The Big 12 was one of the most fiercely contested conferences in college football last fall, and there is every reason to believe we could be in for an equally fiery few months this year. Can the Arizona State Sun Devils repeat as champions, or will there be a new king? Our early 2025 Big 12 Power Rankings evaluate the 16 teams.
16) Oklahoma State Cowboys
The Oklahoma State Cowboys recorded just their second losing season of the Mike Gundy era in 2024, as poor performance and questionable opinions from their head coach shrouded the program in question marks. The charismatic leader of the Big 12 outfit took a pay cut to remain at the helm for the 2025 season, but it might be too much to expect a return to winning ways.
The addition of Duhon, the former UTEP standout, bolsters a defense that lost some key parts, while the transfer portal provided several experienced and talented offensive linemen. Former Georgia State RB Freddie Brock gives them a dangerous backfield weapon, but the QB room is extremely unproven in a conference with plenty of high-powered passers.
15) Houston Cougars
Year 1 of the Willie Fritz era with the Houston Cougars didn’t match up to expectations. However, to be fair to the former Tulane head coach, he inherited a dumpster fire of a program with little to work with. Injuries and inconsistencies at quarterback didn’t help, and Fritz snagged former Texas A&M starter Conner Weigman from the transfer portal hoping to remedy that situation.
Houston added a ton of talent this offseason, which could help bolster its place in the Big 12 power rankings once the season gets underway, especially as they avoid Kansas State and Iowa State this year. Still, the Cougars also lost some of the most important pieces from last fall, including defensive back A.J. Haulcy, while Texas Tech and Arizona State loom as legitimate obstacles.
14) West Virginia Mountaineers
After several seasons of mediocrity under Neal Brown, the West Virginia Mountaineers return to a familiar well to try and compete in the Big 12. Rodriguez compiled a 60-26 record the first time around in Morgantown, and hopes are high that he can return the program to the Sugar Bowl, double-digit-win campaigns enjoyed in the mid-2000s. However, there needs to be an expectation level set.
MORE: Can West Virginia Be the Next Arizona State?
It’s easy to forget that amid his success at West Virginia, Rodriguez opened his first stint with a 3-8 record. He’ll be working with an almost unrecognisable roster from last fall, bolstered by many portal additions with several yet to prove themselves at the Power Four level.
Jahiem White’s return should make him the centerpiece of the offense, but a better class of rushing defense than the new West Virginia head coach saw in CUSA might cause issues.
13) Arizona Wildcats
2024 was a rude awakening for the Arizona Wildcats, who slipped from a Pac-12 frontrunner and 11th-ranked team in the final AP poll to a bottom dweller in the Big 12 with just four wins. Arizona’s offensive struggles last fall were especially troubling given that they returned a talented quarterback/receiver duo, Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan. With McMillan now gone, those troubles grow further.
Brent Brennan has at least tried to change things up for 2025, bringing in two new receivers (Kris Hutson and Luke Wysong) to share the passing game load around, while adding Ismail Mahdi gives the Wildcats a legitimate all-purpose back. However, a defense that allowed 31.8 ppg didn’t receive much of an overhaul ahead of a brutal Big 12 schedule.
12) UCF Knights
Are the UCF Knights about to make that age-old mistake of returning to your ex in the hope you can rekindle once-held passions while the reality proves something far from romantic?
Scott Frost navigated the program through unprecedented success, and he’s back to replace Malzahn, who couldn’t provide the program with any in the Big 12. It’s worth pointing out that Frost had fewer wins in his final four years at Nebraska combined than in 2017 with the Knights.
While the coaching personnel changed, the on-field product will look substantially different in 2025. As many as 17 transfer portal recruits could start for UCF this fall, headlined by Nixon and former Pitt pass rusher Sincere Edwards. At the same time, projected starter Rizk left in the spring window, and the schedule features road trips to Baylor, Texas Tech, BYU, and Kansas State — which is suboptimal for the Knights.
11) Cincinnati Bearcats
Scott Satterfield added two wins to the 2023 total last season, but can the Cincinnati Bearcats now take the next step into becoming a competitive force in the Big 12? The program made some moves in the transfer portal to help its cause, notably adding Tawee Walker to the RB room, Jeff Caldwell to the WR room, and bolstering the secondary by capturing Matthew McDoom.
Dontay Corleone’s return should be a significant boost to the defensive front, while quarterback Brendan Sorsby is hugely underrated as a game changer under center.
The schedule avoids reigning champions Arizona State, but road trips to Kansas and Utah aren’t easy, and neither are matchups with Iowa State, Baylor, and BYU. Six wins might be the ceiling for this Bearcats team.
10) Kansas Jayhawks
The Kansas Jayhawks were one quarter of football away from ending the 2024 campaign with five wins in six games. Lance Leipold’s team struggled to open the campaign. Still, it took down three ranked opponents in a second-half-of-the-season salvage operation — a testament to the strength of Kansas’ schedule, having faced the third-highest opponent win percentage in the FBS last fall.
Ordinarily, that would be the basis for excitement and trigger talk about building momentum. While there is some of that buzz due to the return of quarterback Jalon Daniels, the departure of program-leading rusher Devin Neal hurts the offense substantially, and several defensive dynamos could spell a tough season, especially with road trips to Lubbock and Ames on the schedule.
9) TCU Horned Frogs
Sonny Dykes team will look to return to the summit of the Big 12 conference this fall after early defeats to some of their less challenging opponents prevented them from reaching the title game.
Josh Hoover has the arm talent to lead TCU’s offense to significant heights, and Eric McAlister is one of the top receivers in the country. They also added Joseph Manjack IV to the WR room. Defensively, the Frogs return some of their most productive players from a unit that allowed 24.6 ppg, including tackle-for-loss and sack leader Devean Deal.
The roster is more than capable of competing, but the schedule throws some brutal curveballs, including road trips to Arizona State, Kansas State, and BYU, with the Iowa State Cyclones coming to Fort Worth in early November.
8) Utah Utes
Coming off a 5-7 campaign that matched the worst of Kyle Whittingham’s tenure with the program, the Utah Utes needed to change something for the 2025 season. With the addition of Jason Beck as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, they changed everything. The former New Mexico State coordinator is set to bring a pace of football to Salt Lake City not seen in recent years.
Mistakes are made if Devon Dampier isn’t on your Top 10 QBs list for CFB’s 2025 season pic.twitter.com/mUpBLaZhJu
— Liam Blutman (@Blutman27) April 29, 2025
Beck brings his 2024 quarterback Dampier with him to the Utes. The dual-threat led all FBS quarterbacks in rushing touchdowns a year ago, but he also has the arm talent to dissect a defense.
Utah also added running back Wayshawn Parker to the offense, creating a deadly backfield that can compete with any in the Big 12 — especially operating behind two elite-level offensive tackles.
7) Colorado Buffaloes
As much as Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders may preach that he can’t wait to coach without his sons on the team, there is no doubt that this 2025 Colorado Buffaloes team will look much different without Shedeur Sanders leading the offense.
The bigger loss is do-it-all Heisman Trophy-winner Travis Hunter, who leaves a hole at wide receiver and cornerback that will be tough to replace.
MORE: Has Colorado Found Its DB Replacement in CB DJ McKinney?
The Buffaloes added NFL experience to the coaching staff this offseason. As the standard under Sanders, Colorado rebuilt through the transfer portal. It will sport an 80% new offensive line for the winner of the Salter vs. Julian Lewis quarterback battle. However, the schedule is rough, with BYU and Iowa State early and an Arizona State and Kansas State double-header at the end.
6) Texas Tech Red Raiders
While this might seem like a lowly ranking for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, it’s a preseason assessment tinged with a hint of reservation after the program didn’t quite meet high expectations a year ago.
Under Joey McGuire, Texas Tech has become one of the college football outfits that have routinely won the offseason — both recruiting and the portal — but need to put it all together in the fall.
McGuire paid particular attention to a defense that allowed 34.8 points per game in 2024, rebuilding the entire defensive front in the portal. David Bailey and Romello Height should eat off the edge with Skyler Gill-Howard and Lee Hunter attracting attention inside, while Cole Wisniewski should marshal the secondary.
5) Baylor Bears
After the Baylor Bears opened their 2024 Big 12 campaign with four consecutive losses (2-4 overall to start the year), Dave Aranda was an early head coach hot seat candidate. However, they rallied down the stretch, turning over all but one (TCU) of their final six Big 12 opponents by more than one score. A lot of the talent that led that resurgence returns for the 2025 campaign.
Excitement around Baylor begins with quarterback Sawyer Robertson, who might be the long-shot Heisman Trophy contender no one is talking about enough. He’s a pocket passer-sized signal-caller with the power and athleticism to do severe damage on the ground. Selling out to prevent Robertson only opens up the game for Bryson Washington, a talented rusher with game-changing ability.
4) BYU Cougars
Two one-score losses late in the season deprived the 2024 BYU Cougars a shot at the Big 12 title and a place in the College Football Playoff, ultimately ranking 13th in the final AP poll. Although they face Iowa State and Texas Tech on the road this fall, BYU avoids both Kansas State and Arizona State, providing a roadmap to AT&T Stadium on the back of a good chunk of returning production.
Jake Retzlaff will lead the offense once again. If he can clean up his decision-making and cut down on costly interceptions (a Big 12-leading 12 in 2024), then his combination with Chase Roberts should be a difficult one to stop.
Kalani Sitake’s team is always well-disciplined on defense, and although they lost some starters on the line, Isaiah Glasker and Jack Kelly might be one of the better one-two punches at linebacker in all of college football.
3) Kansas State Wildcats
After being ranked in the AP Poll Top 25 for most of last fall, the Kansas State Wildcats’ season fell away from them down the stretch, losing three of their final four games and putting them out of Big 12 contention.
Only one of those opponents is on their 2025 schedule, and despite some potential banana skins (at Utah, at Baylor, at Kansas), Chris Klieman’s team starts 2025 as one of the favorites.
Much of that faith comes from the return of Avery Johnson, who contributed over 3,000 total yards and 32 touchdowns last fall. They also have speedy running back Dylan Edwards and transfer wide receiver Jerand Bradley as offensive weapons. Meanwhile, there is plenty of returning defensive production on the roster, and national championship-winning pedigree in transfer linebacker Gabe Powers.
2) Iowa State Cyclones
The Iowa State Cyclones came up one win short of a Big 12 title last fall but are well-positioned to challenge atop the conference once again. The loss of the WR duo of Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins to the NFL is a tough pill to swallow. Still, Matt Campbell landed Chase Sowell (East Carolina) and Xavier Townsend (UCF) from the portal as weapons for quarterback Rocco Becht.
The Cyclones quarterback should be considered a legitimate Heisman Trophy contender, and his “leave it all on the field” style always gives you the impression that Iowa State is never out of a game.
We’ll see the Farmageddon rivalry in Week 0, which should provide us with an early indication of the program’s credentials for a title tilt — as will the Nov. 1 Big 12 title rematch with Arizona State.
1) Arizona State Sun Devils
After emerging as the breakout story of the 2024 college football season, the Arizona State Sun Devils are now in expectation territory. Kenny Dillingham’s team might have lost do-it-all running back Cam Skattebo to the New York Giants, but they return enough talent to enter the season as one of the frontrunners in the Big 12.
MORE: 2025 College Football Power Rankings
The excitement around the program centers around one of the country’s top QB/WR duos. Sam Leavitt can lead a team from under center, while Jordyn Tyson will catch anything thrown at him (or just in his general direction).
Don’t be surprised if Army transfer Kanye Udoh steps up as the main back while defensive leaders Clayton Smith, Keith Abney II, and Javan Robinson return for this season.
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