FRISCO, Texas — It’s that time of year when every college football coach is optimistic. Nobody has lost a game yet. And everyone still has hopes of a conference championship.
The Big 12 kicked off the season with two media days held at The Star in Frisco, Texas, headquarters of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. Eight coaches and selected players talked about their teams on July 8, with the other eight teams following suit the next day.
Advertisement
The start of the regular season is five or so weeks away. Here are the storylines to follow as the Big 12 football season unfolds.
The Sun Devils were the ultimate Cinderella story last season, emerging as conference champions despite being picked to finish last in the preseason poll, which led to the elimination of such polls.
Battering ram running back Cam Skattebo has moved to the NFL, but 16 starters and one specialist are returning, so much will be expected. The Sun Devils are not the gutty little underdog any longer. How will they play when the pressure is on them?
Advertisement
Repeating is not an easy task, particularly in a conference where there is parity. Oklahoma, which has since departed for the SEC, is the only team to repeat as outright conference champion, having done so on multiple occasions, most recently in 2019 and 2020.
What will Colorado look like?
Perhaps no team will look more different this season than Colorado. Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter is in the NFL. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders and his brother Shiloh have also gone. Colorado, 9-4 in 2024, returns only three starters on offense but eight on defense.
Coach Deion Sanders’ health issues have kept him home in Texas rather than in Colorado, where he was contractually obligated to conduct youth camps.
Advertisement
Colorado also faces one of the toughest schedules in the conference; last season, it had one of the easiest.
A general view is seen inside AT&T Stadium before the Big 12 championship game between the Arizona State Sun Devils and the Iowa State Cyclones on Dec. 7, 2024, in Arlington, Texas.
Who will be the quarterback at BYU?
The Cougars looked to be a serious contender for a conference title after a strong showing last season. A big reason was senior quarterback Jake Retzlaff, who could make clutch plays to rally his team from tough positions.
Off the field, adversity has come into play with a civil lawsuit filed against Retzlaff in May, alleging that he sexually assaulted a woman at his home. Retzlaff, reportedly, is no longer a part of the program. Coach Kalani Sitake hedged when asked if Retzlaff has indeed departed.
Advertisement
“First of all, I love Jake Retzlaff,” Sitake said. “We love Jake Retzlaff and appreciate all that he’s done for our program. I think it’ll be inappropriate for me to make a statement on his situation first. That’s his right. I think it’s a private matter that he can speak for himself, and I’m going to give him the opportunity to do that.”
One candidate for the starting job is sophomore Treyson Bourguet, brother of former ASU quarterback Trenton Bourguet. McCae Hillstead, also a sophomore, will be in the mix, as will freshman Bear Bachmeier.
Brigham Young Cougars head coach Kalani Sitake calls a timeout against the Oklahoma State Cowboys during the third quarter at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah, on Oct. 18, 2024.
Can Utah bounce back from subpar season?
Utah was a perennial title contender in its Pac-12 existence and was viewed as one of the favorites with its move to the Big 12. Kyle Whittingham, the second-longest tenured coach in FBS, heads into his 21st season.
Advertisement
The Utes went 5-7 overall and 2-7 in Big 12 play. Six of the school’s nine 10-win seasons came with him at the helm, and he became Utah’s winningest coach in 2022. The 2024 season marked just the third time a Whittingham-led team finished below .500, and the last the last previous time it had a losing record was 2013.
Most of the issues came at quarterback. Utah will boast a newcomer there in junior Devon Dampier, a transfer from New Mexico. It has 10 returning starters on offense, led by linemen Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu — both preseason All-Big 12 selections.
New Mexico Lobos quarterback Devon Dampier (4) avoids a tackle from Auburn Tigers linebacker Demarcus Riddick (16) as Auburn Tigers take on New Mexico Lobos at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024.
What will Frost, Rodriguez 2.0 look like?
There are two coaching changes in the conference this season — though neither is new in the traditional sense. Scott Frost, 50, is back at Central Florida, while Rich Rodriguez, 62, is starting a second tenure at West Virginia.
Advertisement
Frost led the Knights to a 19-7 record in the 2016 and 2017 seasons. His brief stint was highlighted by a 13-0 record in 2017 that led the school to claim a mythical national championship. He rode the momentum of that season to Nebraska, where things didn’t go quite as well. The Cornhuskers were just 16-31 in his five years there. He spent last season as an analyst for the NFL’s Rams
“Going home isn’t always easy,” Frost said. “Going back isn’t always easy. This was an easy choice for me because of how much we liked it there. UCF has grown so much and has so much growth potential. I’ve said this a lot today, but our 2017 run had a lot to do with UCF positioning itself in a place where it could become a candidate to be in a league like the Big 12.
UCF Head Football Coach Scott Frost during UCF Spring football practice at FBC Mortgage Stadium in Orlando, Friday, April 11, 2025.
“It’s my goal to continue to try to help UCF push forward. If there’s any more changes coming, we need to be positioned in the right place and to do everything we can to make it a legitimate competitor in this league and beyond. We have a lot of work to do to get there, but it’s probably the only place that I would want to be doing this in college football.”
Advertisement
Rodriguez is a journeyman, having previously worked in Morgantown as head coach from 2001 to 2007. He was also there in lesser capacities in 1985 and 1989. Most recently, he was at Jacksonville State.
What new faces will emerge at running back?
This was a position of strength in the Big 12 in 2024. Cam Skattebo of Arizona State, R.J. Harvey of Central Florida, Tahj Brooks of Texas Tech, Ollie Gordon II of Oklahoma State, Devin Neal of Kansas, D.J. Giddens of Kansas State, and Jacory Croskey-Merritt of Arizona were all drafted. That’s quite a haul from one conference.
ASU fans know well the impact a running back can have because of what Skattebo meant in the Sun Devils run last season.
Advertisement
ASU will likely go with a running back by committee because of depth there, with Kyson Brown leading the way.
Other Big 12 running backs to watch include Bryson Washington of Baylor, Jahiem White of West Virginia and Dylan Edwards of Kansas State.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: The 2025 season features many Big 12 storylines, including possible ASU repeat
