Spring practices have wrapped up across the Big 12, and while the season is still months away, the excitement for college football is already building. Now is the perfect time to look ahead at where each team might be heading for the 2026 postseason.

Thanks to bowl projections from Brad Crawford of CBS Sports and Brett McMurphy of On3, we have an early glimpse at the postseason picture after a busy spring camp season. The Big 12 is shaping up to be highly competitive at the top, with teams like BYU, Houston, Arizona, and Arizona State all emerging as potential contenders to challenge Texas Tech for the conference crown.

This season's postseason slate features 41 bowl games, including six within the College Football Playoff. The Big 12 has direct tie-ins with six bowl games, and former Pac-12 schools—Colorado, Utah, Arizona State, and Arizona—will continue playing in Pac-12-affiliated bowls. While teams were originally scheduled to transition fully into Big 12 bowl games in 2026, Bowl Season announced this spring that the conference's bowl tie-ins for next season will remain unchanged from 2025.

Let's dive into the latest projections from Crawford and McMurphy—just over three months before the 2026 season kicks off.

Texas Tech stands out as the only Big 12 team projected to make the 12-team College Football Playoff. On3 projects the Red Raiders as the No. 9 seed facing No. 8 Texas A&M, while CBS Sports has them as the No. 7 seed taking on No. 10 SMU.

UCF receives an in-state hometown bowl prediction from McMurphy, with a potential matchup against South Florida that would certainly add some extra sparks to the game.

Baylor is also projected for an in-state bowl, facing UTSA in Frisco—a solid mid-tier matchup that could draw strong regional interest.

CBS Sports projects Arizona State heading to the Holiday Bowl against Virginia Tech, while another bowl game offers the Sun Devils a chance to bounce back after a down season.

Kansas will be breaking in a new starting quarterback this year following Jalon Daniels' departure for the NFL. Their bowl projection will depend heavily on how quickly the new signal-caller adjusts to the starting role.

As spring football gives way to summer workouts, these projections offer fans plenty to look forward to—and plenty of reasons to start planning their game-day gear for what promises to be an exciting postseason.