2022 Big 12 Predictions
Photo by Ben Queen of USA Today Sports
The 2022 season will be the last of the current Big 12 as we know it, with BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF joining next year.
It’s fitting that this one could potentially be the most wide open year yet.
1. Baylor Bears
Baylor went through the same thing a few years ago.
They were just horrendously bad in 2017, got it the right way around in 2018 and then were absolutely fantastic in 2019.
Then Matt Rhule left for the NFL and Baylor went back to awful with a 2-7 COVID shortened season.
But then last season, the second under new head coach Dave Aranda, they went 12-2 and won the Big 12.
The offense stays mostly the same, and while the defense has some changes with departures, that’s Aranda’s bread and butter.
They’ll be fine, and it is a wide open conference so it’s there for the taking.
2. Oklahoma Sooners
Ignore the doom and gloom from the Lincoln Riley departure.
Dillon Gabriel comes in at QB for new offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby who did a great job at Ole Miss, and new head coach Brent Venables can control a defense that, uh, let’s be nice and say “struggled” in past seasons.
It won’t be the easiest transition, but this is still Oklahoma football.
They’re going to be fine.
3. Oklahoma State Cowboys
Oklahoma State is the preseason favorite among many college football fans, and it’s not hard to see why.
This may be Mike Gundy’s most talented team in a decade, but I’ve seen Oklahoma State in big moments with high expectations in the past (i.e. last year when they were one foot away from playoff conversation).
It typically doesn’t go too well, which is why they’re my prediction to underperform.
3rd won’t be good enough this time around.
4. Texas Longhorns
Ok, hear me out.
This isn’t exactly expecting them to be amazing even if it may be a bit too high but, seriously, hear me out.
5 star QB Quinn Ewers arrives this year for Texas. He’s going to have a fantastic season to get Texas back into a winning record and show the progress Steve Sarkisian is making at Texas. Everything will be going the right direction.
And then boom. 5 star QB Arch Manning comes to campus.
Suddenly there’s a very noisy quarterback controversy at Texas which eventually derails the program back to the mediocrity we’ve come to expect the past few years.
It might as well be scripture.
5. West Virginia Mountaineers
In Big 10 and SEC football, having a dominant offensive line is a necessity.
In the Big 12, it’s a luxury. West Virginia has that luxury.
This Mountaineers team can push some teams around up front, which helps a team with a new QB and a new offensive coordinator.
But wait, Kansas State has those things too. And they beat WVU last year.
6. Kansas State Wildcats
Yes, they do. And they did.
But both schools bring in new quarterbacks this season.
WVU brings in talented, if not often injured, Georgia transfer JT Daniels.
Kansas State brings in talented, if not often underperforming, Nebraska transfer Adrian Martinez.
As mentioned, both are talented.
But I have more faith in JT Daniels being better overall than Adrian Martinez.
7. Texas Tech Red Raiders
Texas Tech’s new head coach Joey McGuire brings Baylor’s defensive mindset in with Zach Kittley’s Western Kentucky offensive playbook that saw Bailey Zappe break the FBS record for passing touchdowns in a season.
This pairing should work, even if it doesn’t year one.
But this is absolutely the school to watch now, and in the future for the Big 12. They’re going to be fun.
8. Iowa State Cyclones
The past few seasons have been fantastic for Iowa State and Matt Campbell deserves more credit than he truly gets as a head coach.
But a lot of that generations players are now gone, and Iowa State isn’t Alabama or Ohio State where they can make up a talent loss like that overnight.
This will be a down year for Iowa State.
That’s ok. They’ll be back.
9. TCU Horned Frogs
New head coach Sonny Dykes inherits a team with a great offense but an atrocious defense.
Sonny Dykes is an offensive coach.
They’ll score. But they are going to get scored on.
10. Kansas Jayhawks
I actually really like what Lance Leipold is doing at Kansas, but I need to see more before I can pick them to get out of the basement in the Big 12.
Big 12 Championship Predictions
Once again, despite no divisions and everyone playing each other, there is a conference championship game.
This will pit Baylor up against Oklahoma, and if you think I am picking against the Oklahoma Sooners in Dallas…
You’re right.
Baylor wins the Big 12
Tomorrow, we discuss Conference USA who has had an eventful offseason to say the least…
