The Big 12 has never claimed to be the best conference in college football, but it might still be the most eclectic.
Sixteen teams with very little tying them together – at least from a geographical standpoint – stretching from as north as Iowa to as south as Florida, and east to west from West Virginia to Arizona.
There hasn’t been a clear standout in conference since Oklahoma and Texas moved to the SEC in 2024.
Texas Tech has made its pitch, using a groundbreaking cash infusion to stock talent the past two years, and landed former Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby this past January, only to see him banned for betting over the summer, then reinstated, and eventually withdrawn from the program. In the midst, the Red Raiders became one of the most loathed schools in the sport, and the Big 12 nearly got itself blacklisted by the Big Ten.
There were some major shakeups in the conference, most notably at Oklahoma State, which went to North Texas for new head coach Eric Morris, who was the architect of the highest-scoring offence in the FBS last season. He already dialled up his first explosive play in Stillwater a couple weeks ago, blasting an armadillo that had the audacity to wreak havoc on his new lawn.
Iowa State saw a massive exodus of players and coaches to Penn State in the aftermath of Matt Campbell’s move to Happy Valley, leaving one of the conference’s steadiest programs over the past decade to start from scratch.
And while Utah begins a new chapter under longtime defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley, who takes over after Kyle Whittingham stepped down and later took the head coaching job at Michigan, there’s optimism that the Utes can still challenge for a Big 12 title and spot in the playoffs.
BYU also looks well-equipped to do damage, and Arizona State is trying to rebound after an injury-filled season that saw it take a step back after pushing Texas to the limit in the playoffs in 2024. If Kenny Dillingham’s team intends to do that, it’ll have to do it without quarterback Sam Leavitt, who was the prize of Lane Kiffin’s portal haul at LSU.
Deion Sanders has kept things interesting in Boulder since coming over in 2023, but with varied results. After winning nine games and nearly making the playoffs two seasons ago, Colorado took a giant step back last season without Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter on its roster. This year, it looks like it’ll be another difficult challenge for Coach Prime.
All that said, in the Big 12, we never really know what’s going to happen. A look at five storylines in the conference for this season:
Texas Tech reloaded its defensive front
The Red Raiders had a late change of plans at quarterback this summer with the Sorsby circus, but are still stacked with enough talent to stand out as the clear favourite in the Big 12 for the second straight season.
Texas Tech was one of the best teams in the FBS in almost every defensive metric last season, including rush defence (first), total defence (third) and points allowed (third), and it made it a priority to reload after a migration of talent to the NFL.
After having six players from that unit drafted – including edge rusher David Bailey, who went second overall to the Jets, and Butkus Award winner Jacob Rodriguez, who was one of three others that went in the second and third rounds – it replenished the edge by adding Trey White (San Diego State) and Adam Trick (Miami OH) via the portal, as well as interior lineman Mateen Ibirogba (Wake Forest) and linebacker Austin Romaine (Kansas State). Canadian Bryce Butler also transferred in to add depth up front after serving in a rotational role at Washington each of the past two seasons.
In all, Texas Tech boasts seven players who were named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team – one more than runner-up BYU, and more than twice as many as Houston, which has the third-most with three.
In place of Sorsby, the Red Raiders have a promising fallback option in Will Hammond, who played well in relief of Behren Morton last year, notably in a 34-10 road win against Utah that shifted the Big 12 hierarchy in Week 4. Hammond tore his ACL in October and was expected to be sidelined through the first month of this season, but has taken first-team reps throughout fall camp and will start in the opener against Abilene Christian this Saturday.
Texas Tech also added former UCF, Boston College and Florida State quarterback Tommy Castellanos last week after he’d worked out for the Miami Dolphins as a wide receiver this past spring.
With what feels like a clear path to the playoffs, Texas Tech would have plenty to prove upon arrival. After winning all 12 of its games by 22 points or more last season, it fell flat in a 23-0 loss to Oregon in the Orange Bowl.
BYU is ready to compete again
BYU won 12 games last season – its most since 1996 – but was defined by its two losses, each of which came against Texas Tech, including a 34-7 blowout in the Big 12 Championship. That second strike was all the committee needed to omit it from the playoffs, and though a win over Georgia Tech in the Pop Tarts Bowl put a cap on an all-around strong season, it wasn’t exactly the sweet ending the Cougars were bargaining for.
BYU mostly added depth through the portal, and returns 13 starters from last year, including quarterback Bear Bachmeier and star running back LJ Martin.
Bachmeier won the starting job in 2025 as a true freshman, and was one of the biggest revelations in college football, scoring 26 total touchdowns (15 passing, 11 rushing) while ranking 16th in the FBS in QBR (78.2). Martin was the Big 12’s best runner, finishing with a conference-best 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns, and could become the program’s all-time leading rushers with another big season.
If the Cougars hope to keep pace with, and eventually beat Texas Tech – the teams don’t meet during the regular season, so it would have to be in a Big 12 title game rematch – they’ll need another breakout star, much like Bachmeier was in 2025. And they believe they might have one in true freshman wide receiver Legend Glasker, who’s already secured a starting role for this season while being the standout of fall camp.
The toughest game on BYU’s conference schedule, at least on paper, is a Week 10 in-state visit to Salt Lake City to face Utah, but the marquee matchup is the Cougars’ home game against Notre Dame on Oct. 17 – potentially the biggest roadblock for the Irish in its hope of finishing undefeated this season.
The top pick in next year’s NFL Draft might be at Oklahoma State
Sure, Drew Mestemaker still has to prove it against Power Four competition, but he hasn’t let much get in his way to this point.
Oklahoma State hasn’t won a Big 12 game since 2023, and fired Mike Gundy one week after a 69-3 obliteration at the hands of Oregon last September – the program’s worst loss since 1907. In December, it brought in Morris as its new head coach, then saw 19 North Texas players follow a month later, including Mestemaker, running back Caleb Hawkins and wide receiver Wyatt Young.
Mestemaker’s story is already unique enough. An unrecruited, zero-star “quarterback” – in quotes, because he didn’t start a single game in high school – who walked on at North Texas, then went from sixth-string to being the most prolific passer in college football within 18 months.
He orchestrated the best offence in the entire FBS last season, throwing 34 touchdown passes while leading the nation with 4,379 passing yards. In October, he set program and conference records by passing for 608 yards in a 54-20 win over Charlotte – just the third game of 600-plus yards by an FBS passer since 2020. North Texas came within a hair of reaching the playoffs, finishing 11-1 before losing to Tulane in the American Conference Championship.
He’ll be backed by Hawkins, who had 1,434 yards and 25 touchdowns last season with the Mean Green, and retains his favourite target in Young, who had 70 catches and 10 touchdowns. Suddenly, the Cowboys have reason to believe they can contend in the Big 12 after going a combined 4-20 over the past two years.
Even if he breaks out on the big stage, Mestemaker will have plenty of competition for that first spot in April’s NFL Draft – Arch Manning figures to stake his claim with Texas, and Oregon’s Dante Moore and Notre Dame’s CJ Carr are certain to have their say as well. And there’s always a potential wild card, considering Cam Ward and Fernando Mendoza’s ascents to the top of the board after transferring for their final seasons.
A new contender might be ready to emerge
Last year, Texas Tech and BYU ran the table in the Big 12, and Utah held tight as well, with its only two losses coming to those two teams. The Utes figure to be back in contention under new head coach Scalley this season, but is anyone else equipped to challenge for the conference title?
Mestemaker and Oklahoma State should be the biggest risers, but Houston might be next in line to push the three teams that currently make up the Big 12’s elite.
Last year, the Cougars recovered from a 24-point home loss to Texas Tech in Week 6 to finish 6-3 in the conference, and stamped a 10-win season by beating LSU in the Texas Bowl. This season, they could be in position to play in a much more meaningful game in December.
Conner Weigman was quietly one of the best quarterbacks in college football in 2025, accounting for 36 total touchdowns (25 passing, 11 rushing) after never really finding his footing in three previous seasons in the SEC at Texas A&M. He’s back for his final year, and has what could be a major compliment in the backfield.
Houston added Makhi Hughes through the portal, two seasons removed from a 1,400-yard, 15-touchdown season at Tulane. Hughes was one of the most coveted running backs in the sport last January, landing at Oregon, though he never managed to crack the Ducks’ deep backfield rotation and opted to redshirt after playing in just four games. There’s optimism that Hughes – like Weigman – can thrive in the Big 12, and reassert himself as a dominant runner.
The optimism surrounding Houston goes beyond 2026. The Cougars secured the highest-rated recruit in program history in Keisean Henderson – a five-star in-state quarterback who was ranked by ESPN as the fourth-best player in this year’s freshman class. He’ll back up Weigman this season, and could emerge in electrifying fashion beginning next fall.
What’s next for Deion Sanders?
The saga continues for Coach Prime at Colorado, following a season where the Buffaloes took a major step back after its two Heisman finalists leapt to the NFL.
Subtract that level of talent from any program and it might find itself in an uphill climb – but the path was particularly steep for Colorado, which dipped from nine wins to three, and managed to go just 1-9 in the Big 12.
The Buffaloes took another hit in January when star left tackle Jordan Seaton transferred to LSU, and they lost even more talent on the perimeter when leading receiver Omarion Miller moved within the conference to Arizona State.
But Sanders did manage to replenish Colorado’s receiving room with DeAndre Moore, who had 532 yards last season as one of Manning’s top targets at Texas, as well as Danny Scudero, who had 88 catches and led the FBS with 1,297 yards at San Jose State. They’ll provide some relief for quarterback Julian Lewis, who played in spurts as a true freshman in 2025 after coming to Boulder as a prized five-star recruit. Colorado also added Kam Perry, who was one of the best deep threats in the MAC last year at Miami (Ohio), leading the conference with 22.7 yards per catch.
In all, Sanders added more than 40 new players via the portal, as well as new offensive and defensive coordinators.
Colorado’s most notable addition on defence is linebacker Gideon ESPN Lampron – ESPN being his literal middle name, believe it or not – who finished third in MAC with 119 total tackles at Bowling Green.
As if his name isn’t unique enough, the circumstances surrounding Lampron ending up at Colorado were truly one of a kind – he actually met Sanders on a Cleveland-bound flight from Dallas last December, found himself at the team’s facility in Boulder the following week, then officially joined the Buffaloes in January.
