news for the Wildcats is who will be their head coach in 2026?
Utah Tech 2-10 (1-7 in the United Athletic Conference)
Utah Tech’s 2025 season has concluded. The Trailblazers will be back in action in 2026.
Southern Utah 7-5 (6-2 in the United Athletic Conference)
The Thunderbirds’ season has concluded, but Joshua Dye is still a candidate to win the Walter Payton Award for the best player in FCS football. Dye finished his season with 272 carries for 1,723 yards and 25 touchdowns.
Steve Young Award Player of the Week
Devon Dampier played well for Utah, Bear Bachmeier was great for BYU, but the best this week was once again LJ Martin. Martin had 22 carries for 95 yards and three touchdowns, and five catches for 35 yards. This season, Martin has 217 carries for 1,229 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also has 29 catches for 224 yards.
Writer’s Note: All FBS team rankings referenced are from the College Football Power Rankings here at TheForkball.com. All FCS rankings are from the FCS STATS poll.
