Where every Big 12 football team ranks in returning production

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The Colorado Buffaloes enter the 2026 season with plenty of new faces when it comes to both the roster and the coaching staff.

The program was its typical busy self in the transfer portal after a very disappointing 3-9 season, the worst year under Deion Sanders. Many other teams, especially in the Big 12 Conference, are going full-bore into the transfer portal to rebuild their rosters. This change in roster building has changed Bill Connelly’s annual returning production rankings, which saw their lowest averages since 2021. Teams are now bringing back only about 54% of their production from the previous season. As a whole, the Big 12 is third among the 10 FBS conferences, averaging 56.7% per team.

Here’s a look at all 16 Big 12 teams and where their returning production ranks heading into the 2026 season:

  1. Texas Tech Red Raiders: 65% returning production (No. 12 nationally, No. 20 offense, No. 17 defense)
  2. Houston Cougars: 65% (No. 17, No. 7, No. 44)
  3. BYU Cougars: 64% (No. 18, No. 50, No. 6)
  4. UCF Knights: 61% (No. 29, No. 41, No. 37)
  5. Arizona Wildcats: 60% (No. 32, No. 24, No. 58)
  6. Kansas State Wildcats: 58% (No. 38, No. 25, No. 73)
  7. Kansas Jayhawks: 58% (No. 39, No. 79, No. 10)
  8. Oklahoma State Cowboys: 58% (No. 42, No. 35, No. 65)
  9. Cincinnati Bearcats: 57% (No. 50, No. 57, No. 50)
  10. Utah Utes: 55% (No. 54, No. 64, No. 53)
  11. Colorado Buffaloes: 55% (No. 55, No. 60, No. 66)
  12. Baylor Bears: 53% (No. 61, No. 102, No. 22)
  13. West Virginia Mountaineers: 52% (No. 66, No. 55, No. 86)
  14. TCU Horned Frogs: 51% (No. 69, No. 100, No. 42)
  15. Arizona State Sun Devils: 51% (No. 70, No. 70, No. 79)
  16. Iowa State Cyclones: 45% (No. 102, No. 104, No. 85)

Texas Tech, BYU, and Houston seemed primed to improve in 2026, returning greater than 64% of their production. BYU is especially noteworthy, considering they were one of the first teams out of the College Football Playoff last year and return both the starting quarterback and running back. The usually wide-open Big 12 looks to be some of the same, with several programs having a chance to make the CFP.

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This article originally appeared on Buffaloes Wire: Big 12 football returning production rankings for 2026

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