Big 12 football media days is just a few weeks away. Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas will host Big 12 media days on July 9 and 10. The conference said goodbye to Texas and Oklahoma and welcomed Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and Arizona State to the fold.
Last season, BYU’s first in the conference, the Cougars went 5-7 overall and 2-7 in conference play. BYU went 0-for-5 in road conference games. All this while starting 5-1, ultimately leading to an extremely disappointing finish.
Now, they look to improve off of last year’s poor finish. Where do they stack up against the rest of the Big 12?
ESPN’s FPI (Football Power Index) certainly does not believe in the 2024 BYU Cougars. They rank Kalani Sitake’s squad 15th, next to last.
Athlon Sports is only slightly more kind to the Cougars, slating them 14th.
Frankly, BYU really has not given any reason to the national, or even conference audience, to suggest they will be vastly improved. It’s up to the coaching staff and players to build off of last year’s experience and make sure it isn’t repeated, or worse.
It appears that a bowl appearance by BYU in 2024 would be a surprise to “experts.” And that they are likely headed for another losing season in the 4-8 or 5-7 range. The conference might have lost their two top dogs, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t a deep, competitive conference.
Utah looks to make a statement in their first year in the Big 12. They had something of a down year in 2023, going 8-5 amid an outbreak of injuries at key spots. Cam Rising returns to try and get the Utes back to where they were in 2021 and 2022, when they won back-to-back PAC-12 titles.
Oklahoma State isn’t going anywhere after making the Big 12 Championship Game last season. Head coach Mike Gundy rarely has the Cowboys going through a down season. They will be right back in the thick of things.
Kansas State finished last season 9-4 and 18th in the final AP poll.
Arizona had one of its best seasons in decades, going 10-3 and finishing 11th in the AP poll following a big win over Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl.
Don’t forget about Kansas, who continued their rise from their years-long struggles to a competitive 9-4 record, finishing 23rd in the polls.
By the way, BYU has all five of these teams mentioned on their schedule this coming fall (teams will miss five teams from the conference on their schedule).
West Virginia was picked dead last in the preseason polls last season, only to end with nine wins last year. They return most of their top playmakers.
Iowa State has one of the best defenses in the conference and won six conference games last year, including wins against Oklahoma State and Kansas State.
Texas Tech, TCU and UCF also make for a strong middle of the conference.
So where does this put BYU? Are they better than all of Baylor, Arizona State, Cincinnati, Colorado, and Houston? Most of the national polls disagree.
Baylor and BYU followed similar paths last season. They showed early season promise, but ended the season on five game losing streaks.
Baylor welcomes a new offensive attack with Toledo transfer Dequan Finn at QB.
Cincinnati and Houston both had rough transition periods in 2023 to Power 5 life. The Bearcats went 3-9 with one conference win.
It’s safe to assume BYU will be better than those teams, at least to start the year.
Arizona State really struggled in their final year in the PAC-12, going 3-9. They opened up the season with a win over an FCS team and then six straight losses.
Colorado started out the 2023 season with as much hype as any program in college football, with Deion Sanders and his legion of transfers arriving in Boulder. After a hot start, they face-planted down the stretch to a 4-8 record. They likely will improve in year two of Prime in Boulder.
It appears as if BYU could be in a battle with Baylor and Colorado for that next spot ahead of Cincinnati, Houston, and Arizona State. Given that BYU finished with a better record than both Baylor and Colorado last season, plus they have won the most recent matchup with Baylor in 2022, let’s give BYU the edge over the Bears and Buffs.
That puts BYU 12th once again, except in a 16-team conference this time.
Surely, BYU can be better than that if Jake Retzlaff takes another step in his development, or Gerry Bohanon recaptures his magic he had at Baylor. Plus, the offensive line needs to gel much better and the defense needs to improve in Jay Hill’s second year. But for now, BYU has not proven they are better than that, at least on paper.