College Football

Six pressing questions facing the Big 12 ahead of media days

Published Jul. 5, 2023 7:33 p.m. ET

While college football fans across the nation will have to wait 52 more days until Week 0 of the 2023 season officially kicks off, there are plenty of juicy storylines on the horizon as media days are quickly approaching.

In fact, Big 12 Media Days are just around the corner, set to take place July 12-13 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

With BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston set to join the Big 12 this upcoming season, and Texas and Oklahoma entering their final year in the conference before heading off to the SEC, it should be an action-packed two-day event, filled with plenty of intrigue and excitement.

FOX Sports college football analyst RJ Young took a look at six pressing questions facing the conference in a recent episode of his podcast, "The Number One College Football Show with RJ Young."

Here’s a look at his questions and why he’s interested in finding out the answers.

Big 12's biggest questions in 2023

FOX Sports' RJ Young explores the pressing questions ahead of Big 12 Media Days.

1. Who brings a quarterback?

The Big 12 recently announced player participants for media days, as a total of nine quarterbacks are expected to headline the event. Three of those QBs will come from new Big 12 programs, but UCF’s John Rhys Plumlee is the only returning starter of the group as both Emory Jones (Cincinnati) and Kedon Slovis (BYU) are new to their respective schools.

Young: "I always thought that the programs across all of our 131 FBS teams that bring a QB to media days feel real good about their chances going into the season because: A. You know who the guy is. B. We know who the guy is and C. You want that guy to get some shine.

"If Dillon Gabriel and Quinn Ewers are two of your top quarterbacks, and you look around the country, it’s not necessarily indicative of the top 10 quarterbacks in the sport last year."

2. Do the coaches believe the Big 12 is thick from top to bottom?

While TCU enjoyed a Cinderella season in 2022, finishing the year with a 13-2 record and earning a spot in the College Football Playoff, there was a logjam in the middle of the Big 12, with more than half of the conference finishing the year with six, seven or eight wins. That includes the Texas Longhorns, who return an abundance of talent on both sides of the ball and will likely be a top-15 team in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll.

Young: "I think that anybody in the Big 12 can win the Big 12 Championship. That includes West Virginia, who might be the worst team in the Big 12 this year, but they’re not terrible. Kansas returns Jalon Daniels … they’ll be good.

"I’m looking at other programs like Oklahoma, who had its first losing season of the 21st century last year and went into the transfer portal to correct such a thing, and Kansas State, who came out of nowhere to win the Big 12 Championship against a team that ended up playing in the national championship in TCU."

3. Do BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston feel like they can walk in, beat Texas and Oklahoma, and win the league?

All four Big 12 newcomers recorded eight or more wins last season. Meanwhile, Texas finished 8-5 in 2022, while Oklahoma went 6-7 in Brent Venables' first season at the helm. Both the travel and the style of play will be adjustments for the newcomers, but all four programs have the talent and coaching needed to compete in the Big 12.

Young: "I’m going to be very curious if BYU – finally playing a real Power 5 schedule – can hold up because Provo is not close to Orlando. For that matter, Orlando is not close to Provo. Houston has been a good football program with Dana Holgorsen, Central Florida has demonstrated it is a good football program through Gus Malzahn, Josh Heupel and even Scott Frost, and Cincinnati played in the CFP two years ago.

"These are good football programs who are probably going to show up and think, ‘Well, if TCU can play in the CFP in this conference, why can’t we?' And they would be right to think so because Texas Christian was one of these programs a few years ago."

4. What’s the mood when we talk about Oklahoma and Texas one last time?

The Big 12’s most prominent programs sent shockwaves throughout the college football universe in July 2021 when they accepted invitations to join the SEC. The plan was they would leave the Big 12 and join the SEC ahead of the 2025 campaign, but both schools reached an early exit agreement with the Big 12 to join the SEC following the 2023-24 season.

Young: "It’s gonna be 100 degrees in Dallas, Texas in July, but it’s gonna be chilly when we talk about Oklahoma and Texas.

"Last year, Mike Gundy sat at [Media Days] and questioned, why are we even letting them talk? Why are they here? That’s peak Mike Gundy. He’s probably the only coach in the Big 12 that would do such a thing, but I think that was also the feeling.

"I think nothing would please Oklahoma fans or Texas fans more than being able to run the table, win the Big 12 title and then play in the College Football Playoff on their way out. They also need the lift going into a conference that’s better. Frankly … it’s just better."

5. Were coaches and players surprised that TCU made the College Football Playoff?

TCU put together a memorable 2022 campaign, which concluded with a trip to the CFP Championship Game. But coming off a 5-7 campaign and with a new head coach at the helm, the Horned Frogs were not expected to compete for a Big 12 title, much less make it to the College Football Playoff.

Young: "I’m actually really curious about that because ordinarily, Oklahoma in that spot … sure, we give them the benefit of the doubt. So, for TCU to lose that game to Kansas State but still earn selection to the College Football Playoff … I found really interesting. Do you feel that’s an indication that the CFP selection committee really respects the Big 12 or do you think that’s an indication that they just respect the story that was Texas Christian?

"There was nothing about Texas Christian that said ‘dominant.' They won a bunch of football games, but they also needed to come back in a bunch of football games. Nobody expected them to put up the fight they did against Michigan, let alone win, 51-45. And then they came back to earth against a juggernaut in Georgia."

6. Which program will assume control of the league?

Five Big 12 teams appear in FOX Sports’ post-spring football top 25 rankings, but not a single one ranks in the top 12 in the country. Kansas State is the highest-ranked program on the list, coming in at No. 13, followed closely by No. 16 Texas and No. 18 TCU. Oklahoma (24) and Kansas (25) round out the Big 12 programs ranked in FOX Sports' preseason top 25.

Young: "Texas Christian projects as the one to assume control of the league, but I can’t call it. You go 5-7 in 2021, and then you play in the national championship game, it’s all out the window.

"If it ain’t Texas Christian, it could be Iowa State, it could be Baylor, it could be Texas Tech, it could be Oklahoma State. Kansas is gonna be good, and Kansas State is gonna be Kansas State. You could see anybody take control of this conference, and that’s before I get to the newbies.

"Houston is gonna be able to recruit, Central Florida has demonstrated it's going to be there, BYU has demonstrated they’re good, Cincinnati has demonstrated they’re good. It’s gonna be fun. I don’t know that we're gonna see who’s assuming control of this conference for 5–7 years, and even then, we could have seven different conference champions because that’s how thick they are, even with Oklahoma and Texas leaving the conference."