AP— The Big 12 football season is approaching its final stretch and it has turned out just as everyone expected.

Okay, maybe not.

As a wild first year in the expanded Big 12 enters its final month, teams expected to finish in the middle or near the bottom of the conference are on top and many of the expected favorites have fallen.

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No. 17 Kansas State is in contention for a spot in the conference title game, but is the only team picked in the top half of the preseason poll that is near the top. No. 9 BYU, No. 11 Iowa State and No. 23 Colorado are in the best positions to earn a spot in the Dec. 7 title game in Arlington, Texas, with several teams holding out faint hopes.

Utah, Oklahoma State, Kansas and Arizona, among the favorites to start the season, are in the bottom half of the standings.

The chaos has made for an interesting first season since the Big 12 added four teams to make it a 16-team league.

A look at the teams still competing for the Big 12 title:

BYU

Picked to finish 13th, the Cougars (8-0, 5-0) are one of eight undefeated teams remaining.

BYU has passed every test so far, winning close games against SMU, Baylor and Oklahoma State and beating the rest of its opponents by at least 13 points.

The Cougars have a physical defense and quarterback Jake Retzlaff has been excellent, throwing for nearly 1,900 yards and 18 touchdowns, adding 303 yards and three more scores on the ground.

Win and BYU will have a spot in the title game.

Remaining schedule: in Utah, Kansas, at Arizona State and Houston.

Iowa State

The Cyclones (7-0, 4-0) are another team that exceeded expectations.

Iowa State held off rival Iowa by one point and outscored UCF 38-35 in its final game to tie the best start in school history (tied with 1938).

The Cyclones’ defense is ninth nationally, allowing 14 points per game, and the pass defense is second, giving up an average of 133 yards. Quarterback Rocco Becht has been solid, throwing for 1,712 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Like BYU, Iowa State controls its own destiny.

Remaining schedule: Texas Tech, Kansas (at Kansas City), Cincinnati, Utah, Kansas State.

Kansas State

The Wildcats (7-1, 4-1) are one of the few Big 12 teams living up to the hype.

Picked to finish second, Kansas State is third heading into this weekend’s games, one game behind BYU. The Wildcats lost 38-9 to BYU, but have passed every other test so far thanks to a balanced offense and a defense that ranks 20th nationally in points allowed per game (21.3).

Quarterback Avery Johnson has 2,027 yards and 20 touchdowns, while running back DJ Giddens is closing in on 1,000 rushing yards. The season finale at Iowa State could be pivotal for the Wildcats.

Remaining schedule: in Houston, State of Arizona, Cincinnati, in the State of Iowa.

Colorado

After a mixed first season under coach Deion Sanders, the Buffaloes (6-2, 4-1) have a chance to play for a conference title in their first season back in the Big 12.

Two-way player Travis Hunter is among the favorites to win the Heisman Trophy and quarterback Shedeur Sanders is sixth nationally with 2,591 passing yards and 21 TDs.

Not bad for a team chosen to finish 11th.

Remaining schedule: at Texas Tech, Utah, Kansas (in Kansas City), Oklahoma State.

keeping hope

Cincinnati, TCU, Texas Tech, West Virginia and Arizona State are still technically in the mix for the Big 12 championship, but they’ll need to make a late run and get help from above.

Four of the teams are 3-2 in the conference with the Sun Devils 2-2. None were picked to finish higher than seventh in the league, with Cincinnati and Arizona State in the bottom three.

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