Realignment Season Continues

With all of the smoke surrounding Florida State and Clemson possibly considering the Big 12, it will be interesting to see what stories trickle out of ACC media days this week. We already had a fiery press conference with ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips. Is he rattled or a man on a mission? 

The anonymous player survey surprised me this week. Big 12 players overwhelmingly picked a coach in the league they would most want to play for, and it’s a great sign of potential for one of last year’s Big 12 newcomers. 

I promise there’s some actual football talk today, too. I’m not sure Big 12 fans fully realize how wild the upcoming season will likely be. Keep reading to find out why.

What You Need to Know

• With the Big 12 potentially eyeing the ACC for expansion candidates amidst the Florida State and Clemson lawsuits, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips didn’t hold back on the Seminoles and Tigers in his ACC Media Days press conference. He says the ACC will fight the FSU and Clemson lawsuits as long as it takes.

• There has been plenty of talk about the possibility of Florida State and Clemson coming to the Big 12 if the SEC and Big Ten don’t work out, but don’t expect it anytime soon. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports Florida State isn’t expected to leave before the 2026-27 academic year at the earliest. 

• ESPN analyst and former Alabama head coach Nick Saban found some time at SEC Media Days last week to whine about TCU getting into the College Football Playoff in 2022 instead of his Crimson Tide. Somebody ask Saban what he thinks about his 2014 squad getting in over TCU despite the Horned Frogs mauling the same Ole Miss team that beat Alabama in the regular season.

• 247 Sports’ Josh Pate called Arizona a “wildcard” team in the Big 12 that could either win the league or finish in the bottom half of the standings. Pate’s colleague at 247, Brad Crawford, picked K-State to win the Big 12 and make the playoff. He also listed Oklahoma State and Utah as teams to watch.

Enjoying Open For Business? It would mean the world to me if you could share the newsletter with three of your friends who want Big 12 news without SEC or Big Ten bias. Tell them to sign up at OFBNews.com and get started today!

Big 12 Player Survey: Favorite Big 12 Coach

For the latest installment of the anonymous Big 12 player survey from Big 12 media days, I asked the players which league coach (besides their own) they’d most like to play for. 

I’m shocked there was such a runaway winner here. There is so much coaching talent in this league, as evidenced by multiple Big 12 coaches being mentioned as candidates every time a big job opens. 

Ultimately, I got the vibe that the Big 12 players from the state of Florida pay a lot of attention to UCF, which helped put Gus Malzahn over the top. That speaks to the long-term potential of UCF’s football program. 

And the winner is…

Gus Malzahn from UCF!

Gus Malzahn (UCF) – 5

Sonny Dykes (TCU) – 2

Lance Leipold (Kansas) – 1

Matt Campbell (ISU) – 1

Mike Gundy (OSU) – 1

Kyle Whittingham – 1

Steve Sarkisian (Texas…I know, I know) – 1

What the players said:

“Gus Malzahn would be dope. I liked Auburn growing up, and he and Nick Marshall were dope. I like the offense that he runs.”

“Gus. UCF Is close to home. He’s a great coach, too.”

“I love the fire and passion that Matt Campbell coaches with.”

“I don’t know much about Sonny Dykes, but I’ve heard that he’s a good coach.”

“Probably since I was very close to going there anyway, it’d be Kyle Whittingham and Utah.” 

“If it wasn’t for (my coach), I wouldn’t be in the Big 12. Maybe I’d play for Sarkisian.”

“I can’t answer that because I don’t know anyone else’s coaches. I know what Neal Breezy’s bringing to the table.” 

Get ready for the next installment of the anonymous player survey. This time, you’ll see what players said when I asked them directly about playing for Coach Prime at Colorado.

Prefer Big 12 news in video form? Subscribe to my YouTube Channel and join the hundreds of Big 12 fans who watch live on Wednesday and Sunday nights. The channel has 20,000+ subscribers and counting from all across the college football. Don’t miss out!

The Bottom Line

Are we ready for how wild the Big 12 race is going to be?

I was recently a guest on the Sons of UCF podcast, and they asked me to name the eight teams I said can contend for a Big 12 title. A day later, a Texas Tech friend of mine challenged me on why his Red Raiders weren’t in that group. 

The short answer is that I’m not sure the Red Raiders have a top-tier Big 12 quarterback in a league with many great ones. I also picked them to win the league last year and got burned, so there may be some subconscious personal bias. 

But to be completely honest, it really wouldn’t shock me if Joey McGuire gets to Arlington this year. The same could be said for TCU, and they weren’t on my list of eight teams either. The Horned Frogs are the last team to beat Michigan and just played for a national title two years ago, after all. 

Am I just a man without principles who can’t make a decision and stick with it? Perhaps, but the real point is that this league will be crazy this year. 

CBS Sports’ Shehan Jeyarajah underscored that point on Twitter this week. An Oklahoma State fan was upset that Jeyarajah picked the defending Big 12 runners-up fifth in the league this year, taking it as a dramatic slight. 

Jeyarajah’s response was perfect.

Things are so close at the top with so many contenders that it’s hard to take much of anything in the top ten of the poll as extreme disrespect. That’s the beauty of the new Big 12 and is exactly what the league has to hang its hat on during football season. 

Now that there are 16 teams in the league, unbalanced schedules will add even more unpredictability. Look at the difference between West Virginia’s schedule and Kansas’ schedule. WVU plays four of the top five teams in the Big 12 preseason poll, while Kansas plays one. 

In the new league, there will likely be wild disparities in strength of schedule, which means a couple of cells in an Excel spreadsheet at Big 12 HQ could determine who holds the trophy in Arlington. 

The final wrinkle is tiebreakers. Every Power Four league needs to be on top of this now that they’ve grown and ditched divisions, but we already have evidence that the Big 12 was asleep at the wheel on this front last year – they had to change a tiebreaker during the season.  

Will they be more prepared this time, or will they change rules and edit typos on the fly again?

Either way, we’re still likely headed toward bulky ESPN graphics with the tiebreaker scenarios during the final weeks of the season. 

For the record, my list of Big 12 title contenders was:

Oklahoma State
Utah
K-State
Kansas
Arizona
Iowa State
UCF
West Virginia

If you catch me in the right mood, you can talk me into adding Texas Tech, TCU, or (maybe) Colorado to that list.

The point is, with 16 teams, parity everywhere, unbalanced schedules, and potentially murky tiebreaker rules, take Shehan’s advice and buckle up for a wild ride this season.