Here is the latest Big 12 Conference sports news from The Associated Press

By AP

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Curtis Jones scored 20 points, Keshon Gilbert had 14 and No. 3 Iowa State opened Big 12 Conference play with a 79-69 win over Colorado. The Cyclones (11-1) have won eight in a row, two over Colorado. Julian Hammond III had 21 points and RJ Smith scored 14 for Colorado, which returned to the Big 12 after 13 seasons in the Pac-12 Conference. It was the Buffaloes’ first Big 12 game since beating Nebraska 67-57 in Boulder on March 5, 2011.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Coleman Hawkins had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Dug McDaniel added 17 points and Kansas State led No. 16 Cincinnati nearly wire-to-wire in a 70-67 victory to open the 20-game Big 12 conference grind. David N’Guessan also had 13 points, and C.J. Jones made four free throws in the final 20 seconds, helping the Wildcats snap a three-game losing streak to end their nonconference slate. Dan Skillings Jr. led Cincinnati with 18 points. Dillon Mitchell had 15 points and 11 rebounds.

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — J’Wan Roberts had 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 14 Houston past Oklahoma State 60-47 in the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams. L.J. Cryer added 18 points and Oklahoma transfer Milos Uzan contributed 12 points and six rebounds for the Cougars (9-3), who began defense of their conference title by limited the Cowboys to 18 points in the first half on 6-of-27 shooting. Brandon Newman led Oklahoma State (8-4) with 12 points off the bench.

UNDATED (AP) — The College Football Playoff quarterfinals are here and six of the eight teams are no strangers to the big stage. Boise State and Arizona State are out to show they belong. They’re top-four seeds as conference champions and both are double-digit underdogs. The Broncos arrived for Tuesday’s Fiesta Bowl wearing T-shirts saying “Please Count Us Out” in capital letters. Penn State is an 11-point favorite. Texas is a 12 1/2-point favorite against Arizona State in the Peach Bowl on Wednesday. Other New Year’s playoff games are Ohio State-Oregon in the Rose Bowl and Notre Dame-Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

TUSCON, Ariz. (AP) — Caleb Love hit five 3-pointers and finished with a season-high 33 points, Henri Veesaar added 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting and Arizona beat TCU 90-81 in the Big 12 opener for both teams. Love made 11 of 17 from the field, hit 6 of 6 from the free-throw line and had seven rebounds and seven assists.The Wildcats made 33 of 58 (57%) from the field and had a season-high 28 assists, led by KJ Lewis’ eight to go with eight points and three steals. Love made a layup to open the scoring with 18:30 left in the first half, followed with a 3-pointer 33 seconds later and Arizona led the rest of the way. Noah Reynolds scored a season-high 23 points with seven assists for TCU (7-5).

ATLANTA (AP) — As they prepare for Arizona State’s biggest game in nearly three decades, the guys who made it happen aren’t the least bit surprised to be rated a nearly two-touchdown underdog in the College Football Playoff. That’s a familiar position for the Sun Devils. They’ve been an underdog most of the season. Of the eight teams still vying for a national championship, there’s no bigger surprise than 11-2 Arizona State. The Sun Devils went 3-9 a year ago and were picked to finish dead last in their first season in the Big 12 Conference. Now, they’re getting ready to face Texas in the Peach Bowl quarterfinal game on New Year’s Day.

HOUSTON (AP) — When Baylor and LSU face off in the Texas Bowl on Tuesday, it will be the first meeting between the teams since the 1985 Liberty Bowl. But they do have some familiarity with one another. Baylor coach Dave Aranda spent 2016-19 on the LSU staff, helping the Tigers to the 2019 national championship as defensive coordinator before leaving for Waco. Aranda’s Bears (8-4) enter the game on a high note with a six-game winning streak that came after they won just two of their first six games this season.

UNDATED (AP) — Tennessee remains at No. 1 after a quiet holiday week in the AP Top 25. The Volunteers received 41 first-place votes from a 61-person media panel in the Associated Press men’s college poll. No. 2 Auburn had 20 first-place votes, with Iowa State, Duke and Alabama rounding out the top five. The Tigers gained ground on Tennessee’s No. 1 spot last week and did it again this week despite not playing, picking up eight additional first-place votes. The top 13 teams remained unchanged following a week in which 12 ranked teams didn’t play. No. 15 UCLA had the biggest jump, moving up seven places after outlasting No. 19 Gonzaga. Memphis was the only team to move into this week’s poll after beating Mississippi. San Diego State dropped out.