DENVER (KDVR) — No. 23-ranked University of Colorado Boulder Buffaloes are 8-3 going into their last regular-season matchup against Oklahoma State University which means they still have a chance to take part in the 2024 Dr. Pepper Big 12 Football Championship game, even after Saturday’s loss to the University of Kansas.
Four Big 12 teams – Arizona State University, Iowa State University, Brigham Young University and CU – all have 6-2 conference records going into their last games. With CU’s other two wins and one loss coming against non-conference opponents.
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An additional five teams – Baylor University, Kansas State University, Texas Christian University, Texas Tech University and West Virginia University – have 5-3 conference records going into the last week. That means that it is still possible, though unlikely, that they could end up advancing into the championship game.
How CU could end up in the championship game
The most simple scenario is that only the Buffs and one other team with a 6-2 record wins their game this week.
According to the Big 12, in that scenario, both 7-2 teams would automatically advance into the championship game.
Things get quite a bit more complicated if there are three teams that end up with a tied record at 7-2.
In this scenario where the Buffs win and have a conference record of 7-2, there are two situations in which CU gets to play in the conference championship – both require BYU to lose to Houston and Texas Tech to beat West Virginia.
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The first situation would occur if Baylor defeats Kansas and Cincinnati defeats TCU. In this case, CU would face Iowa State in the Big 12 championship.
The other situation, which occurs in any other outcome for the Baylor and TCU games, CU will face Arizona State in the conference championship.
If all four teams that are currently 6-2 win this weekend, the championship will be between Arizona State and Iowa State.
Of course, there could also be an outcome where all of the 6-2 teams lose this weekend, but that would mean a far more complicated tie-breaker situation with many possible outcomes depending on how the 5-3 teams perform.
Kickoff for the game at Folsom Field is at 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 29.
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