Phil Steele releases preseason Big 12 Football rankings

The Big 12 provided an exciting finish to its 2024 season, seeing four teams tie for first place with 7-2 records. In the end, it was Arizona State and Iowa State would won the tiebreakers the opportunity to win the conference with the Sun Devils going on to represent the conference in the College Football Playoff.
Heading into 2025, no shortage of excitement is expected during conference play. With several teams in possible contention to unseat Arizona State from its championship perch, the conference is up for grabs heading into the new football season.
Before that begins, Phil Steele provided their preseason rankings from 1-16. Arizona State appears to be the team to beat.
1. Arizona State
Arizona State earned a seat at the table last season, finishing the year 11-3 as Big 12 champions and earning one of the four first-round byes in the College Football Playoff. Phil Steele predicts similar success for the Sun Devils in 2025.
They will be tasked with replacing the production from running back Cam Skattebo. However, Sam Leavitt is back in his second season as a starter and Jordyn Tyson is expected to be one of the top wideouts in the conference.
2. Kansas State

Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman will have his core back from last year’s team that went 9-4. Namely, QB Avery Johnson is returning for his second season as the Wildcats starter. He’ll be paired with RB Dylan Edwards in the backfield — potentially one of the more high-powered offenses in the conference this season.
The Wildcats avoid Arizona State in the regular season. However, they will still have their fair share of key games to prove themselves as a contender in not only the Big 12, but in the race for the College Football Playoff. Some key matchups include the season opener in Dublin, Ireland against Iowa State, as well as a road trip to Baylor and a home stand against Texas Tech.
3. Baylor
Head coach Dave Aranda led Baylor to an 8-5 record last year, winning out in the back half of the regular season to finish with the second-best record of his tenure. That success is expected to continue, as Phil Steele ranked them third in the conference to begin the regular season.
QB Sawyer Robertson, as well as running backs Bryson Washington and Dawson Pendergrass are back for the upcoming season. However, Baylor has a few hurdles in their way to begin the season playing the likes of Auburn, SMU and Arizona State in three of their first four games.
4. BYU
BYU was one of the Big 12’s pleasant surprises from 2025. The Cougars finished their season 11-2, including a 9-0 start to the season before losing consecutive games in November.
It was the second time that head coach Kalani Sitake led his team to an 11-win season, and third time logging 10 or more wins in a single season. However, they’ll have to do so with a new quarterback after Jake Retzlaff‘s departure.
5. Texas Tech

Nobody did the transfer portal better than Texas Tech this offseason. Logging the No. 1 overall transfer class in the On3 transfer portal rankings, he added 13 players who boast former four-star status or above.
The Red Raiders have been knocking on the door in the Big 12 since head coach Joey McGuire has taken over, and 2025 may be the season that they shatter that season. They’ll have to put their money where their mouth is, however, and prove it on the gridiron.
6. TCU
2022’s appearance in the national championship game seems like a lifetime ago for TCU. They followed up with a five-win season in 2023 but regained their status as a player in the Big 12 after winning nine games last season.
Quarterback Josh Hoover, who was a part of that College Football Playoff team, is back for his third season as the starter. He made a massive jump from 2023 to 2024, and may very well do it again as a redshirt junior.
7. Iowa State
Despite coming off their best season in school history, Iowa State is seventh in Phil Steele’s preseason rankings. In 2024, the Cyclones played for the Big 12 Championship, including a chance to go to the College Football Playoff, while finishing with an 11-3 record in year nine under Matt Campbell.
The Cyclones will miss their receiving production from one year ago, but quarterback Rocco Becht returns after a stellar 2024 season. He totaled 25 touchdowns to nine interceptions while throwing for 3,505 yards.
8. Utah

Despite being ranked as high as No. 10 in the AP Top 25 poll early in the season, 2024 was only the third time since Kyle Whittingham has taken over (minus 2020’s COVID-shortened season) that Utah missed a bowl game. They’ll look to change that this fall.
Now that Cam Rising is medically retired from football, the Utes will be moving on to other options under center. The offseason, they landed on incoming New Mexico transfer, Devon Dampier.
9. Kansas
Like Utah, Kansas disappointed last season, finishing under .500 and missing a bowl game with a record of 5-7 in year four under Lance Leipold. It snapped a two-year bowl streak for the Jayhawks, their first since the 2007 and 2008 seasons.
Jalon Daniels is back under center for his final year of eligibility. It will be his sixth season with the program.
Top 10
- 1Breaking
Dave Portnoy, Barstool
Nearing Fox Sports deal
- 2Hot
DJ Lagway
Injury update
- 3
Kalen DeBoer
Responds to Nick Saban rumors
- 4
Thomas Castellanos
Doubles down on Bama trashing
- 5Trending
Teams that could surprise
Ranking Top 16 surprise teams
Get the Daily On3 Newsletter in your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
10. Colorado
Year three for Coach Prime at Colorado will look a little bit different. No Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter will be there to provide a safety net for the Buffaloes on offense. For Hunter’s case, both sides of the football.
After Deion Sanders’ first season with the program ended well short of expectations, the Buffaloes proved many wrong with a 9-4 record. Tiebreakers were the only thing keeping them from the Big 12 Championship and, in turn, a chance at making the CFP.
11. Houston

Houston has experienced little success since joining the Big 12 Conference. Finishing 4-8 in two seasons — with two different head coaches — says that there’s a lot of work for the Cougars to do before they’re in the conversation to contend in the conference.
2025 will be year two under Willie Fritz, and their team will look a little different as they’ve brought in 27 players from that NCAA transfer portal. That includes former Texas A&M quarterback Conner Weigman
12. Cincinnati
Cincinnati improved in year two under Scott Satterfield from 3-9 in his debut to 5-7 in 2024. However, this isn’t the jump they expected given they’re four seasons removed from a 13-1 season and subsequent CFP berth, and two seasons from a nine-win season the year after in 2022.
A bowl game is likely the goal for Satterfield and company. However, matchups against the likes of Nebraska to begin the season doesn’t help this effort. There are plenty of opportunities down the stretch for them to win key conference matchups, though.
13. West Virginia
Rich Rodriguez is returning to West Virginia for the first time since 2007. He led the Mountaineers to 10-plus win seasons from 2005-2007 before jumping ship to Michigan. Rodriguez ultimately won 86 games during his seven-year stint with the program.
The Mountaineers have been an afterthought in the Big 12 since the turn of the decade minus 2023’s nine-win season. Rodriguez is being brought in with the hope that he’ll be able to revive the respect that the West Virginia program once had.
14. UCF

Much like WVU, UCF is also turning to a successful former head coach. For the Knights, that’s Scott Frost.
Frost led UCF to its infamous 13-0 season in 2017 which ended with them defeating Auburn in the Peach Bowl. However, he only spent two seasons with the program before moving on with his career. After a subpar start to their Big 12 Conference affiliation, Frost will be tasked with leading the Knights back to glory — this time on a power conference level.
15. Arizona
Arizona was poised to be a major player in the Big 12 after a 10-3 finish to the 2023 season. However, it wasn’t until head coach Jedd Fisch took the same job at Washington that those expectations shifted.
The Wildcats ended up hiring Brent Brennan, who led the team to a 4-8 record in 2024 — tied for the second-worst finish in the conference after losing seven of their final eight games. Phil Steele’s preseason rankings reflect that finish.
16. Oklahoma State
Two seasons removed from a 10-4 record, Phil Steele is slotting Oklahoma State at the bottom of their Big 12 preseason rankings. Of course, this comes after the Cowboys logged their worst season in two decades under Mike Gundy, finishing at 3-9 after losing every game and finishing in last place in the Big 12.
They’ll try and avoid that in 2025. However, a similar finish this season means that it may be time for a change of direction in Stillwater.