Texas Tech seeks Big 12 repeat while BYU among teams trying to be 7th different champ in 7 seasons

The Big 12 Conference has had six different champions in the past six seasons.

While 12th-ranked Texas Tech seeks a repeat after winning its first Big 12 title and making the College Football Playoff, teams like No. 14 BYU, No. 21 Utah and No. 23 Houston could make a push to extend the league's streak to seven.

“We want to do something that very few teams have been able to do, and that’s to win the Big 12 championship again,” Tech coach Joey McGuire said.

The Red Raiders reloaded again through the transfer portal after setting school records with 12 wins and nine NFL draft picks. Will Hammond is healthy after an ACL injury last season and will start at quarterback after the offseason legal saga surrounding transfer Brendan Sorsby, who was declared ineligible by the NCAA because of gambling.

BYU is coming off its first 12-win season since 2001, and both its losses were to Texas Tech, 29-7 in Lubbock, then 34-7 in the Big 12 title game.

“We know that last year was some really cool things, some awesome success,” 11th-year Cougars coach Kalani Sitake said. “At the same time, we know what we can do better.”

The Cougars return Big 12 rushing leader LJ Martin (1,305 yards, 12 TDs rushing) and QB Bear Bachmeier, who threw for 3,033 yards, ran for 527 and accounted for 26 TDs (15 passing, 11 rushing) after getting thrust into the starting role as a true freshman.

Houston went from four wins to 10 in its second season with coach Willie Fritz, and returns dual-threat QB Conner Weigman (3,405 total yards and 36 TDs.) Utah has 82% of its total offense back (QBs Devon Dampier and Byrd Ficklin, and RB Wayshawn Parker) from an 11-win team, but two offensive linemen were first-round NFL draft picks and coach Kyle Whittingham left after 22 seasons for Michigan.

Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita, that national active leader with 73 TD passes, is a rarity going into his fourth season starting for the same team. With him back and the unexpected return of leading rusher Ismail Mahdi, the Wildcats hope to build on a 9-4 finish and be a Big 12 contender.

Arizona State won the Big 12 title and made the playoff in its league debut in 2024. The injury-plagued Sun Devils weren’t able to repeat last year and now are without QB Sam Leavitt (transfer to LSU) and receiver Jordyn Tyson (first-round NFL pick by New Orleans).

Deion Sanders, who last year had surgery for bladder cancer, said he feels like his old self going into his fourth season at Colorado. He hired new offensive and defensive coordinators after a five-game losing streak to end last season with a 1-8 conference record. He is 16-21 overall with the Buffs.

The Big 12's four new head coaches include Kansas State's Collin Klein and Utah's Morgan Scalley at their alma maters replacing their former bosses. Jimmy Rogers took over at Iowa State when Matt Campbell left after 10 seasons for Penn State, and Eric Morris is at Oklahoma State.

Klein had been gone for two seasons as Texas A&M’s offensive coordinator when Chris Klieman suddenly retired from K-State. Scalley was Utah’s defensive coordinator when Whittingham resigned. Roger won an FCS national championship three seasons ago as head coach at his alma mater, South Dakota State, and was at Washington State last year.

Oklahoma State's 88 newcomers include 21 who came with Morris from North Texas, which lost to Tulane in the American Conference championship game to miss out on a CFP berth. Among the Mean Green transfers were QB Drew Mestemaker, the national passing leader with 4,379 yards as a freshman, RB Caleb Hawkins (1,434 yards and FBS-best 25 TDs rushing as a freshman) and WR Wyatt Young (70 catches, 1,264 yards, 10 TDs).

This is the first time since 2004 the Cowboys enter a season without Mike Gundy their head coach. They have lost 19 conference games in a row, with consecutive 0-9 conference records since a 49-21 loss to Texas in the 2023 Big 12 championship game.

After making the 12-team playoff and getting a first-round bye last season, Texas Tech lost 23-0 to Oregon in the Orange Bowl quarterfinal game. That dropped the Big 12, which has never had multiple playoff teams, to 1-8 in CFP games.

“There’s an obligation as programs in this conference that we play at a high level, and then I think it’s really important that we win in the playoffs,” McGuire said. “Until we do that as a conference, then we’re going to continue to have the same narrative that we have right now.”

Oklahoma won a record 14 Big 12 championships before going to the SEC two years ago. The Sooners won six in a row from 2015 to 2020, followed by Baylor, Kansas State, Texas, Arizona State and the Red Raiders winning titles.

This will be the 31st season for the Big 12, which will host its 25th championship game Dec. 4.

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FILE - BYU head coach Kalani Sitake watches play against Texas Tech in the first half of a Big 12 Conference championship NCAA college football game on Dec. 6, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

FILE - BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier (47) hands the ball off to BYU running back LJ Martin (4) during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Utah, on Oct. 18, 2025, in Provo, Utah. (AP Photo/George Frey, File)

FILE - Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire holds the trophy after his team's win against BYU in the Big 12 Conference championship NCAA college football game on Dec. 6, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Two U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employees were among eight killed in a small plane crash near the site of a remote aircraft-tracking radar in western Alaska, the U.S. military said.

The agency had chartered the plane, which crashed at about 11:45 a.m. Thursday near its destination, the Cape Newenham Long Range Radar Site Airport, approximately 450 miles (725 kilometers) west of Anchorage, Alaska, officials said. The two pilots and six passengers were not immediately identified.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators were traveling to the scene Friday.

The twin-engine Cessna 441 had taken off from the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said Friday.

“This is a devastating loss for our military family and the communities we serve,” U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert Davis, commander of Alaskan Command, the Alaskan North American Aerospace Defense Command Region and Eleventh Air Force, said in a statement.

The crash happened in foggy weather, according to information compiled by a service that's part of the Flight Safety Foundation, a nonprofit.

The airport is a private military site. The radar site is managed by the Pacific Air Forces Regional Support Center. It’s part of a network of remote radar sites that tracks aircraft operating in Alaska’s airspace and along its borders, the statement from Alaskan Command said.

The statement did not provide details on the specific work the individuals were doing.

Davis described those on board as “dedicated professionals carrying out a vital mission in a demanding environment. Our absolute priority right now is providing unwavering support to their families, friends and teammates during this devastating time. We are profoundly grateful for the swift and tireless response of our search and recovery professionals.”

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska posted online that the flight was operated by Security Aviation, an airplane charter company based in Anchorage.

An email was sent to the company Friday morning seeking comment.

“I join Alaskans in offering condolences as we learn of the plane crash in Cape Newenham,” Murkowski posted Thursday night. “I’ve traveled extensively with Security Aviation throughout Alaska, and have met many of their experienced pilots. I appreciate the U.S. Coast Guard, NTSB, Alaska State Troopers, and the Rescue Coordination Center for responding to the site. Alaska is praying for those on board, their loved ones, and the team at Security Aviation.”

In 1950, a continental defense radar station was built at Cape Newenham as part of the Distant Early Warning Line to warn of a Soviet attack during the Cold War, according to Coastview, a science education nonprofit that promotes understanding of the Alaska coast. Little remains of the former station today.

Associated Press writer Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.

FILE - The National Transportation Safety Board logo and signage are seen at a news conference at NTSB headquarters in Washington, Dec. 18, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)