CONFERENCE SPOTLIGHT: BIG 12

The BIG 12 received shocking news weeks prior to the 2021 season. The explosive trending topic was that conference anchors Oklahoma and Texas were moving to the SEC in 2025. This was just the tip of the iceberg for the entertaining 2021 season that saw Oklahoma State and Baylor play in an epic championship game. The Baylor Bears made a triumphant stand to win the conference and it vaulted them to the Sugar Bowl. Oklahoma State earned a trip to the Fiesta Bowl and a date with Notre Dame.

As we fast forward to 2022, the landscape of the league has changed dramatically. Coach Dave Aranda and the Baylor Bears are coming off a season where their defense led the way, but the offense was inconsistent. Their passing game was 8th in yards per game, but they had the best rushing yards per game in the conference with 214. They transitioned from QB Gerry Bohannon mid season to Blake Shapen in an effort to try and adjust the offense. The Bears offense will also look different in others areas since they need to replace their leading rusher (Abram Smith) and leading receiver (Tyquan Thornton). They are not the only program trying to adjust to change in the conference.

Only 1 of the top 5 quarterbacks in passing yards from 2021 returns this Fall. To make the quarterback landscape even more interesting, only 2 of the top 10 passers return. Oklahoma State QB Spencer Sanders and TCU QB Max Duggan are the only signal callers that have returned for another campaign. Brock Purdy (Iowa State) and Skylar Thompson (K State) are now pursuing their NFL dreams. Jarret Doege (left WVU), Gerry Bohannon (left Baylor), Casey Thompson (left Texas), Henry Colombi (left Texas Tech), Spencer Rattler (left Oklahoma) and Caleb Williams (left Oklahoma) all transferred to other pastures. The QB dynamic makes predicting potential outcomes a labyrinth of scenarios.

The running back situation is no different across the conference. The league will only see 3 of the top 10 2021 rushers return. 6 of them are in NFL camps, Zach Evans transferred from TCU to Ole Miss and Deuce Vaughn (K State), Bijan Robinson (Texas) and Devin Neal (Kansas) are back to build off of great 2021 seasons.

Coach Gundy and Oklahoma State had a fantastic 2021, the real question is can they take the next step? They finished with the 3rd best defense in total yards allowed per game, behind Wisconsin and Georgia. They led the nation in sacks with 55, but just missed a conference crown. They will need to replace defensive coordinator Jim Knowles (now at Ohio State) and star linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez (currently on Hard Knocks with the Lions) among others in an effort to win the title in 2022.

Texas returns some intriguing players in Sark’s second season along with a great recruiting class. Oklahoma has seen a major program overhaul with Lincoln Riley leaving and Brent Venables arriving. Iowa State saw a lot of great players graduate and it will be intriguing to see how they replace Brock Purdy, Breece Hall and others. West Virginia has welcomed QB J T Daniels to Morgantown in hopes he can ignite the offense. Head Coach Lance Leopold has a tall task building a program in Kansas, will the Jayhawks make a jump this Fall? Lastly, how will new head coaches at Texas Tech and TCU fare in their first rodeo?

INSTITUTIONS LEAVING AFTER THE 2024-25’ ACADEMIC YEAR:

• TEXAS LONGHORNS
• OKLAHOMA SOONERS

INSTITUTIONS ARRIVING FOR THE 2023-24’ ACADEMIC YEAR:

• BYU COUGARS
• UCF KNIGHTS
• CINCINNATI BEARCATS
• HOUSTON COUGARS

2022 INSTITUTIONS:

• BAYLOR BEARS
• IOWA STATE CYCLONES
• KANSAS JAYHAWKS
• KANSAS STATE WILDCATS
• OKLAHOMA SOONERS
• OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS
• TCU HORNED FROGS
• TEXAS LONGHORNS
• TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS
• WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS

PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

• RB BIJAN ROBINSON (TEXAS): Bijan had a great 2021 and we expect him to play on a higher level this season
• HONORABLE MENTION: RB DEUCE VAUGHN (KANSAS STATE): Mr Do Everything for the Wildcats will be the focal point of the offense once again
• HONORABLE MENTION: QB SPENCER SANDERS (OKLAHOMA STATE): Sanders has shown that he can move the ball in the air and on the ground the past few seasons, this might be the year he increases touchdowns and decreases turnovers.

4 TEAMS WE’RE WATCHING IN 2022:

TEXAS LONGHORNS

• The Longhorns we’re 5th in the league for total yards per game with 424.8, 2nd in rushing yards per game with 199 and scored 35 points a game, which was 2nd
• Bijan Robinson was 5th in the conference in rushing yards with 1,127
• Wide Receiver Xavier Worthy led the BIG 12 with 981 yards receding last season…. He easily surpasses 1,000 this Fall
• The Horns saw QB Casey Thompson transfer to Nebraska, but Freshman phenom Quinn Ewers returns home to Texas to take the offense
• The defense must improve for Texas To Be Back….they allowed 31 points per game last year, which was 7th in the conference
• BJ Foster led the team with 3. Interceptions in 2021 (tied for 2nd in the Big 12), but transferred to Sam Houston State
• The defense as a whole gave up 425.6 total yards a game, which was 8th in the Bug 12, 224 passing yards (5th) and 201 yards rushing per game
• The fate of this team will be decided in October (October 8th thru 22nd)….Red River Rivalry, vs Iowa State and at Oklahoma State. If they can survive that stretch, the final 4 are Kansas State, TCU, Kansas and the season finale vs Baylor
• They must be ready to play every week…. The last time they played Kansas, they lost and ranked teams historically get more than they bargained for in the Little Apple
• I think this team reaches the Big 12 Title Game at 10-2

TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS:

• The Red Raiders have always been known for high powered offense and lighting up the scoreboard in the west Texas night. Lately, they have not been as explosive on a consistent basis and are desperate for the return of Patrick Mahomes, Kliff Kinsbury, Michael Crabtree and Byron Hanspard
• Last year, they scored 30 points a game, which was middle of the league
• They threw for 257.7 yards a game , which was 3rd in the Big 12, but their rushing game was in the lower third
• QB Donovan Smith returns after throwing for 1,181 yards and 7 touchdowns in part time duty last season
• Their top 2 wide receivers from 2021 are currently in NFL camps, so Myles Price will be viewed as the veteran leader of the unit
• The offense does have their top 2 rushers returning in the form of Tahj Brooks and SeRoderick Thompson, who both surpassed 500 yards last Fall
• The Red Raider defense had a middle of the pack defense for total yards allowed per game, but they had the worst pass defense, allowing 266.5 yards a game in the air
• Texas Tech gave up 32 points a game, which was 8th in the league
• Texas Tech does have 2 very intriguing non-conference games in September when the face Houston and NC State. In addition, they also play Texas, Kansas State and Oklahoma State in the first 6 weeks of the season
• A new regime in Lubbock…can they successfully build a sustainable foundation and prepare to compete for a conference title like Baylor, Iowa State and Oklahoma State have done the past couple years?

KANSAS STATE WILDCATS:

• RB Deuce Vaughn is a machine…but this offense needs to find others to contribute and create balance
• Leading WR Phillip Brooks returns looking to build off his 43 receptions 543 yards and 2TD’s from 2021
• QB Skylar Thompson has departed but former Nebraska QB Adrian Martinez has transferred to the Little Apple looking to finish his career on a high note
• The Cats scored 26 points in a game was 9th in the Big 12 last season
• Only Kansas had less total yards per game in the conference
• The future QB might be found, but he is a year away. #3 DT QB Avery Johnson on ESPN 300 committed to the Wildcats a few weeks back and if that remains, the future could be bright
• The defense must continue to improve and force more turnovers to help swing the tide
• Can this program return the success of the Bill Snyder era?

IOWA STATE CYCLONES:

• This season might be the biggest challenge for Head Coach Matt Campbell and the Cyclones
• Brock Purdy, Breece Hall, Kolar and others are gone but they left an amazing legacy in Ames, which includes a Fiesta Bowl trophy
• They did lead the Big 12 in passing yards per game with 268.8 yards last season and 3rd in points per game with 32.8
• The cupboard isn’t empty and the offense will look toward Wide Receiver Xavier Hutchinson from Jacksonville, Florida to build off his explosive 2021 where he had 83 receptions, 987 yards and 5 touchdowns
• The defense is built around First Team All Irrational Confidence defensive lineman Will McDonald IV. He terrorized quarterbacks in 2021, amassing 11.5 sacks and hopes to surpass that total this year
• This program is at a crossroads this season….. reload the talent and remain at the forefront of the conference or rescind to pre-Matt Campbell results and try to find diamonds in the rough?

CONFERENCE GAMES TO KEEP ON YOUR RADAR:

• West Virginia at PITT. Backyard Brawl (Week 1)
• Alabama at Texas (Week 2)
• Houston at Texas Tech (Week 2)
• Iowa State at Iowa (Week 2)
• Baylor at BYU (Week 2)
• Kansas at West Virginia (Week 2)
• Oklahoma at Nebraska (Week 3)
• Texas Tech at NC State (Week 3)
• West Virginia at Virginia Tech (Week 4)
• Baylor at Iowa State (Week 4)
• Kansas State at Oklahoma (Week 4)
• Texas at Texas Tech (Week 4)
• Oklahoma State at Baylor (Week 5)
• Oklahoma at TCU (Week 5)
• Texas vs Oklahoma Red River Rivalry (Week 6)
• Iowa State at Texas (Week 7)
• Baylor at West Virginia (Week 7)
• Texas at Oklahoma State (Week 8)
• Kansas State at TCU (Week 8)
• Oklahoma at Iowa State (Week 9)
• Baylor at Oklahoma (Week 10)
• Texas at Kansas State (Week 10)
• Texas Tech at TCU (Week 10)
• Iowa State at Oklahoma State (Week 11)
• Oklahoma State at Oklahoma. BEDLAM (Week 12)
• Texas at Kansas (Week 12)
• Baylor at Texas (Week 13)
• Kansas at Kansas State (Week 13)

BEST STADIUM IN THE CONFERENCE: MOUNTAINEER FIELD AT MILAN PUSKAR STADIUM

• There are a lot of cool stadiums in the conference, such as Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Darrel K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium and T Boone Pickens Stadium, but just something awesome about the entire state of West Virginia flooding Morgantown on a Fall Saturday and singing Country Roads for their Mountaineers

CONFERENCE CHAMPION: TEXAS LONGHORNS

• The Longhorns offense is loaded and I think they have built true depth to start returning to the upper tiers of college football. In a bold take, the Longhorns and Baylor Bears will meet in the conference championship game the week after the play in the regular season.

Don’t forget to tune into The Irrational Confidence Podcast (@IRConfidencePod) for all of your college football needs. We just released the 4th episode in our Preseason Top 25 countdown and spots 1 thru 5 are coming soon. You can subscribe on all podcast platforms as well as the Spinnable Sports YouTube page. We release 2 episodes a week during the season, a preview and a reaction episode. You can find our full Preseason All Irrational Confidence Team and other conference spotlights on SpinnableSports.com.