Big 12 Championship Game is coming up: Arizona State and Iowa State will meet for a spot in the playoffs

The 2024 Big 12 Championship Game is set: Arizona State will face Iowa State next Saturday (noon ET, ABC) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The Sun Devils (10-2, 7-2 Big 12) and Cyclones (10-2, 7-2 Big 12) both secured spots with wins on Saturday and favorable tiebreaker scenarios. According to the conference, nine of the sixteen teams in the Big 12 started the holiday weekend still in contention for the title game.

No. 16 Arizona State defeated Arizona 49-7 in the Territorial Cup to end the regular season on a five-game winning streak. The Sun Devils will compete in the championship game in their first season as members of the Big 12 after head coach Kenny Dillingham’s squad was picked last in the league’s preseason media poll. Star running back Cam Skattebo rushed for 177 yards and three touchdowns against Arizona, and Sam Leavitt completed 17 of 22 passes for 291 yards and three touchdowns. Arizona State’s last conference title was a shared Pac-10 championship in 2007.

No. 18 Iowa State defeated No. 24 Kansas State 29-21 to earn a Farmageddon victory and the first 10-win season in program history. The Cyclones were outrebounded by K-State but forced two turnovers in a freezing game in Ames, Iowa. Quarterback Rocco Becht threw two touchdown passes and the offense rushed for 187 yards in the victory. Iowa State’s last championship was won in 1912 as a member of the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association, a predecessor of the Big Eight Conference.

BYU and Colorado also finished league play 7-2, forcing a four-way tie at the top of the Big 12 standings, but Arizona State and Iowa State advanced via league tiebreaker rules, a matchup, which was only completed with BYU’s 30-18 victory over Houston in the late window on Saturday.

The Sun Devils (No. 16) and Cyclones (No. 18) entered the weekend as the Big 12’s top two ranked teams in the latest College Football Playoff rankings. The winner of next week’s championship game is guaranteed to receive one of five automatic bids to the expanded 12-team playoff field. The question is whether the champion will do enough in the eyes of the selection committee to earn a first-round bye as one of the four top-seeded conference title winners, something the four power conferences aren’t guaranteed. No. 11 Boise State (11-1) will face No. 22 UNLV (10-2) in the Mountain West championship game next Friday, and a win for the Broncos could move them ahead of the Big 12 champion in the final playoff rankings hold and grab one of the four best seeds.

The next CFP rankings will be released on Tuesday.

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(Photo by Sam Leavitt: Kelsey Grant/Getty Images)