We’re closing in on the midway point, and the Big 12 race is still jumbled. Four teams are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 and five are still undefeated in conference play. Will this Saturday bring some separation?

This week’s Big 12 chaos meter: 4/5 🤯🤯🤯🤯

There are only five games this week, but most of them factor into the crowded Big 12 race. At least one of the league’s 2-0 teams will fall, and two others encounter tough tests. Plus, there are three night kickoffs.

College Football Playoff picture

Let’s assess the Big 12’s top Week 7 matchups based on potential absurdity, but first, a look at this week’s big game.

(All point spreads come from BetMGM; click here for live odds. All kickoff times are Eastern and on Saturday unless otherwise noted.)

Game of the Week

No. 11 Iowa State (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) at West Virginia (3-2, 2-0), 8 p.m., Fox

Iowa State continues to sneak up on folks, quietly climbing to No. 11 in the AP Top 25 poll after a 5-0 start. The Cyclones haven’t faced a ton of resistance outside of that impressive 20-19 win at Iowa in Week 2, but credit to them for taking care of business, including rebounding from a slow start against Baylor last week for a comfortable 43-21 win.

The defense has been solid, per usual, but the offense could be the differentiator this season. Quarterback Rocco Becht is averaging 8.9 yards per attempt, receiver Jayden Higgins has a touchdown in seven straight games and transfer running back Jaylon Jackson has emerged as a shifty spark plug, racking up 107 yards and two touchdowns against the Bears.

The Mountaineers have settled in as well, winning two in a row to open Big 12 play and steamrolling to a collective 389 rushing yards against Oklahoma State last week. Saturday is also the first-ever Coal Rush game for West Virginia, featuring alternate black uniforms that pay homage to the state’s coal-mining heritage.

We’ll see if some prime-time blackout energy in Morgantown is enough to stymie Iowa State’s budding Playoff hopes, the way the Cyclones and a freshman named Brock Purdy did to then-No. 6 West Virginia in Ames in 2018.

High chaos potential

No. 16 Utah (4-1, 1-1) at Arizona State (4-1, 1-1), 10:30 p.m. Friday, ESPN

A Pac-12 After Dark legacy game for two teams now fighting to keep pace in the Big 12 race. Utah, the preseason favorite, has real urgency after dropping its first league game on Sept. 28 to Arizona. Quarterback Cam Rising hasn’t played since leaving the Week 2 win over Baylor with an injury. Freshman Isaac Wilson is talented but has thrown five touchdowns and five interceptions in his three starts.

Arizona State has been the surprise of the league, and Kenny Dillingham’s efforts to #ActivateTheValley have paid off. The upstart Sun Devils have shown resilience, bouncing back from a loss to Texas Tech by outlasting Kansas last week in a 35-31 thriller.

ASU is doing it with balance. Quarterback transfer Sam Leavitt has been effective and running back Cam Skattebo continues to come up big. The Sun Devils last week ran for 300 yards and threw for four touchdowns in a game for the first time since 2015.

And the players seem to love Dillingham. Just ask Skattebo.

Line: Utah -4.5

No. 18 Kansas State (4-1, 1-1) at Colorado (4-1, 2-0), 10:15 p.m., ESPN

After sharing the Big Eight and Big 12 for decades, these two reunite for the first time since 2010, Colorado’s last season before joining the Pac-12. Colorado leads the all-time series 45-20-1, but much has changed since these two last met.

The Buffs’ dominant win over UCF two weeks ago gave them legitimacy as a Big 12 contender. If they can knock off Kansas State — the team picked second in the preseason poll — there would be no denying how real Colorado is in the league race.

What has really lifted the Buffaloes is their second-half defense. They’re allowing an average of just 5.2 points in the second half of games, the eighth-best second-half scoring defense in the country, according to TruMedia.

Kansas State has become accustomed to rebounding from defeats in the Chris Klieman era. After a Sept. 21 loss to BYU, the Wildcats handled Oklahoma State 42-20, their eighth consecutive win following a regular-season loss.

Medium chaos potential

Arizona (3-2, 1-1) at No. 14 BYU (5-0, 2-0), 4 p.m., Fox

This feline battle gets the “Big Noon Kickoff” treatment as the Cougars look to continue their perfect start. BYU coach Kalani Sitake’s first game as the school’s head coach was against Arizona in 2016, the first of three consecutive wins in the series for the Cougars. If he can make it four, BYU will enter the second half of the season in terrific shape to contend for the Big 12 title and a Playoff spot.

After getting stifled last week for two-plus quarters by Texas Tech, Arizona rallied from down 18-3 to take a late one-point lead, but couldn’t finish the job. The Wildcats need this one to reverse momentum — they’ve lost two of their last three — and to stay in the league race, because the schedule doesn’t get much easier: Arizona hosts Colorado and West Virginia in the next two weeks.

Line: BYU -4.5

Low chaos potential

Cincinnati (3-2, 1-1) at UCF (3-1, 1-1), 3:30 p.m., ESPN2

A rivalry, of sorts, one stoked while both teams were battling it out in the AAC with proud, properly online fan bases. Low chaos potential aside, that familiarity should spark some fire, including a couple of former Bearcats in Deshawn Pace and Myles Montgomery who are now suiting up for UCF. Both sides could really use a victory as well. Prior to last week’s bye, Cincinnati lost a last-second heartbreaker on the road to Texas Tech, while the Knights have underwhelmed in back-to-back losses to Colorado and Florida.

Neither team is out of the Big 12 race at 1-1 in league play, but perhaps more realistically, a win Saturday would go a long way toward either side reaching bowl eligibility this season.

Weather permitting, as the state braces for the impact of Hurricane Milton, expect a high-scoring affair between two potent offenses and suspect defenses, the latter units each ranking in the bottom half of the Big 12 in terms of yards per play allowed. Transfer quarterback Brendan Sorsby has been a godsend for the Bearcats, ranking tenth in the FBS at 296.2 passing yards per game, and UCF running back RJ Harvey is ninth in the FBS at 120 rushing yards per game.