
Even oddsmakers can't decide who is the favorite to win the Big 12
It appears that even the oddsmakers don't know which way to lean when it comes to the eventual Big 12 champion in the upcoming college football season.
Some experts are leaning toward the Arizona State Sun Devils to repeat as champions, while others have gone the route of tabbing Kansas State, Baylor, BYU, or Texas Tech as the favorite to win the conference and secure a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
Depending on which sportsbook you view, you could get a different answer. This isn't to say there are no good teams in the Big 12, this could be setting us up for a very competitive season in the conference.
BetMGM's Big 12 Champion Odds
FanDuel's Big 12 Champion Odds
Arizona State Sun Devils (+600)
Kansas State Wildcats (+600)
Texas Tech Red Raiders (+600)
Baylor Bears (+650)
Utah Utes (+650)
BYU Cougars (+950)
DraftKings' Big 12 Champion Odds
Arizona State Sun Devils (+500)
Kansas State Wildcats (+500)
BYU Cougars (+700)
Texas Tech Red Raiders (+700)
Baylor Bears (+800)
Utah Utes (+800)
No matter which way you dissect it, it seems pretty clear in the eyes of the oddsmakers, the Big 12 might be in for a wild ride between any of these six teams listed among the best chances to win the conference. Or perhaps one of the teams down the list is poised to make a run at the title.
Either way, I can't wait to watch it all unfold.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


USA Today
3 hours ago
- USA Today
Unranked but Underrated: Colorado receives only one vote in preseason AP Top 25
Colorado concluded the 2024 season with a 9-4 record and a No. 25 ranking in the final AP Poll, marking the program's best finish since 2016 when it went 10-4. Despite that improvement, Colorado begins the 2025 season unranked in both major preseason polls. However, the team did receive some consideration, earning one vote in the AP Poll and 12 votes in the USA TODAY US LBM Coaches Poll. These results suggest that while the Buffaloes are not viewed as a consensus top-25 team entering the season, they are on the radar and could move up quickly with early success. Among the other Big 12 programs, several earned spots in the preseason AP Poll. Arizona State leads the group at No. 11, followed by Kansas State at No. 17, Iowa State at No. 22, and Texas Tech at No. 23. Both BYU and Utah fell just outside the top 25, receiving votes but not enough to secure a ranking. Colorado enters the 2025 season without several key contributors from last year's roster, particularly on offense. Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, quarterback Shedeur Sanders and wide receivers Jimmy Horn Jr., Will Sheppard, and LaJohntay Wester all moved on to the NFL. Defensively, the Buffaloes also lost significant talent with the departures of Shilo Sanders, B.J. Green II, Cam'Ron Silmon-Craig and Hunter. That's a significant loss of talent from last season, especially at key positions like quarterback and wide receiver. However, if anyone can handle adversity, it is Deion Sanders and his coaching staff, who continue to improve year after year. The starting quarterback for the Buffaloes in Week 1 against Georgia Tech remains uncertain, as head coach Deion Sanders has yet to announce his choice. A fierce competition is underway between Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter and highly touted true freshman Julian Lewis. The offensive line is primarily made up of transfers, except for standout freshman left tackle Jordan Seaton. The wide receiver group features a blend of transfers and returning players, including Omarion Miller, Dre'lon Miller, Isaiah Hardge, Kam Mikell, and Terrell Timmons Jr. In the backfield, Micah Welch and Dallan Hayden return, joined by Incarnate Word transfer DeKalon Taylor. Defensively, the team retains most of its key contributors, especially along the defensive line and in the secondary. They have also added new linebacker transfers and reinforced the safety and cornerback positions to bolster the defense. Colorado and Deion Sanders have long leveraged the transfer portal to bring in talent and address team needs. However, the 2025 roster feels different and promising. It combines eager underclassmen ready to learn and contribute with transfers seeking greater opportunities at a Big 12 program, and experienced upperclassmen who have been part of the team since Sanders took the helm. Las Vegas and major sportsbooks view this Buffalo team as average, setting their win total over/under at 5.5. There has been significant roster turnover and attention around Coach Sanders' cancer treatments, but Colorado has shown steady improvement each year under his leadership. The Big 12 feels more open than it has in a while, and while some are doubting Sanders as he begins his third season in Boulder, this team has the potential to exceed expectations. Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions.


Boston Globe
3 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Texas is No. 1 in preseason AP Top 25 college football for first time
The Longhorns face a major test right away. Their Aug. 30 opener at defending champion and third-ranked Ohio State is a rematch of last season's College Football Playoff semifinal, a 28-14 Buckeyes win in the Cotton Bowl. Advertisement The Buckeyes received 11 first-place votes from the panel of 65 media members who cover college football. No. 4 Clemson got four first-place votes and No. 5 Georgia got one. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Notre Dame, Oregon (which got the final first-place vote), Alabama, LSU, and Miami round out the top 10. The SEC leads all conferences with 10 teams in the preseason Top 25, most ever by a conference and one more than a year ago. The SEC has four teams in the top 10 for the second straight year. The Big Ten, which has won the last two national championships, has two of the top three teams for the third straight year and six in the Top 25 for the third year in a row. Four Big 12 teams are ranked, with defending conference champion Arizona State the highest at No. 11. The Atlantic Coast Conference has three, led by Clemson. Advertisement With Arch Manning now the undisputed starting quarterback, Texas will try to become the 12th team to start and finish No. 1 since the AP preseason poll debuted in 1950. The last team to do it was Alabama in 2017. The Longhorns have been on an upward trajectory since they were 5-7 in 2021, Steve Sarkisian's first season. They have won 25 of their last 30 games and reached two straight CFP semifinals. Last year, they were ranked No. 1 four of five weeks from mid-September to mid-October, and they reached the SEC championship game in their first season in the conference. 'But this is a new year, new faces, new team, and obviously expectations are high for our program,' Sarkisian said at SEC media days. 'I'm not naive to that. I don't put my head in the sand, and expectations are very high. But I also say we're the University of Texas, and the standard is the standard here, and that's competing for championships year in and year out.' Twelve Texas players were taken in the NFL Draft, including three first-round picks, but elite recruiting and additions from the transfer portal should alleviate concerns about losses on the offensive line and at receiver. The defense brings back plenty of talent. Still, Texas received just 38.5 percent of the first-place votes (25 of 65), the smallest share for a No. 1 team in the preseason poll since Georgia got 33.9 percent (22 of 65) in 2008. The Longhorns have ended a season No. 1 in the AP poll three times (1963, 1969, 2005) but until now had never started a season higher than No. 2 (1962, 1965, 1970, 2005, 2009). Advertisement The second-ranked Nittany Lions are not only 6 points from being No. 1, they are 75 points ahead of the Buckeyes in what might be considered a slight to the national champs. Penn State will have Drew Allar back under center for what many consider a light schedule ahead of a late September visit from Oregon before a Nov. 1 showdown at Ohio State. The Buckeyes, in the preseason top five for the ninth straight year and 12th of the last 13, will have a new look with only five starters back on offense and three on defense. 'This team has its own identity,' coach Ryan Day said. 'It wants to have its own identity, but it also wants to be the first Ohio State team to win back-to-back national championships.' The opener against Texas will give the Buckeyes a good measure of themselves. Julian Sayin or Lincoln Kienholz will be the third new starting quarterback in three years. Whoever gets the job will throw to one of the nation's top players in Jeremiah Smith. Day will also have another chance to figure out archrival and preseason No. 14 Michigan, which has beaten the Buckeyes four straight years.


Forbes
3 hours ago
- Forbes
Texas Leads Record 10 SEC Teams In AP Preseason College Football Poll
In January, for the second consecutive season, no Southeastern Conference team played in the College Football Playoff national title game. For a league synonymous with the sport and full of programs willing to invest tens of millions of dollars to compete, the postseason results stung. The conference may not have to wait long to regain its former spot, though. On Monday, a record 10 SEC teams were ranked in the top 25 of the preseason Associated Press poll, one more than the old mark that the SEC set last season. Texas was ranked first, the first time it has entered the season in the No. 1 slot. The Longhorns had 25 first-place votes and 1,552 points, just ahead of No. 2 Penn State, which had 23 first-place votes and 1,547 points. Ohio State, the reigning national champion, was third with 11 first-place votes and 1,472 points. The Buckeyes host Texas in the season opener on Aug. 30, one of the most anticipated Week 1 games in recent memory. Besides Texas, the next highest-ranked SEC school was Georgia, which checked in at No. 5 behind No. 4 Clemson. Georgia was first in last year's AP preseason poll for the second consecutive year . The Bulldogs won the SEC title and were seeded second in the CFP, but they lost in the quarterfinals to Notre Dame, which ended up making the national title game. The Fighting Irish enter this season ranked sixth in the AP poll. They visit No. 10 Miami on Aug. 31 in another highly anticipated Week 1 matchup. The SEC has two more top 10 teams in No. 8 Alabama and No. 9 LSU, both of which are coming off disappointing seasons. Neither team made the expanded 12-team playoff. The Crimson Tide finished the regular season 9-3 with losses to Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Oklahoma in coach Kalen DeBoer's first season. The Tigers went 8-4 in the regular season, losing to USC in the season opener and dropping three consecutive games to Texas A&M, Alabama and Florida in October and Novembers. The other SEC teams in the top 25 are No. 13 South Carolina, No. 15 Florida, No. 18 Oklahoma, No. 19 Texas A&M, No. 21 Ole Miss and No. 24 Tennessee. Last season, three SEC programs made the CFP field, with No. 9 seed Tennessee losing in the first round to Ohio State, Georgia losing in the quarterfinals to Notre Dame and No. 5 seed Texas losing in the semifinals to Ohio State. All in all, it was a disappointing postseason considering the SEC had won six titles in eight seasons from 2016 to 2022. Since 2006, five SEC programs have won national titles: Florida (2006 and 2008), LSU (2007 and 2019), Alabama (2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2020), Auburn (2010) and Georgia (2021 and 2022). Only four other programs have won championships during that time, but two occurred the past two seasons: Michigan in 2023 and Ohio State last season. The Wolverines and Buckeyes are members of the Big Ten, the only conference that can be mentioned as close to the SEC when it comes to on-field success and off-field riches. The SEC distributed an average of $52.6 million to its full-time members in the 2023-24 school year, per the Associated Press. Texas and Oklahoma, which joined the conference that season, received $27.5 million apiece. The Big Ten's 12 longest-standing schools, meanwhile, each received about $63.2 million during the 2024 fiscal year, according to USA Today. The Big Ten has three teams in the preseason top 10 in Penn State, Ohio State and No. 7 Oregon, each of whom made the CFP last season. Three more conference teams are ranked in the top 25: No. 12 Illinois, No. 14 Michigan and No. 20 Indiana. Chances are, an SEC or Big Ten team will win the national title, although Clemson, Notre Dame and Miami are teams outside of those conferences that are in the preseason top 10. Still, Clemson is the only program that's not currently in the SEC or Big Ten to win the championship since Miami did so in 2001. The SEC, as usual, is filled with top players, including a loaded quarterback group led by Arch Manning (Texas), Garrett Nussmeier (LSU), LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina), Jackson Arnold (Auburn), John Mateer (Oklahoma) and DJ Lagway (Florida). Over the next few months, those players will face off against each other numerous times, looking to lead their teams to a CFP berth. The past two seasons have featured non-SEC programs playing for the national title, but the league is in good position to see that streak end and regain its place atop the sport.