Big 12 Football: Season preview and final standings predictions
The close, but not elite, tier
Projected order of finish – West Virginia (3rd), Texas (4th), Kansas State (5th), TCU (6th)
TCU finished 28th in the Amway Coaches poll voting, but the other three members of this group open the season as ranked teams. Each of these programs is a step above the bottom of the conference, yet it would take a near-perfect storm for one of them to sniff the College Football Playoff. Could a Big 12 Championship be in the cards? Possibly.
West Virginia’s inclusion in the early polls is a bit puzzling. The Mountaineers had a successful 2016 campaign but have to replace the majority of their defensive front seven this year. While they’ve been a historically solid defensive team, being thin up front in the Big 12 could spell disaster, quickly.
Texas drew some ire after becoming the only team with a losing record in 2016 to appear in the Coaches Poll. Why are they ranked? They’re Texas. Just like Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, etc. If there is hope, they’ll be respect by the pollsters. Nevertheless, Tom Herman‘s squad has a quarterback in Shane Buechele and a first round pick at linebacker in Malik Jefferson. The pieces are there for a special season in Austin, it’s just a bit of a tough ask for Herman to put them all together in his first season. Sell the Longhorns.
More: Projected 2-deep depth chart for the Longhorns 2017
A successful season by Kansas State is one that the nation is quietly rooting for. Head coach Bill Snyder is one of the good guys of college football that hasn’t been able to get his team over the finish line, not yet. With his health issues and the end of his career coming eventually it would be the storybook ending to walk out with a conference championship, and maybe more. His roster lacks the talent, but his teams always play hard and never shoot themselves in the foot.
If Texas, Kansas State or any of these teams for that matter, is able to win the Big 12 that likely spells the end of the conference’s playoff hopes. These teams lack the resume’s and respect that equivalent programs in the other Power 5 programs carry.