IRVING, Texas – The Big 12 Conference will open the 2026 season with four football programs ranked in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 with Texas Tech earning the league’s top spot in 12^th place. The Red Raiders are joined by BYU (14^th), Utah (21^st) and Houston (23^rd) in the top 25 with Arizona, TCU and Oklahoma State also receiving votes.

The preseason AP voting mirrors the Big 12’s rankings in the USA Today Coaches poll earlier this month, which also ranked Texas Tech, BYU, Utah and Houston in its preseason release.

Big 12 Conference Preseason AP Top 25 Notes

• With Texas Tech being voted 12^th, the Red Raiders have earned their highest preseason AP ranking since 1977.
• BYU was voted into the Preseason AP Top 25 for the 13^th time in the modern era of the poll, and its ranking of 14^th is its second highest in a preseason poll in program history.
• Utah has been voted into the AP Preseason Top 25 in six of the last seven seasons.
• Houston received its highest preseason ranking from the AP since being voted 15^th prior to the 2016 season.
• Five of the Big 12’s 13 Power Four non-conference opponents were ranked in Monday’s preseason poll.

The Monster Energy Big 12 Football season officially begins on Saturday, Aug. 29 with TCU’s Week Zero match-up against North Carolina in the 2026 Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland, which is slated for an 11 a.m. CT kickoff on ESPN.