Big 12 Media Days: College Football Is In the Air (Part 2)
Saturday, Jul 13, 2024
LAS VEGAS -- Had the pleasure of being credentialed for all of the events taking place in Las Vegas the next two weeks, including a couple of days inside Allegiant Stadium for the Big 12 Media Days, along with watching USA Basketball a couple of times, and a bit of time at the NBA Summer League.Have some thoughts with this now 16-team league and where it's headed with the inclusion of four Pac-12 castoffs, that being Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State.The Utes might be the favorites to get things done, but don't be surprised to see Oklahoma State play the spoiler role for everyone, and Kansas State to make some noise.Stacked as it may seem, I don't know if this league is as good as commissioner Brett Yormack made it out to be on Day 1 of the Media Days.He placed the league in the Top 3 of all conferences, and I suppose it's hard to argue when you have 16 teams in your league, but I don't know how much better it is than the ACC.One thing is for sure as we reach the middle of July, I can smell College Football and couldn't be any more pleased with its arrival!Part 2 of my capsule look at the 16 teams in the Big 12 starts today, with last year's straight-up, against the spread and over/under numbers in alphabetical order):ARIZONA (10-3 SU, 11-2 ATS, 8-5 Under) - The Wildcats did an amazing job in winning 10 games, and appeared to be a program back on track. Unfortunately, as Arizona bolted for the Big 12, coach Jedd Fisch bolted for Washington and the Big 10. Back for the 'Cats are offensive playmakers quarterback Noah Fifita and wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who combined for 1,402 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. This dynamic air attack could thrive under first-year coach Brent Brennan, considering what he was able to accomplish at San Jose State."I think that's the unknown part for us joining the Big 12, is the new venues that we haven't played in yet, that our players haven't felt the crowd at some of these places or what that feels like on game day, because I think having a great home crowd kind of can impact the team," Brennan said. "I'm also excited for all these teams to come to Arizona Stadium and feel the ZonaZoo and feel our crowd and our fans and the city of Tucson and how they rally for the U of A."BAYLOR (3-9 SU, 3-8-1 ATS, 6-6 O/U) - The Bears were sitting on top of the Big 12 just two years ago, having won the conference and the Sugar Bowl en route to finishing No. 5 in the Associated Poll. Since then, life's been tough. Baylor has turned in a 9-16 mark the past two seasons, including last year's disappointing 3-9 finish. The Bears are also a less-than-impressive 6-12 against Big 12 teams the past two seasons. Needless to say, coach Dave Aranda opens the season on the hot seat. Having roughly 20 starters back will help get him started."I've seen the media poll and kind of where we are predicted to finish (12th), and so I'm excited to prove that wrong," Baylor coach Dave Aranda said. "I think in the past, past couple years, we've done that pretty successfully, both ways. So excited to get to work and to prove that we're a better team than what we are perceived as."BYU (5-7 SU and ATS, 7-5 Over) - The Cougars made their Big 12 debut last season, and had some highlight moments during Big 12 play. Nonetheless, it wasn't up to BYU standards, and with the conference up to 16 teams, and a wealth of offensive weapons across the league, the pressure is on defensive coordinator Jay Hill to strengthen a defense. The Cougars should get an offensive boost from transfer quarterback Gerry Bohanon."We've been through quarterback battles before and competition, that's at every position," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said, confirming Bohanon and Jake Retzlaff will compete. "We knew that we needed to get better at a lot of different positions, and we needed to play the best. I can't tell you that there's a deadline other than when we know, we will know. And when the player takes it - and we have a good amount of players that can play. We have four quarterbacks that have played college football. You mentioned Gerry Bohanon and Jake Retzlaff. There's also Treyson Bourguet and McCae Hillstead. They're on our team. All four of them had played college football and started games. That gives me a lot of confidence, knowing that a lot of things can happen in college football."COLORADO (4-8 SU, 7-4-1 ATS, 6-6 O/U) - There may not be another coach in a bigger spotlight this season than Deion Sanders. Be it off-field issues or on-field pressure, Coach Prime is set for a polarizing season in his second year leading the Buffs. The big question has to be with his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who was sacked an NCAA-worst 56 times last season and in many eyes didn't necessarily live up to expectations. Transfers inward on the offensive line will help. But will the distractions surrounding the boisterous coach take away from the program?"I don't talk about culture that much so that wasn't me," Sanders said. "But I do talk about the consistency thereof of the goal and being consistent in whatever you do. So if you have a team that's got to be a little more physically tough, you've got to develop that. If you've got to be mentally tough, strategically satisfying, from the coaching staff's point of view, you've got to understand that. But culture, everybody's on this word, this word, and I don't understand this word one bit, and somebody gotta help me understand what that word, 'culture,' means. An environment, understanding of winning, you want that. I feel like I'm a winner. I know I'm a winner."HOUSTON (4-8 SU, 5-6-1 ATS, 5-7 Under) - A coaching change has taken place, with Willie Fritz taking over for Dana Holgorsen, hoping to fix the four-win Cougars and breathe life into the offense. Good news for Fritz is he retains quarterback Donovan Smith, who threw for 2,801 yards and 22 touchdowns last season. Smith's problem is turning the ball over, so if he plans on using his legs and being a dual-threat quarterback, he'll need to protect the ball."We've got a good stable of (running) backs," Fritz said. "I'm very impressed with those guys this spring. One of the things that we're going to do is play a lot of guys the first few weeks, kind of figure out the rotation ... which guys should be playing 50, 60 snaps, which guys should be playing 10, 20. And that'll be decided after a couple weeks because I haven't done a lot of live-action with these guys."KANSAS (9-4 SU, 8-5 ATS, 7-5-1 Over) - Easy to say this team has been rejuvenated under coach Lance Leipold, having won nine games a year ago behind an electric offense. And back from last year's dynamic unit is quarterback Jalon Daniels, who missed a lot of last season, but still turned in 2,439 all-purpose yards and 25 total touchdowns. The Jayhawks could be dangerous if they start on the right foot."He continues to learn as a quarterback," Leipold said of Daniels. "I think it's well documented when he's on the field we're a lot better football team. We can be pretty explosive. And he's the leader there. I feel very good about our quarterback room as a whole. ... I'm excited to see what Jalon will do this season for us. He's doing everything that doctors, trainers, strength coaches are having him do, and I can't wait to get to August."UCF (6-7 SU, 5-7-1 ATS, 7-6 Under) - The powerful Knights impressed me in their debut season as a Big 12 member, despite an overall mark of 6-7. UCF still closed the campaign with a stellar 3-1 mark over the final month. In an always physical conference, I expect to see the Knights' ground-and-pound game led by running back RJ Harvey thrive. Harvey tallied 1,416 yards on the ground, and will be joined by dual-threat quarterback KJ Jefferson who transferred in from Arkansas. Jefferson had 2,107 yards and 19 touchdowns last year in the SEC."He definitely fits what we like to do," UCF coach Gus Malzahn said. "He's a dual-threat guy. He throws a great deep ball. You're talking about one of the more experienced quarterbacks in all of college football. Two years previous to last year, he was one of the better players, offensive players in the SEC. Last year they changed offenses, they lost some playmakers around him and all that."WEST VIRGINIA (9-4 SU, 8-5 ATS, 8-5 Over) - Amazing what a hot seat will do for a coach. I wasn't sure Mountaineers coach Neal Brown was making out of the season last year, but he proved the Big 12 media wrong, as they had West Virginia ranked last in the preseason poll, but the Mountaineers won nine games. Now they bring back skill-position players quarterback Garrett Greene and running backs CJ Donaldson and Jaheim White on offense, while their defense has been upgraded with a solid transfer-in grab."The identity piece for us is something that we really spent a lot of time on really over the last 19 months of who we need to be to be successful in West Virginia," Brown said. "Feel like we found that. And our team has bought into it. And more importantly, the leadership of our team is we're going to be a tough unit that is really disciplined. They play smart football, and we do those things with an underdog mentality with a chip on our shoulder."
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