Big 12 Talent Leveling Up

Many in college football thought Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark was out of his mind when he passed on a playoff format that would guarantee the Big 12 two automatic bids every year.

But Yormark wouldn’t sign off on a plan that labeled his league as merely half as good as the SEC or Big Ten. Instead, he held firm on the 5+11 playoff model, which leans heavily on at-large bids.

The message was clear: the Big 12 is betting on itself.

And early recruiting returns suggest that bet might be paying off.

On Tuesday, BYU became the second Big 12 school to land a five-star quarterback in the 2026 class when Ryder Lyons, from Folsom, California, committed to the Cougars over Oregon and USC.

It’s a massive win for Kalani Sitake and BYU football. Some are calling it the biggest recruiting victory in program history.

Lyons is a consensus top-three quarterback in the class and a top-20 player overall. He’s the first five-star recruit to commit to BYU in 22 years.

Oregon reportedly offered more money, and Lyons’ brother currently plays at USC. None of that mattered in the end.

But the real story at BYU is bigger than just one elite quarterback. Lyons’ commitment is the exclamation point on a major vibe shift in Provo over the last couple of years.

Put simply: playing for BYU is cool again.

Lyons made his announcement on the wildly popular Pat McAfee Show, just months after top basketball recruit AJ Dybantsa chose BYU live with Stephen A. Smith on First Take.

Egor Demin just went eighth overall in the NBA Draft. Former Baylor point guard Rob Wright left a national title-winning coach to play for Kevin Young at BYU. And Young’s program continues to land top-tier talent.

BYU is taking full advantage of Power Four status in the NIL era. These aren’t the stale Cougars of the independent days, scraping by for three-star recruits. They’re landing elite talent—players and coaches alike—in football and men’s basketball.

And BYU’s not alone.

Houston Head Coach Willie Fritz has a five-star quarterback commit of his own: Keisean Henderson, a hometown star with offers from Oregon, Michigan, Texas, and more.

Neither Houston nor BYU had an NFL draft pick this year, and neither is considered a talent factory within the league. But both are clearly leveling up, right on the heels of Yormark’s bold playoff gamble.

K-State landed the first five-star recruit in program history last year with Linkon Cure. Kansas currently has the Big 12’s highest-ranked 2026 class.

And then there’s Texas Tech.

CBS Sports’ Shehan Jeyarajah dropped one of the week’s most-shared stories: a deep dive into how Tech landed the nation’s top transfer portal class. 

The article credits head coach Joey McGuire, GM James Blanchard, and mega-donor Cody Campbell with building a playoff-caliber roster, fueled by resources and a clear vision.

The buzz in Lubbock is real. And it's not just hype. It’s one more data point that says the Big 12 is doing more than just surviving post-realignment. 

If the Big 12 wants to change the national narrative about its place in the college football hierarchy, there’s only one real way to do it: win playoff games against the SEC and Big Ten.

But stockpiling talent is how you start.

Do recruiting sites give SEC and Big Ten commits a ratings bump? Maybe. But you can’t argue with the 2025 NFL Draft numbers:

SEC – 79
Big Ten – 71
ACC – 42
Big 12 – 31

If Yormark’s bet is going to work, that gap has to shrink.

The Big 12’s recent five-star run is a hell of a start.

What You Need to Know

• The Big 12 is getting a huge payday from PayPal. Both the Big 12 and Big Ten announced Thursday that PayPal will be the official system used for revenue-sharing payments to their student-athletes. 

• Three Big 12 players went in the lottery of the NBA draft on Wednesday night, starting with Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe. 

• For further reading on the Ryder Lyons commitment to BYU, check out this piece about why this is such a significant win for the Cougars and this story for the inside scoop on how close Oregon was to stealing away the five-star signal caller. 

• I’m telling you, it is worth your time to read this excellent piece from CBS Sports’ Shehan Jeyarajah on the fascinating offseason and season unfolding in Lubbock with Joey McGuire’s Red Raiders.

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