Another season of college football has come and gone, and what an unforgettable year it was. Sure, we still have some bowl games to get through, but the season is over for some teams in the league and the 2024 schedule has officially run its course.
Before you know it, July will come back around, and we will all be picking our Preseason Big 12 teams for 2025.
However, before we get into the offseason, I wanted to look back at some of my picks from this past summer and see how they played out.
Let’s take a look back at my 2024 Big 12 Preseason Poll, just for a reminder.
Where I Was Right
Iowa State (10-3, 7-2)
While I picked the Cyclones to finish fifth back in July, I made one bold prediction right before the season started: Iowa State would win ten games for the first time in school history. As you can see, I wasn’t right about much, but I did call this one.
Texas Tech (8-4, 6-3)
Two spots off isn’t too bad, especially considering how crazy this season was. I had some serious questions about the Red Raiders, but at one point, I thought they could end up with nine wins. Well, it turns out they finished with eight and did better than I expected.
West Virginia (6-6, 5-4)
I will gladly take one spot off about a team, and I will count that as a win for me. Due to the tough schedule, I thought the Mountaineers would struggle a bit, and it turns out that they did. Now, Neal Brown is out, and Rich Rodriguez is back in, so I guess it worked out in the end.
Cincinnati (5-7, 3-6)
I am not sure what it is about Cincinnati, but I was never a believer in this football team, and at one point, I thought they proved me wrong after a 5-2 start. But it turned out that I was right after they finished the year on a five-game losing streak.
Where I Was Wrong
Arizona State (11-2, 7-2)
The Sun Devils were picked to finish dead last in the Big 12 preseason poll and ended up winning the conference title. I am not sure if that has ever happened before, but it has now. While I didn’t pick Arizona State to finish last, I didn’t exactly expect them to do much this season, and they proved everyone wrong.
BYU (10-2, 7-2)
Much like Arizona State, I wasn’t expecting much from this BYU team. In fact, I picked them to finish lower than most and I thought Kalani Sitake would possibly lose his job. Instead, they went out and won ten games and made me look like a complete fool.
Colorado (9-3, 7-2)
There weren’t many believers in Colorado in year one of the Big 12 under Deion Sanders, but I must give credit to him and his staff. This team got better and better as the year went on, and it turned out that they had the two best players in the conference: Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders.
Baylor (8-4, 6-3)
Ok, Baylor fans, give me your best shot. I gave this team no chance at all this season and predicted that Dave Aranda would be fired by the time November came around. Instead, he went out and won eight games, including six in a row to end the year. They were arguably the hottest team in the conference in the final month.
TCU (8-4, 6-3)
I wasn’t too far off with putting TCU at ten, especially earlier in the season when they were struggling. But the Horned Frogs ended the year strongly with eight wins. This was a big bounce-back season for Sonny Dykes.
Kansas State (8-4, 5-4)
I had high expectations for this football team, and they completely collapsed down the stretch. Avery Johnson was supposed to be the savior, but it turned out he had to go through some growing pains first. Still, I thought too highly of this team. Maybe I am just a year early, though.
Kansas (5-7, 4-5)
Much like their in-state rival, I thought this team could accomplish great things, but instead, they aren’t even going bowling. At one point, they were playing great football, but it was two months too late after their horrific start.
Houston (4-8, 3-6)
I must give credit to Willie Fritz here. He was put in an impossible situation in Houston, and I gave them no chance to do anything. I had them winning just one conference game, and he went out and won three and could have won a few more with the way his team played. Give him a few years, and Houston will be the team in the league that nobody wants to play.
Utah (5-7, 2-7)
I was among the many people who had Utah winning the Big 12 this year. And, like many people, I got burned. The Utes once again had some bad injury luck at quarterback when Cam Rising went down, and when that happened, this offense went down in flames, much like the season did.
Arizona (4-8, 2-7)
Before I admit to being wrong, I do want to say that I changed up my pick in August and said that Arizona would be the most overrated team in the Big 12. But I didn’t think they would be as bad as they were. Outside of Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan, this team had nothing.
UCF (4-8, 2-7)
Some people thought that KJ Jefferson would be the guy who helped UCF compete for a Big 12 title. Well, that didn’t happen because it turned out that the Knights would go through a quarterback carousel throughout the year. Also, I didn’t see Gus Malzahn leaving either.
Oklahoma State (3-9, 0-9)
Forget about being the biggest disappointment in the Big 12; Oklahoma State was the biggest disappointment in all of college football. Just like Utah, I had this team playing in Jerry World for a Big 12 title, and instead, they couldn’t even win a single conference game.
