It boasts maybe the two best running backs in the country. It has the most proven quarterbacks outside of the SEC. Its September slate is magnificent. Its conference race could feature as many as eight contenders, maybe 10.
The Big 12 probably won't have a national title contender in 2024, or in most coming seasons. It just lost its two biggest brands -- and, by nature, most likely annual contenders -- to the SEC. In, perhaps, the most compelling conference in the sport, its champion will be battle-tested, confident and capable of making some playoff noise. It will almost certainly be the most entertaining. Conference realignment has been a destructive force for this sport in countless ways, but it did gift us with a magnificently messy Big 12. Let's count our blessings. And let's preview the Big 12!
Every week through the summer, Bill Connelly will preview another FBS conference exclusively for ESPN+, ultimately including all 134 FBS teams. The previews will include 2023 breakdowns, 2024 previews and team-by-team capsules. Here are the MAC, Conference USA, AAC, MWC, Sun Belt, independents and ACC previews.
Jump to a section:
2024 projections | Best games
Title contenders | Who's close?
Hoping for 6-6
2023 recap
The actual Big 12 championship race was delightful enough. Texas lost to Oklahoma but won three other one-score games to finish ahead of the pack at 8-1, Oklahoma State took down Oklahoma in the last Bedlam for the foreseeable future and won three other one-score games to finish 7-2 with the Sooners, while three other teams lingered just one game behind.
Replace Texas and OU with Arizona and Utah, however, and you might have had an even wilder race. (And probably a more competitive Big 12 championship game.) That's what awaits us this time around.