Following its major realignment, the Big 12 Conference is hosting its football media days at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on July 9 and 10.
Four Pac-12 Conference schools (Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah) recently joined the Big 12 Conference, expanding the conference westward. The newest additions to the Big 12 come after Texas and Oklahoma announced their departure from the conference, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Head coaches and representatives from each school in the conference will gather on Tuesday and Wednesday in Las Vegas for the first time in the event’s history. The media days will give football fans a glimpse of what they can expect to see this upcoming season.
Here are some of the evolving stories to be on the lookout for during the event:
Who will be the new powerhouse of the Big 12?
With Texas and Oklahoma departing for the SEC Conference, the Big 12’s position as a powerhouse is now up for grabs.
In a preseason poll released on July 2, Utah was voted as the school to finish first in the conference, followed closely by Kansas State, then Oklahoma State. Kansas and Arizona follow the top 3 schools, taking fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Texas was chosen as the leader of the Big 12 conference in the same preseason poll last year and won the Big 12 title at the end of the season, as previously reported by DX. Oklahoma thrived in the conference, with six conference championships and nine years at the top of the preseason Big 12 poll, according to The Dallas Morning News.
With the top leaders stepping out of the picture, seeing who takes over as the conference’s powerhouse will be interesting.
Utah Expected to Dominate
Ranking first in the preseason conference poll, the Utes are coming into the Big 12 ready to show off. With two back-to-back conference titles in the Pac-12 in 2021 and 2022, Utah is poised to be the next powerhouse of the conference.
The Utes will see the return of several key players, including Cameron Rising, starting quarterback, and tight end Brant Kuithe, both of whom missed last season due to injuries, per DMN. Rising and Kuithe are expected to speak at the event on Tuesday. Rising was named MVP of the Pac-12 title game in 2022 and was a semi-finalist for the Davey O’Brien Award and the Maxwell Award that same year.
Utah recently announced Defensive Coordinator Morgan Scalley as the successor to long-time head coach Kyle Whittingham upon his anticipated retirement, although no timeline for his retirement has been publicized, as ESPN reported. This has raised speculation that perhaps Whittingham would make just such an announcement at the Big 12 Media Day.
Oklahoma State running back in attendance after arrest
Ollie Gordon II, a running back for Oklahoma State, is set to attend the media days in Las Vegas despite his arrest last week on suspicion of DUI, as reported by ESPN. The list of media day attendees was released on the same day as Gordon’s arrest.
Gordon won several awards last year for his performance, including Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s best running back.
Dave Aranda has a lot to prove
Baylor Bears head coach Dave Aranda has a make-or-break year ahead of him and his coaching staff. Under Aranda’s leadership, the Bears won the 2021 conference title with an overall record of 12-2, a great step up from a disappointing 2-7 record in the 2020 season. However, two more disappointing seasons followed, with the Bears posting a 6-7 record overall in 2022 and a 3-9 record overall in 2023.
Aranda said the team has shown it is fired up and ready to fight as it prepares for the upcoming season, as DX previously reported.
Baylor recently overhauled its assistant staff, hiring four offense staff members, as it looks to improve the team’s scoring game. The Bears ranked 95th in the nation for scoring last year and tied for the fewest All-Big 12 selections last season, reported DMN.
Meanwhile, Aranda will focus on his defense, which ranks 122nd in the country in opponent points per game in 2023. Aranda plans to use his expertise to call plays for the defensive team, as he did as the former defensive coordinator at LSU, where he helped lead the team to the national championship in 2019.
Welcome to the Big Leagues
Head coaches Brent Brennan (Arizona) and Willie Fritz (Houston) will be getting their first taste of power conference media as they prepare for their first years at their respective institutions.
Brennan took San Jose State to the university’s first Mountain West title game appearance in 2020 and won for the first time since 1991, per DMN. He was also named national coach of the year by the Lombardi Foundation, leading his team to finish inside the AP top 25 for the season, as reported by 247 Sports.
Similarly, Fritz has an impressive resume with Tulane, winning the AAC championship and an impressive win over USC in the 2022 Cotton Bowl game. The Tulane team had a huge turnaround following an upsetting 2021 season in which it only won two games.
Colorado coach Deon Sanders and Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham will enter their second season as head coaches at their institutions, facing questions surrounding their team’s performances last season.