College football has been in the news for a whole bunch of reasons recently because the game is changing right before our eyes. But that won’t stop us from breaking down the biggest conferences and the best teams as we embark on another year of the great sport we all love and know. No amount of conference realignment or NIL money can take away our passion for the game. Here is our 2023 Big 12 football preview.
The Big 12 certainly went from a conference trying to survive to a power player in just two quick years. Commissioner Brett Yormark has completely changed the image of the Big 12 after the announced departure of Texas and Oklahoma, who will play their final conference season in 2023 before heading to the SEC. After adding Cincinnati, BYU, UCF, and Houston into the league this year, the Big 12 just recently added Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah who will enter the league in 2024. For this season, the traditional 10 teams in the Big 12 plus the first four incomers will play in a 14-team format. The Big 12 is secured as the third most powerful conference in football at the moment and they have a great shot at producing a College Football playoff team this season.
Last Year
TCU was the biggest surprise in college football last season, led by first-year head coach Sonny Dykes. The Horned Frogs made it all the way to the National Championship game where they were brutally beat down by the Georgia Bulldogs. To make matters worse, they didn’t even win the conference, a title that was claimed by Kansas State in a thrilling Big 12 championship game, the second straight one that was decided in the final seconds. Oklahoma took a step back with their first losing record in 24 years while Iowa State and Baylor stumbled as well. A fun team to watch was Kansas as they took a massive step forward and will look to compete for a winning record for the first time since 2008.
What to Watch
The quarterback battle at Texas should be fun to watch as Quinn Ewers looks to have the starting job locked up, but if the Longhorns struggle out of the gate, they could turn to NIL sensation Arch Manning who is the relative of a couple of famous quarterbacks. Texas wants to put a positive memory into the fanbases mind as they leave the Big 12, a conference that they haven’t fared well in for many years despite claiming to be one of the premier college football programs in the country.
Heisman Candidates
The two guys I’ll go with are Quinn Ewers from Texas and Will Howard from Kansas State who has a serious chance at getting the Wildcats to a college football playoff and showed some serious talent in the conference championship victory.
Prediction
Oklahoma goes out on top as it has for many years as Brent Venables calms the storm in his second year after a disastrous first season.