The Big 12 landscape has been shaken up after the Kansas Jayhawks took down two of its top teams—the Colorado Buffaloes and BYU—causing both to fall hard from their earlier glory. The Jayhawks, sitting at 5-6, have flipped the script, proving that this might just be the season of the underdog. Arizona State added insult to injury for BYU, following up with a 24-14 victory last week. The Big 12 race is now tighter than ever, with teams closely bunched together. Who would have thought the Buffaloes, who looked unstoppable after a blowout win just a week ago, would now be ranked No. 23? Or that BYU would drop to No. 19 after their loss? The unpredictability of college football is alive and well. So, is this underdog dominance a sign of things to come?

ESPN analyst Scott Van Pelt put it best: it’s not that Colorado and BYU are out of playoff contention, but their path has gotten significantly harder. For BYU, it’s simple—beat Houston in the regular-season finale and hope for some luck. Their playoff hopes hinge on Iowa State or Arizona State losing one of their remaining three games. Colorado, however, faces a tougher challenge. They haven’t played any of the teams in contention, which puts them at a disadvantage in tiebreaker scenarios. Deion Sanders’ team might need more than just a couple of wins to secure their spot. Still, while the struggles of the “big names” dominate the headlines, let’s not overlook the brilliance of the underdogs.

Kansas deserves all the praise for their recent run. As Van Pelt said, “Kansas did better; they were way better than their record. They went out and beat Iowa State and rolled them; they went to Provo, they beat BYU, and they rolled Colorado. Colorado could do nothing to slow them down. I am openly rooting for them against Baylor. I just want Kansas to go to a bowl game because I want them to continue this run like the history of no one has had their record.”

Meanwhile, Arizona State didn’t just beat BYU—they crushed their hopes with a thrilling 28-23 victory. Fans stormed the field in celebration, turning chaos into hope. But even with Arizona State’s win, the plot thickens. If BYU loses next week, Colorado still needs some stars to align. Iowa State must lose to Kansas State, and the Arizona Wildcats need to fall to the Sun Devils for Colorado to have a shot.

Even then, it’s all about the scores. If Arizona State ends up with a 6-3 record, it could widen Colorado’s playoff chances. But Sanders isn’t one to ignore the threat of underdogs. He admitted his team got caught up in the hype.

Deion Sanders believes his team needs to be humble

“The problem is you got intoxicated with success,” Sanders said after the loss. “You start believing what they are saying, you start listening more to what they say. You bought into all that foolishness that you were this, and you went out there and we got humbled.”

For Colorado, there’s no room for error. If all three tiebreaker contenders win next week, the Buffaloes could find themselves out of contention. It’s a bitter pill to swallow for a team that’s been dreaming of this moment for over a year. But Sanders, true to his character, sees this as a wake-up call for his team.

Now, let’s hear your thoughts—are the Jayhawks and Arizona State proving that this is truly the season of the underdogs? And what do you make of their shake-up of college football’s top teams?

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