With kickoff coming up this weekend in Week 0, it means that college football is officially back. For fans like me, it gives me just a few more days to look over preseason lists and predictions from across the country.
Earlier this week, The Athletic’s Chris Vannini released his entire FBS preseason rankings, which include all 138 teams. But of course, we are here to focus on the Big 12, and let’s take a look and see where the 16 teams land on his list.
Big 12 Team FBS Rankings from The Athletic
#9 Texas Tech
#11 BYU
#19 Houston
#22 Oklahoma State
#26 Utah
#27 TCU
#28 Arizona
#45 Arizona State
#46 Kansas State
#55 Baylor
#63 West Virginia
#69 UCF
#70 Cincinnati
#74 Kansas
#77 Colorado
#98 Iowa State
The first thing that stands out to me at the top is that seven teams are inside the top 30. I am not a math wizard by any means, but that’s nearly half the league that made the cut. Also, compared to the ACC, which only had three teams inside the top 30, that’s more than double for the Big 12. I do find it interesting that Oklahoma State made the top 25, but they seem to be a trendy pick due to what Eric Morris has brought in from North Texas.
Looking at the middle tier are Arizona State, Kansas State, and Baylor. I am higher on Kansas State than Chris here, but the one school that sticks out like a sore thumb is Baylor at 55. That projection must bank on the DJ Lagway experiment working out in Waco because if it doesn’t, the Bears would be much lower on the list.
Next up is West Virginia, UCF, Cincinnati, Kansas, and Colorado, all within the 63 to 77 range. Out of that group, Cincinnati is a bit high for my liking. In fact, I think the Bearcats may end up worse than Iowa State, but I wouldn’t rank them higher than both Kansas and Colorado.
Finally, Iowa State. We all know that Jimmy Rogers has a tough job ahead of him after the massive roster turnover from Matt Campbell leaving. Is Iowa State the worst team in the Big 12 talent-wise? Maybe, but I am not sure if I would put them 20-plus slots lower than the second-worst Big 12 team.
