By Luke Brumm
The Big 12 is adding four members for the second season in a row. It’s time to share my power rankings after the additions of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah.
16. Cincinnati
15. BYU
14. Arizona State
13. Baylor
12. Houston
11. TCU
The bottom third of the Big 12 looks like this. All of the 2023 additions finished below .500 last year, and I have three of them in the conferences bottom tier. Cincinnati and BYU have a QB battle, alongside Willie Fritz in his first season at Houston. I also have 2024 newcomer, Arizona State, in this half coming off a 4-8 last season, although I’m excited to see the progression of Sun Devil’s QB Jaden Rashada. Baylor and TCU round out the bottom.
10. UCF
9. Colorado
8. Iowa State
7. Texas Tech
6. West Virginia
This is how my middle third of the conference stacks up. 2023 newcomer UCF is the only team from that group that cracks the top ten. I like the addition of Arkansas transfer KJ Jefferson for them. I have Colorado at nine, which I think is fair. Better than last season, but not quite where Deion Sanders wants his team to be. They will continue to attack the transfer portal for talent as well. Iowa State, Texas Tech, and West Virginia come in at six, seven, and eight after solid 2023 seasons.
5. Kansas State
The Wildcats lose their quarterback, Will Howard, to Ohio State, but are happy with Avery Johnson. K-State has done a very good job in transitioning from legendary coach Bill Snyder to Chris Klieman. They have only failed to reach eight wins once, and that was during the weird Covid season. Kansas State also won the Big 12 Championship in 2022. After a 9-4 campaign last year that saw them ranked most of the season, I know Kansas State will be looking to build off of that.
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4. Arizona
Arizona is the first of my two newcomers in the top five. They had a great season in 2023, going 10-3. The Wildcats did lose their head coach, Jedd Fisch, to Washington, but I have confidence they can have success again this upcoming season with Brent Brennan. Arizona has to replace a lot, but also returns some key pieces. They also have a pretty easy schedule, which should help them a lot. Expect a big season from quarterback Noah Fifita.
3. Utah
The other newcomer in the top five is Utah. I expect them to bounce back in a big way after a disappointing season. Cam Rising will finally be back under center and Kyle Whittingham will have his boys ready to make a come back in their first season in the Big 12. Utah will have to play at Oklahoma State and at home vs Arizona in September, but those should be their two toughest games. I like Utah and won’t be surprised if they won the whole conference in year one.
2. Kansas
The Jayhawks have slowly been building up their football program and are ready to compete for the conference title. If Jalon Daniels stays healthy, he is a top-ten quarterback in the country, and they are returning almost every key skill position player on offense. They also return a lot on defense, most importantly cornerback, Cobee Bryant.
Kansas also has one of the easiest schedules I’ve ever seen. Their hardest game looks to be Kansas State, followed by West Virginia and Colorado. Yes, Colorado, on paper, is the third-hardest team they will face next season. I love what Lance Leipold is doing and I can’t wait to watch them during the season.
1. Oklahoma State
Coming in at the top spot is the team that lost to Texas in the Big 12 Championship last year. The Longhorns, in addition to in-state rival Oklahoma, are not here anymore, so this conference is as wide open as ever.
Mike Gundy and the Cowboys are returning almost everyone and this will be a very veteran team next season. This is also a roster that has already had a slight taste of success and are hungry for more. Star running back Ollie Gordon will be someone to watch out for in the Heisman conversation as he looks to have another great season.
