It’s hard to believe, but the start of the next college football season is beginning to creep up on us. It’s the height of the summer right now, but before you know it, American tackle football is going to kick off in earnest. I can’t wait. Over the course of the next several weeks, I’m going to be surveying the college football landscape, conference by conference, and previewing the upcoming season. Up next, we’re talking about the Big 12.
BIG 12: BURNING QUESTIONS HEADING INTO 2023
A Red River Championship game? You can read all of the preseason publications you want to, and if it plays out like most analysts think it will, we’re inevitably heading towards a Big 12 Championship game between the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners. Don’t we project that every year, though? I don’t know what inspires confidence in the Sooners outside of quarterback Dillon Gabriel. The schedule looks like a cakewalk outside of the Texas game and a sneaky dangerous trip to Lawrence. But, it sets up nicely for the offense to carry this team to a solid record. The Longhorns are absolutely loaded across the board with elite talent at every position. They clearly look like the best roster in the conference. This certainly should be the year that they put it all together and make a run at not only the Big 12 title, but potentially a spot in the College Football Playoff. As it stands here in August, they look like the only team in this conference that can get there.
What will TCU do for an encore? The season the Horned Frogs had last fall was one of the most magical runs I’ve seen in all my years as a college football fan. It was truly awesome – a real storybook tale. But, how do they manage expectations after the mass exodus of talent gone to the NFL – Max Duggan, Quentin Johnston, Steve Avila, Kendre Miller just to name a few. This program has a certain moxie that trickles down from its head coach Sonny Dykes. But, if I were a betting man, which I am, I’d say that TCU is going to come crashing back down to Earth this year. The fairy tale may be over.
Can Kansas State take the next step? Like TCU, the Wildcats lost some valuable talent to the NFL, but they have a steady foundation to build upon in head coach Chris Klieman, returning quarterback Will Howard, and a good offensive line that returns five starters. They are going to be a tough team to beat in 2023. It’s not at all out of the realm of possibility for this team to get back to the Big 12 Championship.
Will a dark horse emerge? I know that Texas Tech is getting a ton of preseason love, but I’d caution people not to bite too hard on the Red Raiders in 2023. This appears to be a program on the rise, but let’s see it for another season before we push all our chips to the middle of the table. That said, they have plenty of returning starters to build off of an 8-5 campaign last season and could very well be in this conversation. Then, there are the well-coached Baylor Bears under Dave Aranda, who figure to have a wealth of talent on defense and a good rushing attack on offense. They’ll try to play a style that will keep them in a lot of games. For my money, though – let’s roll the dice on Jalon Daniels, Lance Leipold, and the upstart Kansas Jayhawks, who had their best season in 14 years in 2022. Daniels could very well end up being the most prolific quarterback in the conference by season’s end at the helm of an offense returning 10 starters.
How will the new Big 12 teams fare? Conference realignment continues to shake things up for the Big 12, but lest we forget, there’s already some shakeup in the conference. This year will mark the first year that the BYU Cougars, Cincinnati Bearcats, UCF Knights, and Houston Cougars will compete in the Big 12. For Cincinnati, they’ll be doing so with a new head coach as Scott Satterfield takes the helm. They have some talent, but this might be a bit of a transition year for the Bearcats. Houston fans have to be salivating at the chance to finally be up in the big leagues, but can Dana Holgorsen find success in the Big 12 once again? Will any of these teams rise into the ‘dark horse’ category in this conference? Who’s to say? If any of them, I’d put my money on UCF – Gus Malzahn and John Rhys Plumlee are going to be exciting to watch.
Who has the best chance at getting out of no man’s land? It feels like there are a handful of teams in purgatory in the Big 12 this season. 2022 was a major disappointment for Oklahoma State, who appears to be struggling to get back to a consistent level of play. You’d figure they’re probably the favorite to find their footing in 2023 considering they have the stability of Mike Gundy at head coach. Neal Brown may be in over his head with a West Virginia program that seems a bit aimless. Matt Campbell has proven to have built a program you can’t bet against either, and the cultural foundation in Ames could be strong enough to support a surprise season.
My projected order of finish:
- Texas
- Kansas State
- Oklahoma
- Kansas
- Texas Tech
- Baylor
- TCU
- Iowa State
- Oklahoma State
- UCF
- Houston
- BYU
- Cincinnati
- West Virginia
2023 COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON PREVIEWS
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Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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