Texas Tech enters 2026 as the clear favorite to control the new Big 12, but the quarterback change from the original Brendan Sorsby plan to Will Hammond creates one major question for an otherwise loaded roster.
Gary breaks down all 16 Big 12 teams, beginning with a championship tier featuring Texas Tech, BYU, Utah and Kansas State. BYU brings the safest combination of quarterback stability, offensive-line experience and defensive maturity. Utah returns explosive quarterback Devon Dampier but must replace its coaching leadership and entire starting offensive line. Kansas State may own the conference’s cleanest path under new head coach Collin Klein.
The dark-horse discussion includes Houston, Arizona, TCU and a completely rebuilt Oklahoma State program that imported Eric Morris, Drew Mestemaker and much of North Texas’ explosive offense. The remaining tiers cover UCF’s quarterback upgrade, DJ Lagway’s arrival at Baylor, Arizona State’s massive personnel losses, Iowa State’s teardown and Colorado’s latest roster reset.
The episode also examines the Big 12’s dramatically uneven schedules, the conference’s top quarterbacks and units, championship odds, win totals and potential regression candidates.
Final picks include Texas Tech over BYU in the Big 12 Championship, Kansas State as the best title value, Oklahoma State as the favorite long shot, Kansas State 7.5 wins and Cincinnati 5.5.
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