The academic year for most universities in the Big 12 began earlier this month. With that, U.S. News & World Report unveiled its updated university academic rankings for 2026 earlier this week.
Within those rankings of the “best national universities,” where does every Big 12 school stand?
The 16-member conference has undergone significant changes in recent years. Texas and Oklahoma have left, while Arizona State, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado joined in 2024. Additionally, BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston joined the conference in 2023, significantly transforming its composition.
Academically, the Big 12 does not stack up against the likes of the Big Ten or ACC, but the recent influx of new universities has changed the conference’s top academic tier. Still, unlike its power conference counterparts, the Big 12 does not have a school ranked higher than No. 88.
U.S. News evaluates schools based on 17 academic factors, with some, such as peer assessment and graduation rates, holding more weight than others. Here is where every Big 12 school stands in the outlet’s updated academic rankings, along with how each ranking compares to last year’s.
City: Morgantown, West Virginia
National Ranking: No. 222 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 73%
West Virginia has never been known for its academic reputation, and that trend continued with the 2026 update. It earned the lowest ranking in the conference and fell back two spots.
City: Lubbock, Texas
National Ranking: No. 198 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 73%
The Red Raiders moved up 16 spots, surpassing No. 200, and left West Virginia in the lowest tier.
City: Stillwater, Oklahoma
National Ranking: No. 198 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 75%
Oklahoma State just moved on from arguably its most famous employee, Mike Gundy, and its academic ranking only got worse.
City: Cincinnati, Ohio
National Ranking: No. 158 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 85%
U.S. News ranks Cincinnati as a top-100 public school (No. 84); however, the school’s overall ranking has slipped.
City: Manhattan, Kansas
National Ranking: No. 158 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 82%
Kansas State continues its upward trend, moving away from the conference’s bottom schools, but it still has some distance to go before being considered a top-tier academic institution.
City: Salt Lake City, Utah
National Ranking: No. 151 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 86%
Utah remains the lowest-ranked former Pac-12 school and has fallen several spots this academic year.
City: Lawrence, Kansas
National Ranking: No. 143 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 93%
Kansas improved nine spots and now ranks in the top 10 of the Big 12.
City: Houston, Texas
National Ranking: No. 132 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 74%
Houston continues to improve its academic standing, and on the football field, it appears to be the real deal as well.
City: Tucson, Arizona
National Ranking: No. 127 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 86%
Arizona dropped nearly 20 spots over the past year and now ranks behind in-state rival Arizona State.
City: Orlando, Florida
National Ranking: No. 117 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 45%
UCF is another Big 12 school that improved its academic ranking and also moved up three spots in the conference.
City: Ames, Iowa
National Ranking: No. 117 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 89%
Iowa State is a medium-sized school that dominates the town of Ames. As one of the three Big 12 schools ranked at No. 117, the Cyclones are still on the outside looking in at being a top 100 institution.
City: Tempe, Arizona
National Ranking: No. 117 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 90%
ASU remains tied with UCF and Iowa State for the eighth-best academic school in the conference. All three schools made a jump into the league’s top-5 academic institutions.
City: Provo, Utah
National Ranking: No. 110 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 68%
BYU has taken sole possession of fourth place on this list after Arizona’s significant slide. The school’s overall ranking has dropped one spot.
City: Fort Worth, Texas
National Ranking: No. 97 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 44%
TCU is the largest religious university associated with the Christian Church, but it is the smallest school in the Big 12 with only 10,915 undergraduates. After the small bump this year, TCU joins Colorado and Baylor as the only Big 12 schools ranked in the U.S. News top 100.
City: Boulder, Colorado
National Ranking: No. 97 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 76%
Colorado dropped one spot and remains in the top 100, but now shares the No. 2 conference ranking with TCU. Colorado, TCU and Baylor form the Big 12’s top academic tier.
City: Waco, Texas
National ranking: No. 88 (tied)
Acceptance rate: 51%
The top academic school in the Big 12 remains Baylor University, which has moved up three places over the past year. It is one of the smaller schools in the conference with just over 15,000 undergraduates. The Bears are tied with America, Howard, Marquette, SMU, UC Santa Cruz, Delaware, South Florida and Rochester Institute of Technology.
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