Big 12 football post-spring 2026 power rankings

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Parity has defined the Big 12 for years, but the 2026 offseason handed the conference something it rarely gets: a genuine soap opera at the top. Quarterback controversies, coaching overhauls, and roster resets have reshuffled the deck from Lubbock to Morgantown, leaving the league’s hierarchy more unsettled than it appeared after the Big 12 Championship Game in December.

New head coaches are attempting to build identities from scratch. Established programs are navigating significant roster turnover. And the Brendan Sorsby situation alone generated more offseason headlines than most conferences produce in a full season. Here is how all 16 teams stack up after spring practice.

MORE: This SEC powerhouse landed five players in The Athletic’s top 25 transfer portal rankings

16. Iowa State Cyclones

After former head coach Matt Campbell departed for Penn State, he took most of the roster with him. First-year head coach Jimmy Rogers inherited a program stripped nearly clean, with Iowa State returning zero starters from 2025. 

Transfer quarterback Jaylen Raynor, a three-year starter at Arkansas State, is the one steadying presence. A bowl bid is the realistic floor. Whether Rogers can get there with an almost entirely new roster is the defining question of his debut season.

15. Colorado Buffaloes

A 3-9 record in 2025 was the worst of head coach Deion Sanders’ tenure, and the pressure heading into Year 4 is real. Redshirt freshman quarterback Julian Lewis is outperforming Utah transfer Isaac Wilson this spring to take hold of the starting job. 

New offensive coordinator Brennan Marion’s Go-Go offense showed early promise. The trenches remain a concern, but the skill position talent gives Boulder reason for cautious optimism.

14. West Virginia Mountaineers

Year 1 of head coach Rich Rodriguez’s second stint produced a 4-8 record, and the pressure for Year 2 is real. Rodriguez has cycled through more than 150 new players since returning to Morgantown, signing what he called the program’s highest-ranked recruiting class in history. 

The quarterback battle between Oklahoma transfer Michael Hawkins Jr. and returning Scotty Fox Jr. remained unresolved through spring. Nation-leading rusher Cam Cook, a transfer from Jacksonville State, gives the offense an immediate focal point regardless of who wins the job under center.

13. Cincinnati Bearcats

Losing quarterback Brendan Sorsby to the transfer portal stung, but it looks cleaner now, given his gambling-related issues at Texas Tech. Georgia Southern transfer quarterback JC French IV took firm hold of the starting job this spring, posting strong accuracy numbers and connecting with a deep receiver group that includes standout Malachi Henry. 

The offensive line, anchored by potential All-American guard Evan Tengesdahl, is a legitimate strength. Whether the defense can generate enough pressure to keep Cincinnati competitive in Big 12 play is the real question heading into head coach Scott Satterfield’s fourth season.

12. Kansas Jayhawks

Back-to-back five-win seasons have put real pressure on head coach Lance Leipold entering Year 6. The most pressing issue coming out of spring is an unresolved quarterback battle between junior Cole Ballard, sophomore Isaiah Marshall and Rice transfer Chase Jenkins, none of whom have separated from the pack. 

The return of offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, who left for Penn State two years ago, gives the offense a familiar identity to build around. Texas transfer offensive guard Connor Stroh headlines a rebuilt line that should give whoever wins the job a cleaner pocket to work from.

11. UCF Knights

Year 2 under head coach Scott Frost carries legitimate expectations after a quietly competitive 2025 campaign.

UCF returns 10 starters and a deep receiver room headlined by Waden Charles and Duane Thomas Jr. James Madison transfer quarterback Alonza Barnett III was limited this spring with an undisclosed injury, which clouded an otherwise encouraging camp.

The offense averaged just 19.2 points per game in Big 12 play last season, and lifting that number is the program’s most urgent priority. Defensive coordinator Alex Grinch’s unit must also generate more turnovers if the Knights want to push into the top half of the conference.

10. Baylor Bears

This is Year 7 for head coach Dave Aranda, and the seat has never been hotter after a 5-7 finish in 2025.

Florida transfer quarterback DJ Lagway, the former No. 1 overall recruit in the Class of 2024, is the centerpiece of what amounts to a roster-wide reset. Fourteen of Baylor’s 22 projected starters are transfer portal additions. Aranda has also stepped away from calling defensive plays, handing those duties to first-year coordinator Joe Klanderman.

Lagway threw 16 touchdowns but 14 interceptions in two seasons with the Gators. Whether he can clean up the turnovers in offensive coordinator Jake Spavital’s system will go a long way toward deciding Aranda’s future in Waco.

9. Oklahoma State Cowboys

The program went 1-11 in 2025, winless in Big 12 play, before former head coach Mike Gundy was let go.

The turnaround started fast. First-year head coach Eric Morris brought the North Texas offensive core that powered one of the country’s most explosive attacks with him to Stillwater, headlined by quarterback Drew Mestemaker, who led FBS in passing yards with 4,379 and 34 touchdowns last season. Running back Caleb Hawkins and receiver Wyatt Young also followed Morris from Denton.

The offense should be immediately productive. Whether a rebuilt defense can hold its own in Big 12 play will determine how quickly this program climbs back into relevance.

8. Kansas State Wildcats

Senior quarterback Avery Johnson returning for his final season of eligibility is the foundation everything else is built on in Manhattan.

The dual-threat Wichita native has long been considered one of the Big 12’s most talented signal-callers, and his reunion with first-year head coach Collin Klein, the former Wildcats quarterback who helped recruit Johnson before leaving for Texas A&M, adds an intriguing storyline. Six starters return on offense, giving Klein a legitimate base to build from.

The defense is the bigger unknown under first-year coordinator Jordan Peterson, who is only in his second season calling a defense at any level. How quickly that unit develops will largely decide Kansas State’s ceiling.

7. TCU Horned Frogs

Turnovers were the defining flaw of the Josh Hoover era in Fort Worth. Head coach Sonny Dykes addressed it directly, noting Hoover turned the ball over 42 times across 31 starts before departing for Indiana.

The solution is Harvard transfer quarterback Jaden Craig, who posted a 52-12 touchdown-to-interception ratio over three seasons with the Crimson. New offensive coordinator Gordon Sammis, hired away from UConn, brings a run-heavy, low-negative-play system designed to keep drives clean.

Multiple starting offensive linemen return, and the defense under coordinator Andy Avalos gives TCU a credible floor. Whether Craig’s ball security translates from the FCS level to Big 12 competition is the question that will define the season.

6. Arizona State Sun Devils

Replacing quarterback Sam Leavitt, who transferred to LSU after being rated the No. 1 player in the portal, was always going to be the defining challenge of this offseason in Tempe.

Kentucky transfer Cutter Boley emerged from spring as the frontrunner, holding down starter’s reps throughout camp. The 6-foot-5 redshirt sophomore threw for 2,160 yards and 15 touchdowns with the Wildcats last season but also posted 12 interceptions, and cutting down on those mistakes is his primary focus entering fall.

The skill position talent around him is legitimate. Colorado transfer receiver Omarion Miller and Boston College transfer Reed Harris give head coach Kenny Dillingham a dynamic outside receiving corps, and running back Kyson Brown adds another dimension. The defense, which has steadily improved each season under Dillingham, returns enough pieces to keep the Sun Devils competitive.

5. Arizona Wildcats

Senior quarterback Noah Fifita is the centerpiece of everything in Tucson, and for the first time in his college career, he enters a season with the same offensive coordinator he finished the previous one with.

That continuity with play-caller Seth Doege matters. Fifita threw for 3,228 yards, 29 touchdowns and just six interceptions in 2025, set Arizona’s career touchdown record and was named the first All-Big 12 quarterback in program history. The rebuilt secondary after four defensive backs were drafted is the primary concern heading into the fall for head coach Brent Brennan.

4. Utah Utes

The 11-2 finish in 2025 was former head coach Kyle Whittingham’s swan song before he departed for Michigan, and first-year head coach Morgan Scalley inherits a program in good shape.

Quarterback Devon Dampier, who threw for 2,490 yards and 24 touchdowns while adding 835 rushing yards last season, chose to stay despite having transfer options. The concern is an entirely new offensive line with five new starters that will need to develop quickly under first-year line coach Jordan Gross.

New offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven’s system showed encouraging signs in spring, and the energy under Scalley reportedly felt noticeably different from day one.

3. Houston Cougars

Two years ago, Houston went 4-8. Last season, the Cougars won 10 games, beat LSU in the Texas Bowl and established themselves as a legitimate Big 12 contender under third-year head coach Willie Fritz.

Quarterback Conner Weigman, a former five-star recruit who found a home after leaving Texas A&M, returns for his senior season alongside receiver Amare Thomas and a rebuilt backfield headlined by Oregon transfer running back Makhi Hughes.

The most compelling subplot is true freshman quarterback Keisean Henderson, rated the No. 1 quarterback in the 2026 recruiting class, who gives Houston a high-ceiling successor already on campus.

2. BYU Cougars

Sophomore quarterback Bear Bachmeier looked like a completely different player in spring than the true freshman who guided the Cougars to a 12-2 record and a Big 12 title game appearance in 2025.

His command of the offense drew consistent praise, and the weapons around him are legitimate. Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year running back LJ Martin returns with a shot at becoming the program’s all-time leading rusher. USC transfer tight end Walker Lyons and Oregon transfer Roger Saleapaga give Bachmeier a potentially elite duo at the position.

The schedule is the one caveat, with a massive mid-October home game against Notre Dame looming. Win that, and a second straight trip to Arlington is very much in play under head coach Kalani Sitake.

1. Texas Tech Red Raiders

The defending Big 12 champions went 12-2 in 2025, earned a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff, and established themselves as the class of the conference under head coach Joey McGuire.

The offseason was defined entirely by quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s gambling-related leave of absence and subsequent NCAA ineligibility ruling. A Lubbock County judge granted Sorsby a temporary injunction just days ago, clearing him to play this season, though he will miss the first two games while the legal process continues.

The rest of the roster never needed him to be dominant. Texas Tech’s defensive line is regarded as the best in the Big 12 after another aggressive portal cycle, and backup quarterback Will Hammond is on track to return from a torn ACL by Week 2. With or without Sorsby, the Red Raiders have the depth to defend their title. With him, they’re the clear favorite in the conference.

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