College football is back, but before we can get into the meat of all the game, there are som questions surrounding each team in the Big 12.
The Big 12 looks drastically different this season having 16 teams for the first time ever. Oklahoma and Texas departed for the SEC and after adding four new teams in 2023, UCF, BYU, Cincinnati, and Houston, they have added four more to the conference now in 2024, Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, and Colorado.
This will be a season of unknowns as the Big 12 is as wide open as it ever has been and each team has an equal chance to take the throne. Who will it be though? Well here are questions facing each team that could keep them from reaching the mountaintop of the Big 12.
Arizona State
Can the Sun Devils find success in the Big 12?
Arizona State is about to play its first season in the Big 12 after coming off quite a few rough seasons in the Pac-12. They have found a solid coach in Kenny Dillingham, but he has yet to find his footing but has a bright future ahead of him with the Sun Devils.
Now in a new conference, Arizona State can leave the Pac-12 behind and possibly find a new way to be successful in a new conference. The Big 12 is different from the Pac-12, and Arizona State might be able to find success.
Houston
How will Willie Fritz adjust to a power conference?
Houston had an incredibly rough season in year one in the Big 12. The Cougars ended up moving on from their head coach and starting over in year two with former Tulane head coach Willie Fritz. However, as each newcomer last year can attest, the Big 12 is very different from a Group of Five conference.
Willie Fritz will have his work cut out for him at Houston taking over a program that is ruins currently. If he can make moves in the Big 12 this early then Houston could easily become a powerhouse, but this isn't the American Athletic Conference and these teams bring a lot to the table.
Cincinnati
Is Scott Satterfield the right fit?
Ever since Cincinnati went to the College Football Playoff, the Bearcats have struggled to find a lot of success both in the AAC and in their first season in the Big 12. Luke Fickell left the Bearcats before last season and they brought in Scott Satterfield to take over the team and it has been a struggle.
Yes, Satterfield had to take over a new team heading into a new conference, but he did not instill a lot of confidence in season one. Satterfield's performance in year one in the Big 12 raised more questions than not, so if he doesn't perform any better in year two, his seat could become scorching hot.
BYU
Can BYU actually make a name for themselves in the Big 12?
BYU came in as a newcomer last season and was the only newcomer not to come from the AAC. The Cougars were a team that was always in the mix in the top 25 when they were not in the Big 12. BYU has clearly shown it can be a great team, but in the Big 12, they struggled.
When it came to the newcomers, BYU and UCF were the top two teams last season as the Cougars were able to collect five wins. Now with Oklahoma and Texas gone, the Big 12 is truly as open as it ever has been, but the Cougars need to step it up if they want to be able to start to make a name for themselves in a fairly new conference.
Baylor
Could Dave Aranda's seat get any hotter?
Dave Aranda has only had truly one good season in four years and that was back in 2021 when the Bears won the Big 12. Aranda has the talent and the true ability to be a great team in the Big 12, but Aranda has not been the guy to lead them to the mountaintop consistently.
If Aranda had yet another poor season by Baylor's standards, it is hard to believe that the Bears will keep him around for another season. His season is very hot and one would think it is on the mind how hot it is.
Colorado
Did the offensive line actually improve?
There has been so much talk around Colorado and how they will do in year two under Deion Sanders. Well, how will they do in year one back in the Big 12? There were so many problems with the Buffaloes last season, but the biggest one was clearly the offensive line.
Quarterback Sheduer Sanders was the most sacked quarterback in college football last season and their top running back Dyalnd Edwards, now with Kansas State, was the top rusher with just over 300 rushing yards. If the offensive line has improved, it could change so many things for Colorado, but if looks like how it did last season, Colorado could be in some serious trouble.
TCU
Who is the real TCU, 2022 or 2023?
TCU has had the tale of two teams in the last two seasons with a College Football Playoff appearance in 2022 and then not even becoming bowl-eligible in 2023. So which team is the real TCU?
The Horned Frogs have all the pieces and clearly have a great coach in Sonny Dykes, or is he great? Was 2022 just an outlier, or was 2023 the outlier? No one knows, so this season will be very telling for TCU and will be an opportunity for them to show the rest of the Big 12 who they really are.
Texas Tech
Will Tahj Brooks be enough?
Texas Tech can have a great offense, but they have a young offense with some stellar class of freshmen coming in. However, this offense clearly runs through Tahj Brooks but will be enough for the offense to be successful.
Tahj Brooks is a very talented running back, he a part of the Big 12 running backs that are clearly the best in college football, but an offense can be just one person. A team will always be able to find an answer to just one person at one point, and Texas Tech doesn't want it to be when it counts the most.
UCF
Will KJ Jefferson get UCF over the hump?
UCF lost a lot of close games last season because their defense could not protect leads and then when it mattered most, the offense couldn't score. John Rhys Plumlee was a great quarterback and did everything he could for the Knights, but he wasn't able to get the Knights over the hump.
With KJ Jefferson joining the program in the offseason, Gus Malzahn will get to do everything he wants in the offense with a big quarterback who can run the ball efficiently and has a huge arm. Jefferson just might be the missing piece to the UCF offense to get them over the hump and have a chance to compete for a Big 12 title, the first in UCF football history.
West Virginia
Can West Virginia make it past their first five Big 12 games?
West Virginia has a gauntlet of games to start out Big 12 play. Not only does West Virginia have to face Penn State and Pitt in their non-conference games, but then they have to host No. 22 Kansas, visit No. 17 Oklahoma State, host Iowa State, host No. 18 Kansas State, and then visit No. 21 Arizona.
The Mountaineers will face four ranked opponents in their first five Big 12 games. If they can walk away with three or four wins, that is huge, but if they walk away with five wins, they are the team to fear the most in the Big 12. However, it won't be easy, those will be big games to watch when it comes to the Big 12 standings.
Iowa State
Can the Cyclones live up to the hype?
Iowa State seems like a very complete team with returning nine starters on both the offense and the defense. They have a lot of talent, so it seems like on paper they should be a very good team this season.
The big question is if they can live up to the hype of the team. The Cyclones could easily win this conference, but they have to just get through a gauntlet of a season and find themselves in the Big 12 Championship fighting for a College Football Playoff spot.
Arizona
What will life be like post-Jedd Fisch?
Arizona lost head coach Jedd Fisch to Washington this offseason, which means that they also lost a lot of players to the transfer portal. The good news is that they kept quarterback Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan, who could be one of the best QB-WR duos in college football.
However, having a new head coach is always tough because a whole new system comes into play. How will the Wildcats react to having a new coach? Will they be able to have the same success they had under Fisch? Also, they are in a new conference, so that also adds another layer of difficulty.
Kansas
Can Kansas continue the success under Lance Leipold?
Lance Leipold must be some kind of miracle worker or sorcerer to how such a quick turnaround in Lawrence. Kansas used to be the laughingstock of Big 12 football, and now they are true contenders for the Big 12.
Leipold has had two solid seasons with the Jayhawks, but his team has struggled with injuries in the past two seasons. So if his team can stay healthy, they won't have an excuse if they don't play well, so can they continue the success? That is left to be seen this season.
Oklahoma State
Can the rest of the offense support Ollie Gordon?
Ollie Gordon was the biggest part of the Oklahoma State offense last season and there is no argument against that. The rest of the offense is going to have to step up if the Cowboys want to make it back to the Big 12 title game this season.
Opposing teams have had all offseason to figure out how to game plan against Ollie Gordon, so the rest of the offense will have to play well to offset that. Alan Bowman will have to play better from the quarterback position in order to aid the offense.
Kansas State
Will the offensive line actually come together to protect Avery Johnson?
Kansas State has one job this season other than winning the Big 12 title and making it to the College Football Playoff and that is protecting Avery Johnson. The offensive line will be completely new this season under Chris Klieman as the majority of the line graduated and even went to the NFL.
Klieman brought it two linemen from the transfer portal including Easton Kilty who is projected to start, but the stars on this line are Kilty, Hadley Panzer, and Sam Hecht. The offensive line will be crucial to Johnson's success as a quarterback because everyone knows he can run the ball, but give him time to throw the ball adn he can hurt you just as badly.
Utah
Can Cam Rising stay healthy in year seven?
Utah is projected to be the team to come out of the Big 12 this season, which means they may be the only Big 12 team in the College Football Playoff depending on how other Big 12 teams play. Cam Rising is making his return to college football for his seventh season coming off a season-ending injury in 2023.
Rising is clearly the focal point of this team and could be the reason Utah wins the Big 12 in the Utes' first season in the conference. However, he needs to stay healthy in order to do so. He will have to take care of himself if he wants to lead this team because if he goes down, so could Utah's chances at a conference title and a CFP appearance.