Utah
Big 12 football power rankings: Utah asserts its position at the top, BYU makes a massive leap
If you’re a fan of one of the two Utah schools in the Big 12, it was a great weekend.
Many other schools in the league might feel a bit envious — Utah controlled its matchup at Oklahoma State, while BYU knocked off Kansas State.
Those two results — plus a must-see finish between Colorado and Baylor — highlighted Big 12 action during the fourth week of the college football season and shook up the latest conference power rankings.
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Here’s our look at how the Big 12 stacks up through the fourth week of the 2024 season:
1. Utah Utes (4-0, 1-0 Big 12)
Welcome, Utah, back to the top spot. They’re going to be here awhile, after making Oklahoma State look out of its element for much of the day and shutting down the Cowboys’ offense — especially All-American running back Ollie Gordon II, who never had an impact in the game.
Utah did this without Cam Rising, too — Isaac Wilson is proving he is more than capable leading the offense — and with Connor O’Toole and Karene Reid also out with injuries. Instead, guys like Micah Bernard, Dorian Singer and Elijah Davis came up with clutch plays, and the Utes collected the biggest win of Big 12 play thus far.
Now, it’s time for the revenge game for the Utes. Last year, Arizona beat them in Tucson — and scored on a long TD pass in the final minute to boot. What does Utah have in store for the Wildcats?
2. Iowa State Cyclones (3-0)
- Poll movement: Cimbed two spots
- Last week: Beat Arkansas State, 52-7
- Next game: Saturday at Houston, 5 p.m. MDT (FS1)
Why do the Cyclones get the edge here at the No. 2 spot? Because of the three unbeaten teams behind Utah, they have the next-best win — beating ranked Iowa on the road (had BYU won at Kansas State, this would be a different story). Iowa State dominated Arkansas State in its return from a bye.
There probably won’t be much more to learn about Iowa State this week, as they take on the Big 12′s worst team. The Cyclones don’t potentially face a top 25 Big 12 team until the season’s final weeks, unless a team like UCF or Texas Tech enters the rankings.
3. BYU Cougars (4-0, 1-0 Big 12)
Where did that come from? BYU knocked off the top 15 Wildcats, and in the process, the Cougars look like someone who is going to be a factor in the Big 12 race this season.
A 31-point flurry over six and a half minutes of game time broke the game open — during that stretch, BYU turned three Kansas State turnovers into touchdowns, and Parker Kingston’s electric 90-yard punt return for a score dealt the final crushing blow.
Yes, it’s a huge win — but how will BYU respond going forward? The Cougars still haven’t won a road game in Big 12 play since joining the league last year, and Baylor could be a wounded animal this weekend, ready to fight back after a demoralizing loss.
4. UCF Knights (3-0, 1-0 Big 12)
- Poll movement: Climbed one spot
- Last week: Bye
- Next game: Sept. 28 vs. Colorado, 1:30 p.m. MDT (Fox)
That ended up being a good time for a bye for the Knights — they improved a spot in the power rankings despite being idle. There’s also a fun but challenging set of games coming up for UCF that will show us just how formidable the Knights are.
First up is Deion Sanders’ Buffaloes, which must travel to Orlando in what should be an entertaining matchup. After that, UCF plays at Florida and will also play at Iowa State and home against BYU before the end of October.
5. Oklahoma State Cowboys (3-1, 0-1 Big 12)
- Poll movement: Dropped two spots
- Last week: Lost to No. 12 Utah, 22-19
- Next game: Saturday at No. 23 Kansas State, 10 a.m. MDT (ESPN)
Oklahoma State had its chance to give Utah a “Welcome to the Big 12″ moment — but the Utes turned the table and showed the Cowboys, this is their league to lose. Utah’s defense shut down Oklahoma State’s offense until the last few minutes, and the Utes rode a successful offensive day behind true freshman Isaac Wilson to a convincing victory.
Will Oklahoma State’s MIA offense return? The game this weekend against Kansas State carries a lot more weight now — the loser will fall to 0-2 in Big 12 play and face an uphill climb to be a league contender.
6. Kansas State Wildcats (3-1, 0-1 Big 12)
- Poll movement: Dropped five spots
- Last week: Lost to BYU, 38-9
- Next game: Saturday vs. No. 20 Oklahoma State, 10 a.m. MDT (ESPN)
Where did that come from? The Wildcats looked nothing like how they did the week before, when Kansas State handed then-ranked Arizona a 31-7 beatdown. It was strange to see such a lopsided loss to the Cougars, who stayed unbeaten with the shocking 29-point win and are clearly outpacing their projected 13th-place finish in the league.
This all sets up a critical game with Oklahoma State this week in a matchup that features two teams expected to contend for the Big 12 championship. At least for Kansas State, the Wildcats get the homefield advantage this time around.
7. Texas Tech Red Raiders (3-1, 1-0 Big 12)
- Poll movement: Climbed four spots
- Last week: Beat Arizona State, 30-22
- Next game: Saturday vs. Cincinnati, 6 p.m. MDT (ESPN2)
The Red Raiders made sure Arizona State wouldn’t knock them off in the Sun Devils’ inaugural Big 12 conference game — Texas Tech got out to a 14-0 lead after one quarter, and while ASU made it a one-score game several times after that, the Red Raiders found enough offense to fend off the Sun Devils.
There’s a favorable schedule ahead for the Red Raiders — over the next five weeks, they host Cincinnati and Baylor, while also playing at Arizona and TCU. Texas Tech should be favored in most — if not all — of those games, which would set up an interesting November.
8. Arizona State Sun Devils (3-1, 0-1 Big 12)
- Poll movement: Dropped two spots
- Last week: Lost to Texas Tech, 30-22
- Next game: Oct. 5 vs. Kansas, 6 p.m. MDT (ESPN2)
Welp, Arizona State’s Big 12 debut didn’t go quite as planned — the Sun Devils fell behind early and never led in falling at Texas Tech. It was a much better effort than ASU showed through much of last year, but the result also shows the Sun Devils still have plenty of work to do.
There are some winnable games — like hosting Kansas and Houston — mixed in with some difficult top 25 matchups for Arizona State over the next month. If the Sun Devils can head into November with a couple more wins, they’ll be in a solid position to qualify for the postseason.
9. Arizona Wildcats (2-1)
- Poll movement: Dropped two spots
- Last week: Bye
- Next game: Saturday at No. 10 Utah, 8:15 p.m. MDT (ESPN)
The shimmer on the Wildcats’ hopes to be a factor in the conference race took a sizable hit two weeks ago, when Arizona lost big to Kansas State in a matchup that didn’t count in the Big 12 standings. Questions surround the team under first-year coach Brent Brennan, though there’s enough talent in Tucson to impact the league race.
There’s some unfortunate luck for Arizona, though, that its next game comes on the road against the league favorite, Utah. Surely the Utes remember getting beat handily by the Wildcats last year, which included a long TD pass in the final minute.
10. Colorado Buffaloes (3-1, 1-0 Big 12)
- Poll movement: Climbed four spots
- Last week: Beat Baylor, 38-31
- Next game: Saturday at UCF, 1:30 p.m. MDT (Fox)
Colorado sure knows how to deliver a thriller — thanks to a Hail Mary followed by a game-winning touchdown in overtime, the Buffaloes rallied to beat Baylor in a loss that could have sunk Colorado in its league opener. Instead, Shedeur Sanders’ 43-yard touchdown to LaJohntay Wester made SportsCenter’s top play of the day, and the Buffaloes improved to 3-1.
We’ll learn more about how competitive the Buffaloes will be in the Big 12 race over the next few weeks. Following this weekend’s game at UCF, Colorado takes a bye before hosting Kansas State and playing at Arizona.
11. West Virginia Mountaineers (2-2, 1-0 Big 12)
- Poll movement: Climbed two spots
- Last week: Beat Kansas, 32-28
- Next game: Oct. 5 at No. 20 Oklahoma State, 2 p.m. MDT (ESPN2)
One week after the Mountaineers blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead, West Virginia looked like it was headed straight away to a 1-3 record. Then the Mountaineers engineered their own fourth-quarter comeback, rallying from down 11 with 5:39 to play with two late touchdown drives — that included the game-winner on a 15-yard TD pass with 26 seconds to play.
After an up and down first month of the season, now is a good time for the Mountaineers to have a bye. The upcoming schedule is brutal — West Virginia will play three teams currently ranked in October, but at least Iowa State and Kansas State have to visit Morgantown.
12. Cincinnati Bearcats (3-1, 1-0 Big 12)
- Poll movement: Climbed three spots
- Last week: Beat Houston, 34-0
- Next game: Saturday at Texas Tech, 6 p.m. MDT (ESPN2)
With Cincinnati’s first Big 12 home win — the shutout victory over Houston, which came in its second year in the league — the Bearcats have already matched their win total from last year. Cincinnati, under transfer quarterback Brendan Sorsby, has shown it has a strong enough offense to compete.
The schedule for the next month, though, is tough for a program trying to turn things around after a 3-9 campaign last year. Three of their next four games are on the road — at Texas Tech, UCF and Colorado, all three teams who’ve shown they’re capable of finishing in the upper half of the Big 12.
13. TCU Horned Frogs (2-2, 0-1 Big 12)
- Poll movement: Dropped four spots
- Last week: Lost to SMU, 66-42
- Next game: Saturday at Kansas, 1:30 p.m. MDT (ESPN+)
It’s panic time in Fort Worth — the Horned Frogs have lost two straight, after rival SMU blitzed TCU in what is now a Power Four matchup. The Mustangs had at least a three-score lead at the end of every quarter, and TCU gave up five turnovers.
Now, the Horned Frogs will have to bounce back on the road against an equally desperate Kansas squad. Who will get the much-needed shot of momentum a win can bring?
14. Baylor Bears (2-2, 0-1 Big 12)
- Poll movement: Dropped four spots
- Last week: Lost to Colorado, 38-31
- Next game: Saturday vs. No. 22 BYU, 10 a.m. MDT (FS1)
That was a gut punch for Baylor Nation — the Bears looked like they had wrapped up a road win to open conference play, but Shedeur Sanders’ Hail Mary on the final play of regulation wiped out the Baylor lead, then it lost in overtime. It feels like Dave Aranda is losing his grip on a season where he is squarely on the hot seat, even when the Bears are still 2-2 on the year.
Can Baylor rebound to knock off the now-ranked Cougars? BYU is coming off its wild 38-9 win over Kansas State, though the Cougars are still looking for their first road win in league play after joining the Big 12 last year. It’s a critical game for both schools.
15. Kansas Jayhawks (1-3, 0-1 Big 12)
- Poll movement: Dropped three spots
- Last week: Lost to West Virginia, 32-28
- Next game: Saturday vs. TCU, 1:30 p.m. MDT (ESPN+)
All the good vibes and positive expectations for Kansas going into the 2024 season are seemingly gone after the Jayhawks lose for the third straight game — and quarterback Jalon Daniels continued to struggle with turnovers. This time, Kansas couldn’t hold onto an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter and fell to West Virginia in the Big 12 opener for both schools.
Can a visit from TCU this weekend be the elixir to winning again? The Horned Frogs have lost two straight in painful fashion, and the loser of Saturday’s game will fall to 0-2 in league play. There’s winnable games for the Jayhawks over the next few weeks — including games at Arizona State and home against Houston — but they need to turn things around now.
16. Houston Cougars (1-3, 0-1 Big 12)
- Poll movement: No change
- Last week: Lost to Cincinnati, 34-0
- Next game: Saturday vs. No. 18 Iowa State, 5 p.m. MDT (FS1)
Houston’s offense was absent in a shutout loss to Cincinnati, one of the other Big 12 teams that not much was expected from this season. The Cougars turned over the ball three times, reached the red zone just two times — that included a missed field goal — and put up only 233 total yards.
When could the Cougars’ next win come? It might be awhile. Houston’s next three home games all come against teams currently ranked in the top 25, and they play back-to-back road games at TCU and Kansas — though both of these schools have underwhelmed as well.
SALT LAKE CITY — The presence of federal immigration agents tracking immigrants has increased in Salt Lake County-area courtrooms since mid-February as have complaints about how they’re carrying out their duties.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents may have carried out operations at the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City, according to Lacey Singleton, a public defender who’s regularly at the facility.
“Now it is like they are there all the time … They just basically hang out, and they’re either sitting in the courtroom, or they’re lurking in the hallways,” she said. They wear normal street garb, she said, but for regulars in the courtroom, “they stand out.”
Immigration enforcement action at courthouses around the country has become “a cornerstone” in the efforts of the administration of President Donald Trump to detain and deport immigrants in the country illegally, according to the American Immigration Council, an immigrant advocacy group. Since an arrest of one of Lacey’s clients around Feb. 12 or 13, she and others say, the practice has become more and more common in Utah.
ICE didn’t respond to a KSL query seeking comment, but the practice aligns with the Trump administration’s push to crack down on illegal immigration. Agency guidance notes that the people ICE seeks may appear in courthouses to address unrelated criminal and civil matters, and that such facilities are typically secure.
“Accordingly, when ICE engages in civil immigration enforcement actions in or near courthouses, it can reduce safety risks to the public, targeted alien(s) and ICE officers and agents,” reads a May 27 memo on the matter.
Critics, though, say immigration agents’ efforts can be disruptive and could spur immigrants, otherwise trying to resolve their legal issues, to steer clear of court, jeopardizing their cases. As word spreads of the activity, it could also spur fearful immigrant witnesses and crime victims to steer clear of the legal system, Lacey worries.
Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera brought the issue up at a Salt Lake County Council meeting on Tuesday, saying her office has received “multiple complaints” about ICE agents’ activity in Salt Lake County courthouses, where sheriff’s officials, serving as court bailiffs, provide security.
Part of the problem, she said, is that the agents typically wear plain clothes and don’t identify themselves, not even to bailiffs. Another issue relates to the actual process of taking an immigrant into custody, which Rivera says should occur outside of public view with the suspects’ lawyers present.
In one instance, she said, a bailiff heard a scuffle and thought someone was getting assaulted, only to find out it was ICE agents detaining somebody.
A bailiff and an ICE agent subsequently “got into a verbal altercation,” Rivera said. “We are addressing that issue, but I want you to understand, these deputies are put in a really tough situation, and in this situation, I understand how he could get to that point where he had no idea who they were, and he was trying to make sure that somebody wasn’t being assaulted at the time.”
Video from last week, posted to social media by the Salt Lake City Bail Fund, shows Lacey walking past a suspected immigration agent at the Matheson Courthouse, asking for identification but getting no reply. The Salt Lake City Bail Fund, critical of ICE activity, sends observers to the Matheson Courthouse to monitor the agency’s activity.
“That’s a problem because it’s like, who are you?” Lacey said. “For all I know, you’re some random dude who is just, like, off the street and participating in kidnapping people.”
Video supplied to KSL shows an incident outside Riverton Justice Court on Wednesday — four apparent immigration agents in plain clothes wrestling on the ground with an apparent suspect they were trying to take into custody.
“Don’t resist,” someone off-camera says in Spanish while filming the incident. “Son, don’t resist. Calm down. They’re going to hurt you more.”
The woman asks for his name and contact info after the agents cuff him and take him to a nearby car, while another man on the scene shouts at the officials and berates them. “You guys are disgusting,” the man says.
Anna Reganis, a public defender with the Salt Lake Legal Defender Association, like Lacey, said immigration agents detained a man at Salt Lake City Justice Court on Wednesday. She didn’t witness the actual detention, but heard the aftermath.
“All of a sudden, in my courtroom, we could hear from the lobby blood-curdling screams,” Reganis said. She went to the main lobby, finding a woman holding her infant baby “just inconsolably screaming and crying.” Turns out the woman had gone to the courthouse with her husband, and he had just been detained by immigration agents.
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Lacey maintains that the people the ICE agents seem to be pursuing aren’t the most hardened of criminals, which the Trump administration said would be the focus when the crackdown started. Reganis echoed that, noting that those with business in the Salt Lake City Justice Court face relatively minor offenses.
“Myself and my co-workers all had a bit of a wake-up call because we kept telling ourselves that this wasn’t going to happen at the justice court because all of our cases are class B and C misdemeanors and infractions,” she said.
The Salt Lake City Bail Fund launched training sessions late last year for volunteers to serve as courthouse observers, particularly at the Matheson Courthouse. Liz Maryon, who helps oversee the effort, foresees another round of training to get more help. “We’re currently working on expanding our capacity so that we can be there every day,” she said.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
SALT LAKE CITY — Iranians in Utah said Sunday they were celebrating and grateful for U.S. military action against Iran after nearly 47 years of the Islamic Republic regime.
They expressed hope for a future that might bring greater freedom to the people of that country.
“Thank you, Mr. Trump, for helping us,” said Kathy Vazirnejad as she sat inside Persian restaurant Zaferan Café. “The 21st of March is our New Year. For our New Year’s, we do exchange presents and I think President Trump gave us the best gift as any for this year in attacking this government and killing all of those people.”
Vazirnejad moved from Iran to Utah in 1984, graduated from the University of Utah, and obtained U.S. citizenship.
She said the regime was oppressive and “vicious.”
“They’re just a devil,” she said. “I mean, it’s a government that kills its own people.”
Though she has continued to return to Iran to visit family, she said those visits had become increasingly tense and uncertain, even though most Iranians opposed their own government.
“I have a dual citizenship, Persian passport and an American passport,” Vazirnejad explained. “It’s hard. Each time I go there to the airport, I’m showing them my Persian passport and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, if they see I’m very active in my social media against the government?’”
Numerous other Iranians shared similar stories of their departure from their homeland, including Ramin Arani, who once served for two years in the Iranian army at the age of 18.
“It was right after the Iran and Iraq war and I was part of the team that was cleaning the war zone basically in terms of unexploded shells and land mines and all that,” Arani explained. “I put my life on the line for the sake of my country, although I was not treated as a first-hand citizen.”
Arani said when he left Iran, he migrated to the U.S. and graduated from the University of Utah with an engineering degree.
“Every day, I appreciate the opportunity that was provided to me,” Arani said.
He said for decades, Iranians didn’t believe the day would come when much of the Islamic Republic’s leadership would be taken out in military strikes.
“I believe we are watching history unfolding,” Arani said. “Potentially, the course of history is about to change.”
What that change looks like exactly remains largely uncertain, though there has been much discussion about potential regime change or the Iranian people taking matters into their own hands.
“Regime change is, you know, a be-careful-what-you-wish-for,” said Amos Guiora, a University of Utah law professor and Middle East analyst with family in Israel. “I say, ‘regime change,’ I get the phrase, but how it comes about, time will tell.”
Guiora questioned how long the U.S. intended to stay involved and what the endgame truly is.
“There’s an expression in Hebrew, if I may—zbang ve’ga’mar’no—which means ‘it ends just like that’—that’s not how these things end and obviously there are political calculations,” Guiora said.
He said he feared for the potential loss of life if boots-on-the-ground are ultimately required.
“(If) any of these things turn into a war of attrition, that would be horrible,” Guiora said.
Guiora, however, said he saw the obvious benefit of different leadership in Iran.
“You know, a shah-like Iran that would not be focused on the support of terrorist organizations and committing acts of terrorism—I think that would be a win-win for the world,” Guiora said.
Arani said if regime change does happen in Iran, he would like to see a constitutional monarchy take root like those in Great Britain and elsewhere in Europe.
“Sweden, Norway, these are all systems that are democratic, or I call them semi-democratic and they still have a monarch, which is a continuation of their culture,” Arani said.
Arani talked of the rich and proud long history of Iran, dating back thousands of years, and he believed there is much of that to share with the world today.
“The culture of Iran that is hidden underneath the layers of history I’m talking about, it’s all about light,” Arani said. “Iranian culture, the real one I’m talking about, is all about appreciating life, not ‘death to this,’ ‘death to that.’”
Vazirnejad believed as many as “85 percent” of Iranians supported the return of the shah’s family to Iran to lead, and she predicted a future where Iran is a partner with the U.S. and Israel.
She suspected that maybe one in five Iranians who left Iran because of the regime might consider returning permanently to the country under new leadership.
“It’s going to be very good,” she said. “Hopefully, we are celebrating the New Year with (the Islamic Republic) gone and hopefully by next year, the New Year’s 21st of March, we all go back to Iran, at least to visit.”
George returned from a right ankle sprain that kept him out six straight games.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The crowd reacts as Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3) hits a 3-point shot at the Delta Center this season.
Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy didn’t need to see much from his young point guard in his return.
“Making shots, missing shots, it’s not anything that’s in question for me,” Hardy said about Keyonte George. “I just want to see him exert himself physically and competitively.”
In that case, mission accomplished.
After missing nine games in the last month with two different ankle sprains, George returned against the Pelicans on Saturday.
The Jazz lost 115-105.
George’s numbers were fine, scoring 17 points on 4-of-11 shooting in 23 minutes. But Hardy saw enough mobility from George to make him comfortable moving forward.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz Center Mo Bamba sits next to Keyonte George and Jazz forward Jaren Jackson Jr. on the bench in NBA action between the Utah Jazz and the New Orleans Pelicans at the Delta Center on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026.
“I thought he made some athletic plays in small spaces. I was more concerned with his willingness to slam on the brakes,” Hardy said. “And I thought he had a couple possessions where he did, where he really pushed it athletically.
“He’s like any player, he’s frustrated. He feels like he should have made a few more shots,” he continued. “But that’s not what I was watching.”
George was on a restriction of 20-24 minutes and he wants to be cautious in the days ahead. Utah plays Denver on Monday before heading on the road.
“Feet are the most precious thing for any athlete. So I want to make sure I feel good, not feeling off balance or nothing like that,” George said. “Just want to be cautious with the ankle injuries and stuff like that.”
But for his return, it was good enough.
“I feel like my pop was there. I didn’t want to force anything,” he finished. “I just wanted to play the game. I feel like I did a decent job tonight.”
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