Welcome to Tuesday Takes, where I give you four takes from the Big 12. It was a jam-packed week full of exciting news, but there were several things that caught my attention over the last few days.
The Portal is About to Open
While the transfer portal is filling up with players, the floodgates will officially open later this week. There are already thousands, and I mean thousands, of players in the portal as you are reading this, but nobody has a home right now. But that will change starting this week because you will see players already announcing they will head out starting next Friday.
Of course, everyone is going to focus on the quarterbacks, and for the Big 12, there will be quite a few new faces coming in with players like Josh Hoover, Brendan Sorsby, Rocco Becht, and Sam Leavitt leaving. Keep in mind that the transfer portal works both ways, which means when a player leaves, someone is coming to fill that void.
The Big 12 is Undefeated
As of now, the conference we love is 2-0 and is only one of two conferences that are still undefeated during the bowl season. This past Saturday, BYU made a big fourth-quarter comeback against Georgia Tech to win the Pop-Tarts Bowl, while Houston made a comeback of their own against LSU in the Texas Bowl. There are still plenty of games left as the Big 12 has a big week coming up, starting with the Alamo Bowl on Tuesday night, where TCU will face USC. Then on Wednesday, the conference will have Arizona State and Utah playing before Cincinnati wraps up bowl season on Friday against Navy in the Liberty Bowl. If you are a fan of bowl games, then this week is your week.
Michigan Made the Right Call
Over the last week or so, I have been talking a lot about Kyle Whittingham and Michigan. Well, I can finally put that to rest because it finally happened. Late last week, Michigan announced that it is hiring Whittingham to be the next head coach in Ann Arbor. I know it’s not the sexy hire that those crazy Michigan fans want, but Kyle Whittingham is the guy that they need. After the Sherrone Moore situation, that program needs someone to right the ship, and there was no coach out there better to do that than Whittingham, and good for Michigan for making the right call.
Texas Tech Must Carry the Big 12
It’s probably unfair to say, but with the Red Raiders being the only Big 12 team in the playoff, the weight of the conference rests on their shoulders. For years, there have been nothing but bad narratives about the conference, and after that TCU national championship game, it has given the Big 12 a negative reputation in big games. But this Tech team is built differently than Arizona State was last year or that TCU team from a few years back. They have the talent on both sides of the ball to compete with anybody in the country, and they will get their chance to show the world how good they are on New Year’s Day against Oregon. Texas Tech needs a big win, and so does the Big 12 on Thursday.
