The ninth-ranked BYU Cougars football team had this week off, but things couldn’t have gone any better for them Saturday — at least as far as math is concerned — ahead of the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season getting revealed next Tuesday.

In the span of almost exactly 30 minutes Saturday evening two results from other games were very favorable, leaving the Cougars not only as the lone undefeated team remaining in the Big 12 Conference, but also giving them a little more cushion in the race for the conference crown.

First, and most notably, the Texas Tech Red Raiders knocked off the 11th-ranked and previously undefeated Iowa State Cyclones, 23-22. Then, the Houston Cougars beat the 17th-ranked Kansas State Wildcats, 24-19.

There is an argument to be made that Iowa State and Kansas State having strong resumes would help how BYU is viewed nationally, but if BYU can keep winning, the more others lose, the better.

With those results, the Big 12 standings (conference games only) are as follows among teams that entered Saturday ranked and still in the College Football Playoff conversation:

• No. 9 BYU, 5-0.
• No. 11 Iowa State, 4-1.
• No. 23 Colorado, 4-1. (Like BYU, the Buffaloes had a bye on Saturday).
• No. 17 Kansas State, 4-2.

The rest of the conference race is as follows Saturday evening (again, conference games only), prior to the completion of the TCU-Baylor game:

• Texas Tech, 4-2.
• Cincinnati, 3-2.
• Arizona State, 3-2.
• TCU, 3-2.
• West Virginia, 3-2.
• Houston, 3-3.
• Baylor, 2-3.
• UCF, 2-4.
• Utah, 1-4.
• Kansas, 1-4.
• Arizona, 1-5.
• Oklahoma State, 0-6.

BYU is now firmly in the driver’s seat as it prepares for next weekend’s rivalry game against Utah. The Cyclones, meanwhile, will face the 2-6 Kansas Jayhawks on the road next week, while the Buffaloes will play Texas Tech on the road.

Certainly the biggest result Saturday was Texas Tech beating Iowa State. The Cyclones were the last Big 12 team besides BYU without a loss, and thus BYU’s biggest competition at this point for a spot in the CFP.

Trailing 17-16 with 4:31 remaining, Iowa State drove 65 yards in five plays and scored a touchdown to go up 22-17 with just 2:11 remaining.

But the Red Raiders didn’t go away. Texas Tech put together a 12 play, 71-yard drive, going ahead 23-22 when Tahj Brooks ran the ball into the end zone from five yards out with 20 seconds remaining.

Iowa State got 12 yards on the first play of the final possession but couldn’t do anything the rest of the way as the Red Raiders got the win.

Not to be outdone on the drama, a Houston team that was just 2-5 before beating Utah last week got the ball with 2:31 remaining Saturday, trailing Kansas State 19-17.

Following a pass interference on the first snap of the drive, Houston quarterback Zeon Chriss ran 41 yards for a touchdown, and after the extra point, Houston led 24-19.

After an empty possession by both teams, Kansas State got the ball back with 35 seconds remaining. The Wildcats gained 47 yards but had to heave it into the end zone on the final play of the game and came up with nothing.