NORTH
Colorado Buffaloes (3-9, 2-6)
Coach Dan Hawkins is entering his fifth year in Boulder. The pressure is on him to win or else this could be his last season with the Buffs. The biggest question is who will start at quarterback? Tyler Hansen is the starter. Cody Hawkins (son of head coach) opened the last two seasons as the starter, but after struggling was replaced by Hansen who is more mobile and has the stronger arm. Scotty McKnight returns and has been the leading receiver on the team the past two seasons. Running back Rodney Stewart is back after suffering a broken leg last year. He was on pace to set a school rushing record for freshman before the injury. The offensive line will be solid as it returns all the starters. The defense showed some toughness last year and returns seven starters. The team must cut down on mental mistakes (penalties and turnovers).
Iowa State Cyclones (7-6, 3-5)
The Cyclones are coming off their first bowl bid since 2005. Senior running back Alexander Robinson was third in the Big 12 last season in total rushing yards. He has a good shot to improve over last season’s totals. Quarterback Austen Arnaud is a solid two year starter but needs to become more consistent. Last year, his numbers seemed to go up and down on a weekly basis. He is currently the Cyclones all-time leader in career completion percentage (.601). How the defense performs might be the key to their season. They have seven starting spots to be filled which includes three new linebackers. They have an unforgiving midseason schedule facing Oklahoma and Texas on the road in back-to-back games.
Kansas Jayhawks (5-7, 1-7)
Turner Gill takes over as head coach after the Jayhawks lost their final seven games of last season. Kale Pick has been named as the starter at quarterback. He has tough shoes to fill following Todd Reesing who threw for over 3,000 yards the last three seasons. Angus Quigley will be the running back after spending last season as a linebacker and making only 3 tackles. Toben Opurum, who led the team in rushing last season as a freshman, has been moved to linebacker. The switch was made after the team lost several linebackers, including Huldon Tharp, who started last year but is out for the season with a foot injury. The defense is switching to a 4-3 and must show improvement over the last few seasons. Gill will get this team turned around and they should be able to get back in a bowl game.
Kansas State Wildcats (6-6, 4-4)
Bill Snyder’s first year back as head coach was nothing special but it was an improvement. The team was more solid than it had been since he left but came up short for a bowl bid. Carson Coffman should be the starter at quarterback. Daniel Thomas is the key to this offense; last season he led the Big 12 in rushing yards, attempts and yards per game. He is strong, deceptive and a difference maker who should top last year’s stats. They have nice depth at receiver with Aubrey Quarles returning from an injury plus transfers Chris Harper (Oregon) and Brodrick Smith (Minnesota). The defense returns seven starters. Brandon Harold, a defensive end who battled injuries last season, looks to return to his 2008 form when he was named a Freshman All-American. Five of the last seven games are on the road.
Missouri Tigers (8-5, 4-4)
The Tigers had a good season but ended up in a loss to Navy in the Texas Bowl. Under Coach Gary Pinkel, they now have five straight winning seasons to go along with five straight bowl seasons. Quarterback Blaine Gabbert is hardnosed and pretty big at 6’5 and 240 pounds. Last year as a sophomore, he threw for 3,593 yards and was second in the conference in pass efficiency. Derrick Washington had his knee scoped in the off-season and should be one of the more versatile running backs in the conference who can really impact the passing attack. They need someone to step up at receiver because the top two from last year are gone, including Danario Alexander who had an impressive 113 catches and 14 touchdowns. The defense must improve over last year when they gave up 25.4 points a game which was 59th in the country. Defensive End Aldon Smith was a beast last year setting a school record with 11.5 sacks.
AP#8 - Nebraska Cornhuskers (10-4, 6-2) The Cornhuskers are ranked #8 in the AP preseason poll. Head coach Bo Pelini has this team on the right track in his third year and he knows it. After beating Arizona 33-0 in last year’s Holiday Bowl, he proclaimed, “Nebraska’s back, and we’re here to stay.” The biggest challenge may be in replacing Ndamukong Suh who was the best defensive player in the country last season. Zac Lee returns at quarterback after having surgery on his throwing arm. He must find a way to get this offensive to be more productive. Last year, they finished 99th nationally in total yards and 75th in scoring. Roy Helu was the fourth in the conference in yards per game with 81.9. Niles Paul is a big play threat after averaging 19.9 yards per catch last year. The defense will change from a 4-3 set to a two linebacker set. Alex Henery will be one of the best kickers in the country and could make a difference in a few close games. He handles the place-kicking and punts.
SOUTH
Baylor Bears (4-8, 1-7)
The Bears play two games this year in the Dallas area. The first one is at TCU and then they play Texas Tech at Cowboys Stadium. The best news for the Bears is that quarterback Robert Griffin is back after tearing his ACL in his right knee in the third game. He is probably the best athlete in the conference. In 2008, as a freshman, he passed for 2,091 yards, rushed for 843, set a national freshman record by throwing 209 consecutive passes without an interception. Plus, he won the Big 12 gold medal for 400 meter hurdles with the third fastest time in school history. In the game he was injured in, Griffin passed for 226 yards and three touchdowns. The good news for Grffin is that he has a huge line in front of him. As long as Griffin is healthy this team has a chance to make some noise.
AP#7 - Oklahoma Sooners (8-5, 5-3)
Last year was a tough year by Oklahoma standards. They lost numerous players to injury, including Heisman winner Sam Bradford, but they still managed to have a prosperous season. They are ranked #7 in the AP preseason poll. Quarterback Landry Jones lit it up as a freshman last year when Bradford was out. His 3,198 yards passing and 26 touchdowns was tops in the nation for freshmen. In the Sun Bowl against Stanford, he passed for 418 yards and three touchdowns. He will be one of the best passers in the country this season. Ryan Broyles will be an All-American receiver. Last year, he had 89 catches, 1,120 yards, and 15 touchdowns. The defense has some stars to replace, but is in good hands with All-American candidates Jeremy Beal at defensive end and Travis Lewis at linebacker.
Oklahoma State (9-4, 6-2)
Coach Mike Gundy has put together back to back nine win seasons. After losing several key players from last year, it will be difficult to maintain the same level of play. Brandon Weeden, a 26-year-old junior, will take over at quarterback. He spent five seasons playing minor league baseball after being drafted by the New York Yankees in 2002 in the second round. The Cowboys will run a new spread offense this season after hiring Dana Holgorsen to be the offensive coordinator. He spent seven years at Texas Tech and last year called the shots for Houston who led the nation in total offense, passing offense and scoring offense. The best offensive player on the team is Kendall Hunter who was plagued with injuries last year but had 1,555 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2008. The defense only returns two starters which could lead to a long season.
AP#5 - Texas Longhorns (13-1, 8-0)
Texas probably would have won the BCS Championship last season if Colt McCoy wasn’t injured early in the game against Alabama. The Longhorns have won at least 10 games every year since 2001 and are ranked #5 in the AP preseason poll. The offense is set on getting back to more of a balanced attack and will run the ball more. Garrett Gilbert is now the quarterback and can’t help but do well with the abundance of talent that surrounds him. Look for Tre’ Newton to become the next running sensation to wear the burnt orange. Talented receivers James Kirkendoll and Malcolm Williams should post solid numbers. Last year, the defense was one of the best in the nation and this year will be no different. Sam Acho is back after leading the team last year with 10 sacks. The secondary will be their strength led by All-American candidate Curtis Brown.
Texas A&M Aggies (6-7, 3-5)
Jerrod Johnson is an experienced quarterback with 22 starts for the Aggies. Last season, he set eight new school passing records. His best game was against Texas when he had 342 yards passing, four touchdowns and 97 yards rushing. They will have a very strong running game led by Christine Michael and Cyrus Gray. Last year, Michael was named the Offensive Player of the Year for the Big 12. He had 844 yards rushing with 10 touchdowns and will only get better. Gray finished with 757 yards rushing and posted three 100-yard games. The top three receivers from last year who combined for 127 catches and 17 touchdowns are back. The defense was the Achilles heel for this team. They gave up 40 points in five games, averaged 33.5 points and 426.3 total yards per game. If the defense doesn’t improve, Coach Mike Sherman might be out of a job.
Texas Tech Red Raiders (9-4, 5-3) Tommy Tuberville is the new head coach and plans to throw the ball like his predecessor. He said he will only make a few changes including more of a rushing attack. His goal is to become more than just a bowl eligible team. He wants championships. The Red Raiders are the only team to finish at least .500 all 14 years since the Big 12 was established. Taylor Potts has been named the starting quarterback. Look for him to put up big numbers again this year, but probably a bit lower than last year due to a more balanced attack. Baron Batch will get a bigger workload out of the backfield. There will be a change in the defensive scheme as they now will run the 3-4.
