Big 12 Championship tiebreaker scenarios revealed after Week 13

The race to the Big 12 Championship game has been thrown into complete and total madness with one week remaining in the regular season. Arizona State, BYU, Colorado and Iowa State all sit tied atop the league standings with two losses each in conference play.

Those aren’t even the only teams still in contention to make the Big 12 title game either as nine total teams still have a shot. Five teams currently sit with a conference record of 5-3 and haven’t been ruled out if more craziness happens in the final week of the regular season. They need to win and hope three of the teams tied for first place lose to keep their chances alive.

The simplest thing that can happen is that two of the teams tied for first place lose and the other two win, advancing them to the title game. Mostly likely, however, we’ll be looking at either a three or four-way tie to end the season. You can view all the possible scenarios that could play out below.

Two-team tie scenario

• The two teams tied at 7-2 will compete in the Big 12 Championship

Three-team tie scenario

• IF Colorado loses: Arizona State vs. Iowa State
• IF Arizona State loses: Iowa State vs. BYU
• IF Iowa State loses: Arizona State vs. BYU
• IF BYU loses, Texas Tech beats West Virginia,
  Baylor beats Kansas AND Cincinnati beats TCU: Colorado vs. Iowa State
• Otherwise: Colorado vs. Arizona State
• IF BYU loses and West Virginia beats Texas Tech: Arizona State vs. Iowa State

Four-team tie scenario

• Arizona State vs. Iowa State

Based on this, it’s clear that Arizona State and Iowa State find themselves in the best positions to make the Big 12 Championship. Not only do they find themselves winning more tiebreaker scenarios than the other two teams in a three-way tie, but they would also win a four-way tie.

Conversely, Colorado needs a lot to go its way after falling 37-21 to Kansas this past week. Not only do the Buffaloes need BYU to lose, but they also need Texas Tech to defeat West Virginia only chance to get in. BYU, on the other hand, gets in with a loss from either Arizona State or Iowa State.

The race to the Big 12 Championship holds even more weight this year as the winner will earn an automatic bid in the new 12-team College Football Playoff. That in mind, fans around the country will be watching to see how things play out.