ARLINGTON, Texas — AT&T Stadium plays host to the 2023 Big 12 Media Days, and it will be more crowded than its ever been with football coaches and players.
The Big 12 Conference has 14 members this season, the most it has ever had since the 2011 season when there were 12 members. Colorado and Nebraska left the Big 12 for the Pac-12 and Big Ten, respectively, and 2012 saw the four-team carousel of Missouri and Texas A&M (left for SEC) and TCU and West Virginia (joined from Mountain West and Big East). The conference has had 10 members ever since.
WFAA will provide live updates throughout the day at Big 12 Media Days.
Live updates:
Thursday, July 13
Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire
McGuire touted that his team has 18 returning starters from the bowl game last season. Retention will certainly contribute to potential success.
McGuire also offered his condolences for Baylor head coach Dave Aranda and his family as they mourn the loss of his father, who passed away from cancer recently. Aranda spoke on it on Wednesday.
McGuire said, while he would take Tyree Wilson any day of the week, he said he believes the defensive line as a collective are better this year than last year. He also said he believes they have one of the best quarterback rooms in the country.
West Virginia head coach Neal Brown
Coach Brown started his press conference by saying he didn't agree whatsoever with the preseason media poll, which his team is picked to finish last.
Neal said they had a team meeting about the poll on Tuesday where they "talked about it in detail."
"We look forward to proving everyone wrong on that front. We won't finish there," Neal said.
Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell
The first question for Coach Campbell was related to the gambling situation -- includes quarterback Hunter Dekkers -- and the potential and/or likelihood of suspensions.
"That investigation is ongoing and continues to not have a lot clarity to it. We’re getting closer to getting clarity," Campbell said.
Campbell said, as a young man, he always dreamed of playing at BYU and in Provo after watching a lot of late-night Cougar games on television.
Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables
Brent Venables said he's has an amazing time in the Big 12 Conference, noting he played in the Big 8 and coached in the very first Big 12 game.
“This is a conference that takes a backseat to nobody,” Venables said. “The Big 12 is in great hands … The best is still yet to come for this conference.”
Venables said 97 of the Sooners 123 players on the roster are in their first or second seasons on the OU roster. He added he was excited for the season.
“We went 6-7 last year and fell well below our expectations and standards … We’ve looked at every single part of our program at how we can improve,” Venables said.
Wednesday, July 12
Commissioner address
Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark kicked off the Media Days with his address at noon.
Yormark started the address giving a shout out and tribute to late Dallas Morning News sports reporter Chuck Carlton. Carlton died in April of natural causes in his hotel room after falling ill during the Stars’ playoff loss to the Wild in St. Paul, Minn.
Yormark announced the Big 12 has extended its deal with AT&T Stadium to host the conference championship game through 2030. Tickets for the game will go on sale Aug. 12, Yormark said. The commissioner also said that for the first time, there will be a halftime show. The artist will be announced on Aug. 12.
Yormark also announced Iowa State's Ashley Joens and TCU's Max Duggan were named the recipients of the Big 12's inaugural Bob Bowlsby Award. The honor was established by the Big 12 Board of Directors as the Conference's most prestigious individual accolade.
Named in recognition of former commissioner Bob Bowlsby, the award is bestowed to the two student-athletes (one male and one female) who represent the absolute best in the Big 12 for their leadership and excellence, on and off the field of competition.
The winners were determined by a vote of the Conference's athletics directors.
TCU head coach Sonny Dykes
TCU head coach Sonny Dykes started the slate of press conferences for Big 12 coaches.
Dykes said TCU had a better-than-expected season in 2022, including what he would have predicted. The struggle for TCU is losing their Heisman candidate quarterback Max Duggan, multiple wide receivers to the NFL Draft and other top tier talent like Steve Avila and Kendre Miller.
Dykes spoke about hiring Kendall Briles as the team's new offensive coordinator. Dykes said he did his due diligence looking into the controversy of hiring Briles. He said he feels good about the hire.
Houston head coach Dana Holgorsen
Holgorsen said Houston was pleased and excited to join the Big 12, coming over from the American Athletic Conference. He called the Big 12 the "deepest conference in the country."
Holgorsen is no stranger to the Big 12 as the former head coach of West Virginia from 2011 and 2018.
Holgorsen said there has never been more parity in the Big 12 Conference than there is no. He alluded to a few "layups" there used to be in previous years, without naming names. He said there are no layups anymore.
Baylor head coach Dave Aranda
In his opening statement, Dave Aranda said his view of the transfer portal has changed because he used to say if he dipped into that, he was "giving up on a player." Now, he's putting his team first.
Aranda said he was excited to bring on new staff on board. He said they've brought in a fair amount of new players, who have fit in well.
Aranda said he's excited for the schedule and having eight home games.
When media questions opened, a reporter from the Waco Tribune offered condolences to Aranda for the passing of his father, who died of stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and then asked about his father's lasting impact on him. He said his father touched a lot of people and his celebration of life would be on Sunday. Aranda eloquently told a story about learning of his cancer diagnosis and when he visited his father to see him and shared a long embrace.
On the football field, Aranda was asked specifically about facing Texas and UCF. Aranda praised the job Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian and UCF head coach Gus Malzahn have done building their programs.
Aranda said Texas is “right on the forefront offensively and defensively of being creative and innovative."
"A lot of respect for UCF," Aranda added. "I have so much respect for Coach Malzahn. For us, he makes a tough league, tougher and better. It's going to be a tough environment."
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian
Sarkisian praised Longhorns fans selling out season tickets in June during his opening statement. Austin American-Statesman Sports Reporter Danny Davis asked Sarkisian if the season would be awkward with UT leaving after 2023.
Sarkisian said "it won't be awkward for them," but he can't speak for everyone else.
Sarkisian said he expects his team to play tough, fast, smart, and confident football. He added that if they do that week-in and week-out, they'll be in a position to compete for a championship. He said the players are mature enough to accomplish that.
When asked about Quinn Ewers' offseason and development, Sarkisian said Ewers' body has transformed and he's stepped up as a vocal leader. He added that if things go how they think or hope they do, he'll be a first round quarterback in the NFL Draft.
5 storylines to watch
Conference realignment was again among the top storylines heading into the season, as marquee Big 12 powers Texas and Oklahoma exit for the SEC in 2024, and BYU, Houston, UCF and Cincinnati join this season. We'll dive more into that below.
UT, OU leaving Big 12 for SEC after this season
The conferences two perennial powerhouses, and easily the two biggest brands in the Big 12, will leave after this season for greener pastures in the SEC. The SEC exit drama has been years in the making, the announcement is official and we're down to the last hoorah for the Longhorns and Sooners.
Crowds in the Big 12 are going to let them hear it this season, especially if UT or OU find themselves down or if they dare lose. We'll see if they have the last laugh, however, as they both project among tops in the conference (again).
Austin American-Statesman Sports Columnist Kirk Bohls asked Yormark on where he ranks the Big 12 Conference among the other Power 5 conferences. Yormark side-stepped the question and said he doesn't focus on competing with the other conferences and wants the Big 12 Conference to be the best version of itself. Bohls also asked if it was better for the league if Texas or Oklahoma did not win the title this season. Yormark did not address that question from Bohls.
New kids on the block
Out with the old, in with the new, they say?
With UT and OU leaving the SEC, the college football landscape was starting to come into question. Would the Big 12 crumble after losing it's top two brands, leaving it with only eight teams? Would other schools follow suit and head to other conferences? These were all questions being raised amid the Longhorn-Sooner saga.
Say hello to Houston, Cincinnati, BYU and UCF, Big 12 faithful. The Big 12 went would and welcomed the four universities to the league and got them in before UT and OU left. All four come into the league off eight-or nine-win seasons, adding seemingly legitimate depth to the conference's competitiveness.
Return of the Hypnotoad?
TCU's magical run to the national title game last season was unexpected and captured the attention of the country. Or maybe it was just us all being hypnotized by the all-powerful hypnotoad.
Regardless of why, everything clicked for the Horned Frogs in 2022. TCU was picked to finish seven out of 10 during the preseason last year, but comeback wins and theatrical endings (i.e.: game-winning field goal at Baylor), led by Heisman candidate Max Duggan, hopped the Frogs into the CFP for the first time in school history.
TCU lost a lot to the NFL Draft. And, once again, the Frogs are slated for the middle of the conference. Will they hypnotize the Big 12 again with their amphibious secret weapon?
Is there a Cinderella in this group, and if so, who?
Last year's top two projected teams were Baylor and Oklahoma. They combined to finish 12-14 and 7-11 in the conference. TCU, as mentioned above, clearly did not finish seventh out of 10.
So the question is: Which of these teams on the lower end makes a run at the title?
I'd watch out for Kansas. With Jalon Daniels at quarterback, KU was off to a hot start in 2022, but the Jayhawks lost to TCU in a game where Daniels was injured and their middle of the season fell apart with him out. Daniels is the Big 12 Conference preseason all-conference quarterback and his teammate in the backfield, Devin Neal, is the conference's preseason all-conference running back selection.
Dynamic play from those two could led to a lot of Rock Chalk chants this season.
Is Texas ... back?
There is a collective eye roll from every non-UT fan every time the Longhorns are brought up in the conversation, and maybe for good reason. UT has been ranked in the top 25 preseason polls four times when they've only won eight games or less the year prior.
They were picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 preseason poll after winning only five games in 2021. After an 8-5 campaign in 2022 that left them in third, Texas tops the preseason poll as the favorites to win the conference. A large part of that, perhaps, is the prospect of being led by former Southlake Carroll star Quinn Ewers at quarterback. He did shine in the small amount of playing time he saw against Alabama before getting injured.
And Ewers made his return from injury in one of college football's biggest rivalries (I'll let y'all argue if it is number one or not), to which he throttled the Sooners in one of the most dominant Longhorn wins in Red River Showdown history. It was the first Longhorn shutout in the rivalry since 1965, not to mention a near 50-piece (49-0).
So, if Ewers is to be as advertised, then UT will certainly be in the mix come December.
Preseason media poll
The Big 12 preseason poll was released on July 6, with the Texas Longhorns as the early favorite to win the conference. Here is a look at the full standings (First-place votes in parenthesis):
- Texas (41), 886
- Kansas State (14), 858
- Oklahoma (4), 758
- Texas Tech (4), 729
- TCU (3), 727
- Baylor, 572
- Oklahoma State (1), 470
- UCF, 463
- Kansas, 461
- Iowa State, 334
- BYU, 318
- Houston, 215
- Cincinnati, 202
- West Virginia, 129
Returning to DFW
Each team brings its coach and select players to represent the team, and there are a handful of Dallas-Fort Worth products making a return to the metroplex for the media day.
- Houston: Jack Freeman (OL; Midlothian Heritage)
- Oklahoma State: Preston Wilson (OL; Argyle)
- Texas: Quinn Ewers (QB; Southlake Carroll), Jaylan Ford (LB, Frisco Lone Star)
- Texas Tech: Jaylon Hutchings (DL; Forney), Jerand Bradley (WR, DeSoto)
Full Schedule
Wednesday, July 12
- Noon – Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark address
- 1:15 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. – TCU Coach Sonny Dykes press conference
- 1:45 p.m. to 2 p.m. – Houston Coach Dana Holgorsen press conference
- 2:10 p.m. to 2:25 p.m. – Kansas Coach Lance Leipold press conference
- 2:35 p.m. to 2:50 p.m. – Baylor Coach Dave Aranda press conference
- 3 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. – Oklahoma State Coach Mike Gundy press conference
- 3:25 p.m. to 3:40 p.m. – Texas Coach Steve Sarkisian press conference
- 3:50 p.m. to 4:05 p.m. – BYU Coach Kalani Sitake press conference
Thursday, July 13
- 9:15 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. – Kansas State Coach Chris Klieman press conference
- 9:45 a.m. to 10 a.m. – UCF Coach Gus Malzahn press conference
- 10:10 a.m. to 10:25 a.m. – Texas Tech Coach Joey McGuire press conference
- 10:35 a.m. to 10:50 a.m. – Cincinnati Coach Scott Satterfield press conference
- 11 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. – West Virginia Coach Neal Brown press conference
- 11:25 a.m. to 11:40 a.m. – Iowa State Coach Matt Campbell press conference
- 11:50 a.m. to 12:05 p.m. – Oklahoma Coach Brent Venables
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