The Ultimate Big 12 Preseason Poll

There are too many teams in this dang conference. Let's rank them.

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark announced the other day that the conference would be doing away with its annual preseason poll for football starting this season. Here’s his explanation for the change:

“I think there’s no value. And I also feel that with the transfer portal and with roster management . . . as you build that roster, no one knows what they really have. They know what they have on paper, but it hasn’t played out.”

He also mentioned that he believed the perception that the poll provided hurt some members of the conference as the season played out.

“I think [the poll] disadvantaged Arizona State last year,” he said. “They were picked 16th. And I think that hurt them.”

While that may be all well and good for Yormark, that doesn’t apply to yours truly. Sure, perception might be reality for some viewers of college football, but for me? Nah. I’ve got all my blind spots covered (allegedly).

With the conference realignment that’s occurred over the past several years, the Big 12 now features a whopping 16 schools in football. It’s still weird, and it’ll always be weird. For the most part, though, pretty much every conference in collegiate athletics is unrecognizable from what it was just five years ago, so this is not a Big 12-exclusive problem.

Conference size aside, the Big 12 is poised to once again be one of, if not the most, competitive conferences in the country. Don’t get it twisted—most competitive does not mean best. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that out of the Power 4 conferences (SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big 12), the Big 12 probably ranks last. That might matter to some, but to this Big 12 homer, I couldn’t care less. The conference is a blast to watch, and the entertainment value that this group of schools brings overcomes any sort of pride that might come alongside multiple College Football Playoff berths.

As with all my rankings and polls, the most important data point is vibes. Recruiting rankings and returning production are great, yes, but can a school provide the feelings necessary to capture America’s hearts? If not, then I’m sorry.

I jest only slightly. The Big 12 has so much parity that correctly predicting who will come out on top in the end is a crapshoot anyway. Just look at last season with Arizona State. The Sun Devils were picked to finish last but ended up winning the whole thing and came inches away from beating Texas in the College Football Playoff. Who knows what’s going to happen when the teams actually hit the gridiron?

I think that’s a good note to start all of this with. Most of this is just me throwing my hands up and hoping that things play out the way I predict them to. Because, in the end, the Big 12 is the definition of chaos.

If you’d like to hear more surrounding my preseason rankings for the Big 12, listen (and download) to the latest episode of Bleav in TCU.

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16. Arizona

Brent Brennan’s inaugural season in Tucson was a disappointment. After the program appeared to be heading in a great direction following 2023’s 10-3 campaign that featured an Alamo Bowl victory over Oklahoma, the Wildcats took a major step back that I believe will continue into 2025.

New offensive coordinator Seth Doege might shake things up a little bit, but the talent deficiency on the roster will just be too much for Arizona to handle in what’s poised to be a competitive Big 12.

Vibes Rating: 2/10