The Big 12 Conference always produces some national title contenders, and there are plenty of teams to like heading into the 2013 college football season.
Still a few weeks away from seeing these teams in action, it’s never too early to start predicting the conference. The Las Vegas oddsmakers certainly didn’t waste any time formulating the line to win the conference. But apparently, it wasn’t very easy as shown by the log jam at the top of the board.
Let’s take a look… shall we?
The Texas Longhorns come into the new season as the odds-on favorites to win the Big 12 and at least reach a BCS bowl, but perhaps even contend for a national championship. Texas is ranked No.15 in the preseason coaches poll, which is the highest ranking of any team in the Big 12. Head coach Mack Brown will have his work cut out for him though, with road games against TCU and West Virginia, plus that Red River Rivalry in mid-October.
Oklahoma State is perhaps a bit of a surprise sitting in front of their in-state rivals on the preseason betting odds, going off at 5/2, but it’s clear that there is a lot to like about head coach Mike Gundy’s program. This is a team that ranked third overall in scoring, in 2013 FBS play. The Cowboys return seven starters on offense, including quarterback Clint Chelf. The Cowboys’ fate might be determined in the last three weeks of the regular season – they face Texas on the road, then play Baylor at home before capping off 2013 with another installation of the Bedlam Series.
The Oklahoma Sooners sit in a tie with TCU on the betting odds to win the Big 12 in 2013, going off at 15/4. You’d probably have to go back a bit to find the Sooners this far back on preseason odds, but Oklahoma lost a ton of production. That is led by the departure of quarterback Landry Jones. In fact, the Sooners still aren’t sure who they are going to start at quarterback, whether it will be Blake Bell or Trevor Knight. Chances are we will see both this season.
TCU sits even with Oklahoma at 15/4, with Gary Patterson’s team predicted to be quite competitive this season in the conference. The Horned Frogs will get a tough test out-of-conference right away to prepare for Big 12 play, with a neutral site game against the LSU Tigers. TCU plays Oklahoma and Oklahoma State on the road, but does get Texas at home. If quarterback Casey Pachall returns to the team, the Horned Frogs could be a big threat.
There is some significant separation on the betting odds for the Big 12 when getting to Baylor. At 12/1, it’s clear that there is an upper-tier of four in the conference and then the rest. If running back Lache Seastrunk has anything to say about it though, the Bears will contend. Seastrunk was a 1,000-yard rusher a season ago and predicted he can win the Heisman earlier this month. If he has a Heisman-worthy season, expect Baylor to be right there in the end.
Kansas State is not on the national map after losing quarterback Collin Klein. It appears it might be a rebuilding year for the Wildcats, but then again no one expected them to get where they did in 2012. Kansas State does have eight starters returning on offense, but just three on a defense that ranked 28th in the country last season. At 14/1, the Wildcats are right in the middle of the conference betting odds.
The betting lines jump up a good margin to Texas Tech at 25/1. The Red Raiders have a tough stretch in October with back-to-back road games at West Virginia and Oklahoma, with a home game against Oklahoma State after that in the beginning of November. There are five returning starters on offense, but eight on defense. Of course that defense will need to improve, ranking 92nd in scoring. But they will be experienced at least.
West Virginia sits back at 25/1 as well, though the offense will look a lot different with Geno Smith gone. Smith is one of eight starters on offense gone from a season ago. Add that with five gone on defense and there are only nine total starters returning for 2013. The big thing here will be the quarterback. There is still no clear-cut starter, though we could see former FSU quarterback Clint Trickett get the nod.
Iowa State comes in at 40/1 to win the conference, virtually on no one’s radar. But that could be fine with the Cyclones. Iowa State has 5 returning starters on offense and four on defense, so there will be some new faces. They will need to find a way to score points, as the team ranked 87th in the country last year at 24.5 points per game.
Rounding out the Big 12 preseason odds in 2013 are the Kansas Jayhawks, sitting at 100/1. Kansas it definitely at the bottom of the barrel here. They return half of their starters from a season ago. But this team ranked near the bottom of the FBS at 188th in scoring, and 122th in scoring defense, so we’re not exactly sure what that’s worth here. Everything about the program needs to change for Kansas to challenge in the Big 12 – in 2012, the Jayhawks won only one game and went winless in the conference.