No. 7 Texas Tech and No. 11 BYU can clinch spots in Big 12 championship game with wins Saturday

Things to watch this week as the Big 12 wraps up the regular season:

Texas Tech and BYU can both get in the Big 12 championship game by winning their respective regular-season finales. The Red Raiders beat the Cougars 29-7 at home on Nov. 8. If one or both lose, No. 14 Utah (9-2, 6-2, No. 13 CFP) and Arizona State (8-3, 6-2, No. 20 CFP) are the only other teams with a chance to go to Arlington on Dec. 6.

Game of the week

No. 7 Texas Tech (10-1, 7-1 Big 12, No. 5 CFP) at West Virginia (4-7, 2-6) Saturday, noon ET (ESPN)

The Red Raiders and Mountaineers both come off open dates for what will be a cold day in Morgantown. Tech has the Big 12’s highest-scoring offense at 42.6 points per game, and also leads the league allowing 12.3. The defense is led by linebacker Jacob Rodriguez (100 tackles, seven forced fumbles) and national sacks leader David Bailey (12 1/2). The Red Raiders have never played in the Big 12 title game.

The Mountaineers are wrapping up their first season in the return of coach Rich Rodriguez.

The undercard

UCF (5-6, 2-6) at No. 11 BYU (10-1, 7-1, No. 11 CFP), Saturday, 1 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

BYU’s only loss was the much-hyped game at Texas Tech, when held to a season-low 255 total yards and under 24 points for the only time. Their wins have been by an average margin of 19.7 points.

BYU is trying to get to their first conference championship game since the WAC in 1998, a loss to Air Force. The Mountain West didn’t have a championship game when the Cougars were in that league from 1999-2010, and they were independent until joining the Big 12 in 2023.

Impact players

— Utah running back Wayshawn Parker has four consecutive 100-yard rushing games. The Washington State transfer has averaged 7.8 yards per carry in that span.

— Arizona State linebacker Keyshaun Elliott ranks top seven in the Big 12 with 89 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and seven sacks. The Sun Devils on Friday night host Arizona, which has allowed 28 sacks; only Colorado has given up more in the league.

Inside the numbers

Oklahoma State (1-10, 0-8), which Tuesday named North Texas’ Eric Morris as its next coach, has to beat Iowa State (7-4, 4-4) on Saturday to avoid going winless in conference play for the second season in a row. The last Big 12 team that failed to win any league games over a two-season span was Kansas in 2011 and 2012. The Cowboys were in the Big Eight when they last did that in 1993 and 1994. … Iowa State’s 25 wins since the start of 2023 are a school record for a three-year period. … Cincinnati leads the Big 12 with 7.09 yards per play and 5.89 rushing yards per attempt. The Bearcats play at TCU, which is second in the league at 291.5 yards passing per game.

Bowling season

The Big 12 already has nine teams with the six wins needed for bowl eligibility. The league also has four 5-6 teams going into the final weekend of the regular season: Kansas (vs. Utah); UCF (at No. 14 Utah); Kansas State (vs. Colorado) and Baylor (vs. Houston).

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