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Mascots pose for photos during the Big 12 NCAA college football media days in Frisco, Texas, Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)<\/p>\n
FRISCO, Texas (AP) \u2014 There are no official Big 12 predictions going into this season, so there will be no last-to-first narrative like what Arizona State had in its league debut.<\/p>\n
Going into its 30th football season, the Big 12 didn\u2019t conduct a preseason media poll predicting the order of finish for the 16-team conference. The results were way off last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI try to ignore it as best I can,\u201d Kansas State coach Chris Klieman said Tuesday at Big 12 media days. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the reasons we as coaches did not do a coaches poll because I think the narrative has really hurt our league. I know it hurt Arizona State and I know it hurt BYU last year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arizona State won the Big 12 championship game last season after being picked to finish at the bottom of the Big 12 standings. The Sun Devils were in a four-way tie for first place in the regular-season standings, beat Iowa State in the title game and were the only league team to make the College Football Playoff.<\/p>\n
Sun Devils coach Kenny Dillingham said he couldn\u2019t care less about any of the predictions last year, or what anybody might have guessed for this season. They do have back quarterback Sam Leavitt, who was picked as the league\u2019s preseason offensive player of the year since media still voted on a preseason All-Big 12 team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t really care where people put us. Vote us first, vote us last, vote us in the middle. If we\u2019re so focused on other people\u2019s expectations of us, then you\u2019re going to limit yourself,\u201d Dillingham said Tuesday. \u201cWho knows? Are we supposed to win six games? Are we supposed to win nine games? Are we supposed to go undefeated? Are we supposed to win zero? \u2026 All I know is when we show up to work, we should be the very best version of ourselves. And if we compete in something, you better compete to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
BYU was picked to finish 13th in the Big 12, and was part of that four-way tie at the end of the regular season with 7-2 conference records. The Cougars finished 11-2 overall, including a 9-0 start in which they had an early win over ACC newcomer SMU, which made the 12-team playoff field even after losing its conference championship game.<\/p>\n
Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said there\u2019s no value to such preseason football polls, especially with the ever-changing landscape in the game these days. He felt Arizona State was disadvantaged because of being picked 16th long before even playing its first game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the transfer portal and with roster management and what goes on as you build that roster, no one knows what they really have. They know what they have on paper, but it hasn\u2019t played out,\u201d Yormark said. \u201cAnd that was the case with Arizona State last year. So I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s a trend or not but certainly it\u2019s the right thing for the Big 12 and I\u2019m glad we did it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Big Ten Conference has long forgone doing preseason polls.<\/p>\n
Arizona State went into the Big 12 title game last December at 15th in the CFP rankings, behind three SEC teams with three losses and Mountain West Conference champion Boise State. The Sun Devils were then 12th in the final CFP rankings, but got a first-round bye as one of the top four-ranked conference champions before the format changed for this season to more-direct seeding.<\/p>\n
A series of tiebreakers had put Arizona State and Iowa State in the Big 12 title game, and eliminated BYU and Colorado from title contention.<\/p>\n
Utah, which like Arizona State made its Big 12 debut last year, was the preseason favorite to win the league. The Utes won all three of their non-conference games, but went 2-7 otherwise to finish near the bottom of the Big 12 standings.<\/p>\n
Oklahoma State was last after going 0-9 in conference play. The Cowboys had been picked third.<\/p>\n
Global stages<\/strong><\/p>\n The Big 12 season will open Aug. 23 with Kansas State playing Iowa State in Ireland. TCU will play its 2026 season opener there against North Carolina.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been on the record to say that I want this conference to be a global conference,\u201d said Yormark, who is going into his fourth year as Big 12 commissioner. \u201cI think we can win globally big time. Playing in Ireland obviously is that first step.\u201d<\/p>\n Football isn\u2019t the league\u2019s only sport going international for a league in which Yormark said 11% of the student-athletes are from outside the United States.<\/p>\n \u201cJust from a recruitment standpoint, it makes sense to carry that flag outside of the domestic marketplace,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Baylor\u2019s women\u2019s basketball team will open the upcoming season in Paris. Yormark said there is a good chance of a baseball game in Mexico City next spring, and that there are conversations about events in other international markets, like Germany.<\/p>\n