Well, even though there were a couple of Big 12 teams who decided not to compete in bowl games this season (and instead chose to get punished by the conference as a whole), the conference is still very well represented in postseason matchups all across the country.
Most notably, the Texas Tech Red Raiders will be competing against the Oregon Ducks as part of the College Football Playoff in the Orange Bowl. But there are seven other Big 12 teams that will be participating in the postseason this year.
And there’s even a few fun (and quirky) bowl matchups for us to take a look at this season.
Meet the Big 12 teams who made (and will be competing in) bowl games this year
Here’s the teams from the Big 12 who will be competing in bowl games this postseason:
- No. 12 BYU Cougars - Facing the No. 22 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the Pop-Tarts Bowl on 12/27/25
- No. 21 Houston Cougars - Facing the LSU Tigers in the Kinder’s Texas Bowl on 12/27/25
- TCU Horned Frogs - Facing the No. 16 USC Trojans in the Valero Alamo Bowl on 12/30/25
- Arizona State Sun Devils - Facing the Duke Blue Devils in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl on 12/31/25
- No. 15 Utah Utes - Facing the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl on 12/31/25
- No. 4 Texas Tech Red Raiders - Facing the No. 5 Oregon Ducks in the Orange Bowl/CFP Quarterfinals on 1/1/26
- Cincinnati Bearcats - Facing the Navy Midshipmen in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on 1/2/26
- No. 17 Arizona Wildcats - Facing the SMU Mustangs in the Trust & Will Holiday Bowl on 1/2/26
Beyond the very obvious Orange Bowl pick that is going to get a lot of attention from Texas Tech fans (and also folks all over the country because of the fact that it’s part of the College Football Playoff), I’m very interested in several of these games.
The Sun Bowl getting the Sun Devils and Blue Devils? That’s a lot of fun. I’m here for that and all of the inevitable jokes that are sure to spawn out of that one. But I’m not super intrigued by the actual matchup for that game, I just love the way it’s going to get talked about because of the mascots.
Now, as for actual games that intrigue me?
BYU and Georgia Tech are both ranked and have been really impressive at times throughout the season. I think the Alamo Bowl could be plenty of fun to keep up with from an Air Raid standpoint given that it’s a matchup between Sonny Dykes and Lincoln Riley. And then there’s Arizona facing off against an SMU team that always has a fun and exciting offense.