The 2018 Big 12 Conference football season was the 23rd season of Big 12 Conference football, part of the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season began with non-conference play on August 30, 2018. Big 12 Conference play began on September 22, 2018.
The 2018 season was the seventh for the Big 12 since the 2010–13 Big 12 Conference realignment brought the Big 12 membership to its current form.
As a ten-team league, the Big 12 played a nine-game round-robin conference schedule and each member played three non-conference games, one of which had to be against another Power Five conference foe. The regular season was followed by a conference championship game played between the regular-season champion and regular-season runner-up. The 2018 Big 12 Championship Game was held on Saturday, December 1, 2018. Oklahoma defeated Texas 39–27 to win their 12th Big 12 Championship.
Preseason
Recruiting + National rankings Team ESPN Rivals Scout 24/7 Total signeesBaylor #17 #55 #47 #36 15Iowa State #54 #53 #45 #52 29Kansas NR #100 #94 #81 19Kansas State #70 #76 #73 #71 21Oklahoma #21 #16 #19 #22 22Oklahoma State #46 #48 #42 #43 21TCU #23 #20 #13 #18 24Texas #10 #7 #3 #9 28Texas Tech #42 #46 #31 #47 25West Virginia #37 #38 #36 #41 28
Preseason poll The 2018 Big12 Preseason media poll was announced on July 12, 2018, prior to the Big12 media days. The Big12 media days were held from July 16–17 in Frisco, Texas. Oklahoma was chosen to finish at the top of the standings for the third consecutive year in the 2018 Big 12 football preseason poll, voted on by media representatives.
Oklahoma (46) – 509 West Virginia (2) – 432 TCU (1) – 390 Texas (1) – 370 Oklahoma State – 300 Kansas State (2) – 283 Iowa State – 250 Texas Tech – 149 Baylor – 125 Kansas – 52
First place votes in ()
Preseason awards 2018 Preseason All-Big 12
Offensive Player of the Year: Will Grier, West Virginia Defensive Player of the Year: Ben Banogu, TCU Newcomer of the Year: Brendan Radley-Hiles, Oklahoma
+ All-Big 12 Offense Position Player Class Team QB Will Grier Sr.West Virginia RB David Montgomery Jr.Iowa State RB Rodney Anderson Jr.Oklahoma FB Justice Hill Jr.Oklahoma State WR Denzel Mims Jr.Baylor WR Marquise Brown Jr.Oklahoma WR David Sills Sr.West Virginia TE Grant Calcaterra So.Oklahoma OL Dalton Risner Sr.Kansas State OL Bobby Evans Jr.Oklahoma OL Ben Powers Sr.Oklahoma OL Marcus Keyes Jr.Oklahoma State OL Yodny Cajuste Sr.West Virginia PK Austin Seibert Sr.Oklahoma KR/PR KaVontae Turpin Sr.TCU + All-Big 12 Defense Position Player Class Team DL JaQuan Bailey Jr.Iowa State DL Daniel Wise Sr.Kansas DL Jordan Brailford Jr.Oklahoma State DL Ben Banogu Sr.TCU DL Breckyn Hager Sr.Texas LB Joe Dineen Jr. Sr.Kansas LB Dakota Allen Sr.Texas Tech LB David Long Jr. Jr.West Virginia DB Brian Peavy Sr.Iowa State DB Kendall Adams Sr.Kansas State DB Kris Boyd Sr.Texas DB Jah'Shawn Johnson Sr.Texas Tech DB Justus Parker Jr.Texas Tech P Austin Seibert Sr.Oklahoma
Head coaches
Coaches Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school Big-12 recordBaylor Matt Rhule 2 29–34 () 1–11 () 1–8 ()Iowa State Matt Campbell 3 46–29 () 11–14 () 7–11 ()Kansas David Beaty 4 3–33 () 3–33 () 1–26 ()Kansas State Bill Snyder 10 212–111–1 () 212–111–1 () 125–84–1 ()Oklahoma Lincoln Riley 2 16–2 () 16–2 () 9–1 ()Oklahoma State Mike Gundy 14 114–53 () 114–53 () 69–42 ()TCU Gary Patterson 18 160–57 () 160–57 () 100–40 ()Texas Tom Herman 2 29–10 () 7–6 () 5–4 ()Texas Tech Kliff Kingsbury 6 30–33 () 30–33 () 16–29 ()West Virginia Dana Holgorsen 8 53–37 () 53–37 () 32–29 ()
Schedule
Regular season Index to colors and formattingBig 12 member wonBig 12 member lostBig 12 teams in bold
Week one Schedule and results:
Week two Schedule and results:
Week three Schedule and results:
Week four Schedule and results:
Week five Schedule and results:
Week six Schedule and results:
Week seven Schedule and results:
Week eight Schedule and results:
Week nine Schedule and results:
Week ten Schedule and results:
Week eleven Schedule and results:
Week twelve Schedule and results:
Week thirteen Schedule and results:
Week Fourteen Schedule and results:
Championship game
Schedule and results: Date Time (CT) Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance December 1 11:00 a.m. #14 Texas #5 Oklahoma AT&T Stadium • Arlington, TX ABC OU 39–27 83,114
Big 12 vs other conferences
Big 12 vs Power 5 matchups This is a list of the non-conference games that Big-12 teams will play versus the power conference teams. They comprise teams from the ACC, Big 10, Pac-12 and SEC. In addition, although the NCAA does not consider BYU a "Power Five" school, the Big-12 does consider games against BYU as satisfying its "Power Five" scheduling requirement. All rankings are from the current AP Poll at the time of the game. (Rankings from the AP Poll):
Date Visitor Home Site Significance Score September 1 Ole MissTexas Tech NRG Stadium • Houston, TX AdvoCare Texas Kickoff L 27–47 September 1 No. 23 Texas Maryland FedEx Field • Landover, MD L 29–34 September 1 Tennessee No. 17 West Virginia Bank of America Stadium • Charlotte, NC Belk Kickoff Game W 40–14 September 8 No. 18 Mississippi StateKansas StateBill Snyder Family Football Stadium • Manhattan, KS L 10–31 September 8 Iowa State Iowa Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA Battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy L 3–13 September 8 UCLANo. 6 OklahomaGaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, OK W 49–21 September 15 DukeBaylorMcLane Stadium • Waco, TX L 27–40 September 15 RutgersKansas David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium • Lawrence, KS W 55–14September 15 No. 22 USCTexas Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium • Austin, Texas W 37–14September 15 No. 14 West VirginiaNC State Carter–Finley Stadium • Raleigh, NC Hurricane Florence Canceled September 15 No. 4 Ohio StateNo. 15 TCUAT&T Stadium • Arlington, TX College Gameday L 28–40
Records against other conferences 2018 records against non-conference foes as of: 9/2/2018
Regular Season
Power 5 ConferencesRecordACC0–1Big Ten1–3Pac 122–0BYU/Notre Dame0–0SEC1–2Power 5 Total4–6Other FBS ConferencesRecordAmerican3–0C-USA3–0Independents (Excluding BYU and Notre Dame)1–0MAC2–0Mountain West1–0Sun Belt1–0Other FBS Total10–0FCS OpponentsRecordFootball Championship Subdivision7–1Total Non-Conference Record15–7
Post Season
Power Conferences 5RecordACC0–1Big Ten0–0Pac 121–1 SEC3–1Power 5 Total4–3 Total Bowl Record4–3
Rankings + Legend Increase in ranking Decrease in ranking RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
Pre Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 FinalBaylor AP C CFP Not releasedIowa State AP RV RV C RV RV CFP Not releasedKansas AP C CFP Not releasedKansas State AP RV RV C RV RV CFP Not releasedOklahomaAP 7 6 C55 CFP Not releasedOklahoma State APRVRV C 25 23 CFP Not releasedTCU AP 16 16 C 16 16 CFP Not releasedTexas AP 23 C21 CFP Not releasedTexas Tech AP C CFP Not releasedWest Virginia AP 17 14 C 20 17 CFP Not released
Postseason
Bowl games Legend Big 12 win Big 12 loss
Bowl gameDateSiteTelevisionTime (CST)Big 12 teamOpponentScoreAttendance Cheez-It BowlDecember 26Chase Field • Phoenix, AZESPN8:00 p.m.TCUCaliforniaW 10–733,121Texas BowlDecember 27NRG Stadium • Houston, TXESPN8:00 p.m.BaylorVanderbiltW 45–3851,104Camping World BowlDecember 28Camping World Stadium • Orlando, FLESPN4:15 p.m.No. 16 West Virginia No. 20 SyracuseL 18–3441,125Alamo BowlDecember 28Alamodome • San Antonio, TXESPN8:00 p.m.No. 24 Iowa StateNo. 13 Washington StateL 26–2860,675Liberty BowlDecember 31Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TNESPN3:45 p.m.Oklahoma StateMissouriW 38–3351,587 New Year's SixSugar BowlJanuary 1Mercedes-Benz Superdome • New Orleans, LAESPN8:45 p.m.No. 15 TexasNo. 5 GeorgiaW 28–2171,449College Football PlayoffOrange Bowl (Semifinal)December 29Hard Rock Stadium • Miami Gardens, FLESPN7:00 p.m.No. 4 Oklahoma No. 1 AlabamaL 34–4566,203
Rankings are from AP Poll. All times Central Time Zone.
* Rankings based on CFP rankings
Selection of teams (7): Baylor, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, West Virginia
Awards and honors
Player of the week honors
Week Offensive Defensive Specialist Newcomer Player Team Position Player Team Position Player Team Position Player Team Position Week 1 (Sept. 4) Will Grier West Virginia QB Curtis Bolton Oklahoma LB Isaiah Zuber Kansas State WR Chuba Hubbard Derius Davis Oklahoma State TCU RB WR Week 2 (Sept. 10) Kyler Murray Oklahoma QB Joe Dineen Jr. Kansas LB KaVontae Turpin TCU WR Pooka Williams Jr. Kansas RB Week 3 (Sept. 17) Kyler Murray (2) Oklahoma QB Gary Johnson Texas LB Amen Ogbongbemiga Austin Seibert Oklahoma State Oklahoma LB PK Alan Bowman Texas Tech QB Week 4 (Sept. 24) Will Grier (2) West Virginia QB Kenneth Murray Oklahoma LB Drew Galitz Baylor P Caden Sterns Texas DB Week 5 (Oct. 1) Kyler Murray (3) Oklahoma QB Jordan Brailford Oklahoma State DE D'Shawn Jamison Texas WR Keith Washington Pooka Williams Jr. (2) West Virginia Kansas CB RB Week 6 (Oct. 8) Sam Ehlinger Texas QB Braxton Lewis Iowa State DB Cameron Dicker Texas K Brock Purdy Iowa State QB Week 7 (Oct. 15) Alex Barnes Kansas State RB Duke Shelley JaQuan Bailey Kansas State Iowa State DB DE Dominic Panazzolo Texas Tech P Brock Purdy Iowa State QB Week 8 (Oct. 22) Kyler Murray (4) Oklahoma QB Dakota Allen Texas Tech LB Clayton Hatfield Texas Tech K Kennedy Brooks Oklahoma RB Week 9 (Oct. 29) Taylor Cornelius Oklahoma State QB Marcel Spears Jr. Iowa State LB Gabriel Rui Zach Sinor Kansas Oklahoma State K P Pooka Williams Jr. (3) Kansas RB Week 10 (Nov. 5) Will Grier (3) West Virginia QB Clay Johnston Baylor LB Evan Staley West Virginia K Jalen Hurd Brock Purdy (2) Baylor Iowa State WR QB Week 11 (Nov. 12) Lil'Jordan Humphrey Texas WR Joe Dineen Jr. Davante Davis Kansas Texas LB DB Cameron Dicker (2) Texas K Kennedy Brooks (2) Oklahoma RB Week 12 (Nov. 19) Taylor Cornelius (2) Oklahoma State QB Ben Banogu TCU DE Blake Lynch Kansas State K Pooka Williams Jr. (4) Kansas RB Week 13 (Nov. 26) Kyler Murray (5) Oklahoma QB Juwuan Johnson TCU LB Austin Seibert (2) Oklahoma K/P Kennedy Brooks (3) Oklahoma RB
Postseason awards 2018 Consensus All-Americans
The following Big 12 players were named to the 2017 College Football All-America Team by the Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF), Associated Press (AP), Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), Sporting News (SN), and American Football Coaches Association (AFCA): Ben Powers, OL, Oklahoma.
Academic All-America Team Member of the Year (CoSIDA)
+ Consensus All-Americans Player Position Class Team Ben Powers OL Senior Oklahoma
2018 All-Big 12
Offensive Player of the Year: Kyler Murray, QB, Oklahoma Defensive Player of the Year: David Long Jr., LB, West Virginia Offensive Freshman of the Year: Pooka Williams Jr., RB, Kansas Defensive Freshman of the Year: Caden Sterns, DB, Texas Offensive Lineman of the Year: Dalton Risner, Kansas State, Dru Samia, Oklahoma & Yodny Cajuste, West Virginia Defensive Lineman of the Year: Charles Omenihu, Texas Offensive Newcomer of the Year: Jalen Hurd, WR, Baylor Defensive Newcomer of the Year: Greg Eisworth, DB, Iowa State Special Teams Player of the Year: Austin Seibert, P/K, Oklahoma Coach of the Year: Matt Campbell, Iowa State & Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma