Portal Kombat

Transfer portal season is dominating the headlines right now. It’s honestly overwhelming and difficult to keep up with for the mere mortal, but it hasn’t stopped Big 12 coaches from making waves. 

The league has four of the top 15 transfer portal classes in the country, according to 247 Sports. 

Colorado locked down a potential Shedeur Sanders replacement with Liberty star quarterback Kaidon Salter. He’ll instantly compete with incoming five-star freshman Julian Lewis. 

Houston scored a huge win by landing former Texas A&M quarterback Conner Weigman. He’s a former five-star recruit who offers head coach Willie Fritz a world of upside under center. The Cougars currently have a top-ten class. 

But the real headliner is Texas Tech. I’ll have plenty more on the Red Raiders' top-ranked portal class after the Big 12 Basketball Anonymous Player Survey.

What You Need to Know

• Texas Tech continues to dominate the transfer portal. On Thursday, the Red Raiders added Georgia Tech edge Romello Height, giving them the number one portal class in the country, according to 247 Sports. 

• Colorado landed another high-profile quarterback, this time in the transfer portal, to compete to replace Shedeur Sanders. Liberty dual-threat QB Kaidon Salter committed to the Buffaloes this week. He led the Flames to the 2023 Fiesta Bowl and has 5,887 career passing yards and 2,013 rushing yards. 

• Arizona State will likely be without its best defensive player for the first half of its College Football Playoff quarterfinal game against Texas or Clemson next week because of a targeting penalty in the Big 12 title game. ASU lost its initial appeal to get Shamari Simmons back for the entire game. Check out the hit here. 

• Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita is returning for another year with Brent Brennan in Tucson. That’s a big win for a Wildcat program that has taken serious portal hits this month.

• Iowa State locked up head basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger with a contract extension that runs through 2032. The Cyclones are ranked third in the country after a 9-1 start. Athletic Director Jamie Pollard also extended head football coach Matt Campbell with an extension last week.

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!

Anonymous Player Survey: Biggest Trash Talker

It’s time for the Big 12 basketball anonymous player survey! 

I talked to around 20 players at Big 12 Media Day in Kansas City and got their choices for Big 12 champion, favorite opposing coach in the league, school with the meanest fans, and much more. 

Not every player wanted to answer every question, and I respect that, so not every category will have 20 responses.

The answers were all over the board when I asked who the biggest trash talker in the league was. The only specific player mentioned more than once was former K-State guard Cam Carter, who is now at LSU. So, if you want to declare a winner, it’s technically Carter. 

Not unrelated, he crushed K-State in Manhattan last month and got into a war of words with Wildcats forward Coleman Hawkins. 

Anyway, here’s what the players had to say. 

“He’s not there anymore, but when we played Kansas State, Cam Carter was talking.”

“He’s not there anymore but one dude from Kansas State. He was number five (Cam Carter)”

“I can’t remember the guy’s name from Texas Tech, but he’s here (at media day). He talked a lot.”

“Some of the guys from Cincinnati, I’d say. They had kind of an underdog role last year, so they had a chip on their shoulder.”

“Let me throw Iowa State in there.”

“My guy Rylan Griffin at Kansas. He can talk some trash, man.”

“I think the team that had that type of energy was UCF.”

“Houston. They say stuff, but it’s like slick.”

“Colorado was talking a little crazy at Colorado last year.”

“Nobody really is talking trash. I don’t think there was a team that was really talking trash.”

“Not a lot of guys talk.”

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 world. Don’t miss out!

Tech Making it Rain

Bolstered by the bankroll of high-profile donor Cody Campbell, head coach Joey McGuire has put together (at time of print) the number-one portal class in the country. 

When you go toe-to-toe with Ole Miss and LSU in the portal, you have some serious cash to throw around.

Tech also flexed its cash to pull in highly sought-after coordinators Shiel Wood from Houston and Mack Leftwich from Texas State. 

It’s been a dream offseason for Red Raider fans. Plenty of fan bases are dreaming of new coordinators and a mega portal haul this time of year, and everybody involved at Tech made those dreams come true across West Texas. 

Will this finally get Texas Tech football over the hump? 

Talent acquisition has never been a problem for McGuire, who is a great recruiter and as personable as it gets. However, he has never had this level of talent infused into his program, both players and coaches. 

The Red Raiders were a popular Big 12 champion pick before the 2023 season but didn’t deliver. They made waves in the transfer portal last year and signed five-star high school receiver Micah Hudson, but they finished 8-4. 

The last nine-win regular season in Lubbock, under the late Mike Leach, was in 2009, and the last outright conference title was in 1955. Hence, everyone involved is hungry to make this offseason push.

There are no more excuses. 

Tech should be one of the Big 12 favorites heading into the season. I’m fascinated to watch it all unfold in LBK.