3 things to know about the Big 12: Who will emerge from college football's most wide-open conference?
Which team will do it in the Big 12 in 2025? There is no significant favorite; the conference is up for grabs and anybody's to win.
In 2024, the top four conference champions got first-round byes. This year, the top four teams in the final set of rankings will be the top four seeds. If a conference champion finishes at No. 7 in the rankings, that team will be the No. 7 seed.
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With the 2025 season quickly approaching, here's our look at the Big 12. The conference title game's participants could once again be decided by tiebreakers.
Big 12 championship odds
Texas Tech (+550)
Utah (+550)
Kansas State (+600)
Arizona State (+600)
Baylor (+650)
TCU (+800)
Iowa State (12-1)
Kansas (16-1)
BYU (20-1)
Colorado (22-1)
Cincinnati (35-1)
Houston (35-1)
West Virginia (40-1)
Arizona (40-1)
Oklahoma State (50-1)
UCF (60-1)
How many teams are contenders for the league title?
The Big 12 looks to be the most unpredictable conference in the country. According to the odds, there are six teams with legitimate shots to win the conference title. That number would be at least seven if it weren't for Jake Retzlaff's departure from BYU for honor code violations. With Retzlaff in the fold, the Cougars were among the favorites.
Don't write off Iowa State, either. The Cyclones need to replace two NFL Draft picks at wide receiver in Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel, but QB Rocco Becht is back along with RBs Carson Hansen and Abu Sama.
Texas Tech is atop the list of favorites — if only slightly — thanks to the transfer portal additions the team made during the offseason. But the Red Raiders have already suffered a significant injury with USC transfer RB Quinten Joyner's ACL tear. He'll miss the 2025 season.
If Texas Tech really is going to contend for the conference title, the improvements need to come on defense. That's where the Red Raiders loaded up in the offseason, too. Tech gave up nearly 35 points per game in 2024 and could have a starting defensive line made up entirely of transfers. The secondary added Brice Pollock from Mississippi State and former FCS All-American Cole Wisniewski from North Dakota State.
Utah's defense should be ol' reliable once again and the Utes are hoping a steady hand at quarterback will get them back into the conference title race. The Utes were the preseason favorites in 2024, but porous QB play after Cam Rising's Week 2 injury doomed Utah's chances. The team added former New Mexico QB Devon Dampier in the transfer portal; he threw for over 2,000 yards and rushed for over 1,000 in 2024.
Kansas State QB Avery Johnson is a sleeper Heisman candidate if he can take another step forward in the pass game. Johnson rushed for 605 yards in 2024 and leading receiver Jayce Brown (47 catches for 823 yards) also returns. The defense brings back leading tacklers Austin Romaine and VJ Payne.
Before a loss to LSU in the Texas Bowl, Baylor was one of the hottest teams in college football. The Bears won their final six regular-season games after a 2-4 start. Sawyer Robertson emerged as a solid starting QB with over 3,000 yards and 28 TDs. The Bears should take care of business against Auburn at home in Week 1.
The defending Big 12 champion Sun Devils were projected to finish last in the conference in 2024. Though the Big 12 didn't officially say why, it's reasonable to assume that preseason poll miss is a big reason why the conference didn't have a preseason media poll ahead of the 2025 season.
QB Sam Leavitt and WR Jordyn Tyson return for ASU as former Army RB Kanye Udoh is in line to replace Cam Skattebo. They're different types of running backs, but Udoh rushed for over 1,100 yards in 2024.
TCU has a chance to make a statement in front of a big audience to cap off Week 1. The Horned Frogs head to Chapel Hill on Labor Day in Bill Belichick's first game as North Carolina coach. TCU also has its annual rivalry game vs. SMU and has road games at ASU, Kansas State and BYU.
What will Colorado look like?
It's a season of adjustment for Deion Sanders in Boulder. The Pro Football Hall of Fame member revealed over the summer that he had his bladder removed after he was diagnosed with cancer. Sanders detailed how he's getting used to life with a new bladder and was candid about his recovery process. He told fans not to be surprised if they saw a portable toilet on the Colorado sidelines during games.
The Buffaloes took a huge step forward in 2024 as Travis Hunter won the Heisman Trophy and Shedeur Sanders threw for over 4,000 yards. Both players are now in the NFL as the Buffaloes also need to replace three other leading receivers outside of Hunter.
The QB competition is between freshman Julian Lewis and Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter. Lewis enrolled early at Colorado and was on the sidelines for the Alamo Bowl. Salter had a rough 2024 season, but starred in 2023 as Liberty went undefeated before losing to Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl. No matter who is officially named the starter, we're going to bet that both get significant playing time in 2025.
Either way, Colorado still needs to figure out a run game that's been horrific throughout Sanders' first two seasons. Colorado averaged 2.5 yards a carry last season after averaging 2.3 yards a carry in 2023. Yes, those numbers are influenced by Shedeur Sanders' minus-50 rushing yards thanks to sacks, but even without the sacks, you can't call Colorado's run game anything other than 'bad.' Left tackle Jordan Seaton can be a star, but he can't play all five positions himself. The Buffaloes are hoping that more transfer additions will bolster the line.
Familiar coaches return
West Virginia and UCF have long odds to win the conference titles as former coaches are back at their old jobs. Rich Rodriguez returned to the Mountaineers after a stint at Jacksonville State and has talked a lot about TikTok this offseason. TikTok first became available nine years after Rodriguez's last season at WVU in 2007.
Scott Frost, meanwhile, did coach UCF in the TikTok era. He's back in Orlando after the Knights went undefeated in 2017 on his watch. Frost has publicly lamented his return to Nebraska — where the Cornhuskers never went above .500 — and we're going to go out on a limb and say that his second stint at UCF will be slightly more successful.
Despite their conference title odds, UCF has a decent chance at making a bowl game thanks to a favorable schedule. UCF avoids Utah, Arizona State and Iowa State in conference play and has a feasible path to six wins despite all the roster turnover after Gus Malzahn left for Florida State.
Oklahoma State still has a familiar face in charge as Mike Gundy enters his 21st season. The Cowboys went 0-9 in Big 12 play in 2024 and Gundy's contract was restructured at the end of the season. Is 2025 a make-or-break year? Oklahoma State has shown the ability to come out of nowhere to be a player in the Big 12 in seasons with little or no expectations. The Cowboys have new coordinators on each side of the ball, will have a new starting QB, starting RB and no receiver on the roster with more than 12 catches in 2024.
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