Big 12 Previews 2024 (in alphabetical order!)

[Dolgevillefootballfan]

Rumor: Four ACC schools finalizing joining FSU and Clemson in the Big 12

Four ACC schools are reportedly finalizing a deal to join FSU and Clemson in the Big 12 according to long-time college football radio host Greg Swaim -- who cla

glorycolorado.com

 

[Dolgevillefootballfan]

West Virginia

The last preview segment for the Big 12: The West Virginia Mountaineers

Last season: Holy cow! With his back against the wall, Neil Brown saved his job! With him taking back play-calling duties (and many other small improvements), West Virginia rose up to a 9-win season and a bowl win over North Carolina. Now people in Morgantown are expecting the team to keep going and challenge for the Big 12 title.

Good news: Garrett Greene is one of the best big-play QB's in the nation, and he'll have six of the top 7 receivers from last year coming back. The running game looks good, and the O-line has a lot of promise.

Bad news: Two-thirds of the defense for WVU has some question marks; new stars need to be found in the secondary, and the linebacker spot is a little iffy (two of the starters over there are coming off season-ending injuries).

Key games:
8/31 vs. Penn State (Last year, a scared Mountaineer team had no chance playing at State College. Now? We have a confident WVU team, ready to shock Penn State in Morgantown.)
9/14 @ Pittsburgh (It's the "Backyard Brawl" rivalry in Pittsburgh. Of course this is gonna be a key game for West Virginia.)
9/21 vs. Kansas (WVU didn't face Kansas last year, but in 2024 they'll find out what Jalon Daniels is all about.)
10/5 @ Oklahoma State (The good news for WVU here is that they'll get a bye week to prep for this game. The bad news? This is the start of a rough October that includes games against Iowa State, Kansas State, and Arizona.)
11/16 vs. Baylor (Careful, Mountaineers! Baylor almost got you last year.)

Bottom line: What a difference a year makes! In July 2023, West Virginia was ready to unload Neil Brown. Now in July 2024, the team is thinking about a conference championship. With the Big 12 wide-open this year, expect the Mountaineers to be right in the mix.
But WVU has maybe the toughest conference slate in the whole Big 12 in 2024, so improvements on defense is a must.

 

[Dolgevillefootballfan]

Big 12 Predictions

So tomorrow I start my thread on the ACC, and see if that league is gonna self-destruct just like the PAC-12! OH GOD, NOOO!!
*pant pant pant* Sorry about that, let's get to my Big 12 predictions for 2024:

1. Kansas State (Conference champs, Playoff team)
2. Oklahoma State
3. Utah
4. Kansas
5. Iowa State
6. Arizona
7. West Virginia
8. UCF
9. TCU
10. Colorado
11. Texas Tech
12. Baylor
13. BYU
14. Arizona State
15. Cincinnati
16. Houston

 

[Xeliou66]

I’m predicting a Kansas St/Iowa St Big 12 Title Game -
I feel like everyone is sleeping on the Cyclones this year - they have a lot of experienced guys returning, QB Becht should have a great year, their top 4 receivers and their leader rusher are back, and their D looks like arguably the Big 12’s best. Not sure why more people aren’t high on them going into the year.
Kansas St has become a very good program and they look strong again - QB Johnson is a dynamic dual threat guy, they return a 1,000 yard rusher, they have some decent experienced receivers, and their D returns almost intact and should be strong. Their O-Line is inexperienced and is a concern though.
I’m not quite as high on Utah as everyone else is - their O stunk last year, it should be much improved with Rising healthy but they still need a RB to step up and better receiving play, and their secondary is kind of a question mark. Their schedule does set up well for them though IMO - their only difficult road game is at OKST.
Speaking of OKST, they are a title contender as well - their RB Gordon is arguably the best rusher in CFB and their QB and top 2 receivers return as well meaning they should have an explosive offense. Their D though is questionable, they return most of their starters but they weren’t very good last year.
Arizona, Kansas and WVU are also title contenders - Arizona returns their star QB Fifita and their star receiver McMillan, plus they add in a 1,000 yard rusher transfer at RB, and their D should be decent. WVU has a very experienced offense that should be strong but their D isn’t that experienced. Kansas is pretty experienced on both sides of the ball and are coming off their best season in years but the health of QB Daniels is a concern.
I’m curious about TCU and Colorado - TCU should bounce back some after falling off a cliff last year, and can Colorado make a bowl, they got a lot of attention but didn’t do very well.
The only Big 12 teams that look weak are Arizona St and Houston.

I can’t fucking wait for football!!