Big 12 Notes

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Big 12 Notes – Arizona Week

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October 15th

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CU at No. 42 in latest CBS Sports 1-134 rankings 

From CBS Sports … Making tough decisions regarding the best teams in college football gets really difficult in the month of October as conference play provides notable outcomes on a week-in, week-out basis. But things get particularly challenging in the wake of a massive weekend like we had in Week 7 with top teams squaring off in instant classics throughout the day.

Oregon offered a strong case to be the No. 1 team in the country with its performance in a 32-31 win against Ohio State on Saturday night, but unfortunately for the Ducks, there is no vacancy in the top spot. Our voters on the panel for the CBS Sports 134 — a comprehensive ranking of every FBS team from experts at CBS Sports and 247Sports — did not budge off Texas’ claim to No. 1, especially after a dominant performance against Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry.

The Ducks did move up two spots to No. 2, though, taking over the spot that was previously held by Ohio State, which only fell one spot to No. 3. The voters have strong agreements on Texas and Oregon, but sorting out the rest of the top 10 has gotten much more difficult in recent weeks. The Buckeyes beat out Penn State for No. 3 by the smallest of margins with an average ranking of 4.0 to 4.1 showing not only how close those two teams are but that other top 10 teams are occupying spots in the top five on ballots. After all, if Ohio State can be in the top five with one loss, there’s possibly an argument for Georgia (No. 6 this week) or Alabama (No. 7 this week) as well.

And while there’s plenty of shuffling throughout the top 30, most of it resembled moving pieces around the board without disrupting the pre-existing order outside of Ole Miss’ eight-spot drop from No. 12 to No. 20 in the wake of the Rebels’ loss at LSU. The biggest and most notable adjustments this week are found outside the top 25, and we’ve detailed those in the Mover’s Report below the top 25 table.

• No. 27 Arizona State (+15): A slow climb up the CBS Sports 134 just got a big boost with Friday night’s win against Utah, which has Kenny Dillingham’s crew already eclipsing their preseason win total from the oddsmakers (4.5) and in the Big 12 title hunt. Arizona State is 5-1 overall with three power conference wins, and the only defeat was an eight-point loss on the road at Texas Tech, which is also 5-1 on the year.
• No. 54 Cincinnati (+15): The Bearcats returned to action out of an off-week with a hard-fought road win at UCF, holding the Knights offense in check and securing a victory that has Cincinnati at 4-2 at the season’s midpoint. It wasn’t the prettiest win, but Brendan Sorsby continues to be a huge upgrade at quarterback for Scott Satterfield and the Bearcats are on track to be a bowl team after going 3-9 in their Big 12 debut last season.
• No. 38 Utah (-18): Cam Rising finally returned, but the offensive impact was not what anyone expected as he threw three interceptions and the offense again did not operate at a high level in the red zone. The Utes are 4-2 overall with several winnable games left on the schedule, but those Big 12 title hopes from the preseason are thinning with each additional loss.

From the Big 12 … 

• No. 8 … Iowa State … same ranking as last week
• No. 11 … BYU … down one spot
• No. 19 … Kansas State … same as last week
• No. 23 … Nebraska … same as last week
• No. 27 … Arizona State … up 15 spots
• No. 29 … Texas Tech … up 7 spots
• No. 38 … Utah … down 18 spots
• No. 40 … Georgia Tech (2025 opponent) … up eight spots
• No. 42 … Colorado … down two spots
• No. 45 … Arizona … down one spot
• No. 54 … Cincinnati … up 15 spots
• No. 58 … West Virginia … down three spots
• No. 62 … Oklahoma State … up four spots
• No. 70 … UCF … down nine spots
• No. 73 … TCU … up three spots
• No. 81 … Baylor … down three spots
• No. 82 … Houston … up one spot
• No. 86 … Kansas … up three spots
• No. 90 … Colorado State … up 17 spots 
• No. 124 … Wyoming (2025 opponent) … down two spots

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October 14th

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Utah’s Cam Rising out “indefinitely”; Utes return to true freshman at quarterback

From ESPN … Utah quarterback Cam Rising will be out “indefinitely,” and true freshman Isaac Wilson will start in his place, Utes coach Kyle Whittingham announced Monday.

Rising returned to the field Friday against Arizona State after sitting out the previous three games because of a hand injury, but he sustained a lower-leg injury early in the contest. He remained in the game but was visibly hampered and completed only 16 of 37 passes with three interceptions and no touchdowns in a 27-19 loss.

Whittingham usually does not provide injury updates unless they are season-ending in nature but began his news conference by addressing Rising’s status.

“Isaac Wilson will be our starter until further notice — that way we don’t have to address that each time we talk,” Whittingham said. “I can’t give you a timeline. It could be the rest of the season. I’m not sure how exactly long it will be, but I know it’s going to be a minute.”

Rising’s injury is the latest in a string setbacks that have plagued him throughout his career. He suffered a season-ending shoulder injury early in the first game of the 2020 season; exited the Rose Bowl game because of a concussion to end the 2021 season; and suffered a serious knee injury in the Rose Bowl the following season that caused him to sit out all of 2023.

Rising, 25, began his career at Texas, where he redshirted in 2018, and sat out the 2019 season after transferring to Utah. Whittingham hinted at the possibility Rising could have another season of eligibility, but it’s unclear if that will happen.

“Now that we’re in the situation that we’re in, that’s a possibility,” Whittingham said. “We’ll have to explore that in detail with the compliance department. And I’m not even sure Cam would be interested in going that route. He’s got a lot to think about, and so [he needs] to just take a step back right now and let them get this most recent injury thoroughly diagnosed. … That would be something we’re talking about sooner rather than later.”

… Continue reading story here …

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Arizona struggling on offense heading into game against CU

From the Arizona Republic … (On Arizona’s 41-19 loss to BYU) …

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October 13th

… Foe Pause …

Utah falls out of AP poll; Iowa State moves into the the Top Ten

From ESPN … Oregon and Penn State each moved up a spot in the Associated Press college football poll Sunday following thrilling wins in high-profile games, and Top 25 newcomers Navy and Army are in the rankings together for the first time since 1960.

Texas strengthened its hold on No. 1 with its 31-point victory over Oklahoma. The Longhorns received 56 of 62 first-place votes, four more than last week and their most since they were a unanimous No. 1 in October 2008.

This weekend wasn’t as wild as the week before, when four of the top 11 teams were upset and only two teams held their spots in the ensuing rankings shuffle.

That’s not to say Week 7 was devoid of excitement.

Oregon’s 32-31 home win over Ohio State featured seven lead changes and moved the Ducks to No. 2 with the other six first-place votes. It’s their highest ranking since they ended the 2014 season at No. 2 after losing to the Buckeyes in the inaugural College Football Playoff championship game.

Penn State rose to No. 3 with a 33-30 overtime win at USC, the Nittany Lions’ highest ranking in seven years.

Penn State-USC was one of four games involving AP Top 25 teams that went to overtime Saturday, including three in the top 10.

Ohio State dropped two spots to No. 4, and Georgia remained No. 5. Miami, Alabama, LSU, Iowa State and Clemson rounded out the top 10.

Army, which beat UAB 44-10, and Navy, which was idle, broke through for their first simultaneous rankings since Oct. 3, 1960.

Their coinciding appearance that season lasted just one week. Army was 3-0 and ranked No. 18 before dropping two straight games and finishing 6-3-1. Navy had entered the rankings a week earlier, at No. 17, and ended the season 9-2 and ranked No. 4.

Army (6-0) and Navy (5-0) have not each been unbeaten at this point in a season since 1945, weeks after World War II ended and in the era when service academies were powerhouses of the sport.

Others receiving votes … Vanderbilt 68, Nebraska 62, Arizona State 39, Oklahoma 36, Washington State 32, Iowa 29, Texas Tech 18, Syracuse 13, Arkansas 13, Utah 7, Louisville 6, USC 5, Liberty 2, UNLV 1

Dropped from rankings: Utah 16, Oklahoma 18

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Big 12 lines for Week Eight – CU opens as a 3.5-point road underdog 

From Draft Kings …

From the Big 12 … 

Friday, October 18th

• Oklahoma State at No. 13 BYU … 8:15 p.m., MT, ESPN … BYU is a 9.0-point home favorite …

Saturday, October 19th

• Arizona State at Cincinnati … 10:00 a.m., MT, ESPN+ … Cincinnati is a 2.5-point home favorite …
• Houston at Kansas … 1:30 p.m., MT, ESPN+ … Kansas is a 6.5-point home favorite …
• Colorado at Arizona … 2:00 p.m., MT, Fox … Arizona is a 3.5-point home favorite …
• Baylor at Texas Tech … 2:00 p.m., MT, ESPN2 … Texas Tech is a 6.5-point home favorite …
• UCF at No. 9 Iowa State … 5:30 p.m., MT, FS1 … Iowa State is a 13.5-point home favorite …
• No. 17 Kansas State at West Virginia … 5:30 p.m., MT, Fox … West Virginia is a 3.5-point home underdog …
• TCU at Utah … 8:30 p.m., MT, ESPN. Utah is a 7.0-point home favorite …

This post, about the Arizona game, from the 2024 Season, is filed under Article.
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