The New Big 12: Chaos, Ambition, and No Clear Hierarchy
The Big 12 has reinvented itself faster than any Power 4 conference in recent memory. After losing Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC, it absorbed four former Pac-12 programs — Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah — while also welcoming BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF in 2023, ballooning to 16 teams and stretching coast to coast. The result is a conference without a traditional power structure, where any given Saturday can produce a surprise that reshapes the entire landscape. TCU's 2022 CFP run reminded the country that Big 12 football belongs on the biggest stage, but sustaining that relevance in a 16-team footprint with no divisions is a different challenge entirely. This is a conference of builders, rebuilders, and reinventors — and that makes it must-watch football every single week.
Who's Running the Big 12 Right Now
Iowa State's Matt Campbell has quietly built the most consistent program in the conference, turning Ames into a place where recruits buy in and opponents dread playing. Kansas State under Chris Klieman has proven the 2022 Big 12 title was no fluke, returning a culture of discipline and clutch performance that makes the Wildcats annually dangerous. Arizona State under Kenny Dillingham is the most compelling ascending program in the league — a hometown coach with genuine emotional investment, offensive creativity, and early recruiting momentum that signals the Sun Devils are ready to disrupt the established order. These three programs define the new Big 12 power class: steady veterans and a hungry upstart.
The Rivalry Games That Define the Big 12
The Sunflower Showdown between Kansas and Kansas State is the conference's most historically venomous in-state rivalry, carrying decades of genuine animosity and amplified now by Kansas football's unexpected resurgence under Lance Leipold. The Territorial Cup between Arizona and Arizona State is the oldest rivalry game in the West and brings a new energy to the Big 12 schedule, with both programs desperate to establish dominance in their shared state. Oklahoma State and West Virginia carry the torch for the conference's legacy rivalries, while the developing friction between Colorado and Utah — two programs with unfinished Pac-12 business — is rapidly becoming one of the most watchable games on the Big 12 calendar.
16 Teams Is Too Many to Track Without Scoutcast
Following the Big 12 used to mean tracking 10 teams. Now it means keeping tabs on 16 programs scattered from Morgantown to Tempe, each with their own coaching drama, transfer portal churn, and weekly stakes. Scoutcast delivers a personalized AI audio briefing every morning — pick your teams, and we'll tell you exactly what matters today, whether that's Deion Sanders's latest roster move, BYU's injury report, or TCU's recruiting news. Stop doom-scrolling through five different team message boards. Get the Big 12 intel you actually need, in the time it takes to drink your coffee.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Iowa State, Kansas State, and Arizona State are the programs setting the standard in the current Big 12. Matt Campbell and Chris Klieman provide the proven floor, while Kenny Dillingham's Sun Devils represent the most exciting ascending threat in the conference.
The Big 12 currently has 16 member schools after its major expansion in 2023 and 2024, adding BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, UCF, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah to its roster.
Kansas State won the 2022 Big 12 title, and TCU made an iconic run to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game that same year. The conference title race has been fiercely competitive with no consistent repeat champion since.
The Sunflower Showdown (Kansas vs. Kansas State) and the Territorial Cup (Arizona vs. Arizona State) are the marquee rivalry matchups. The Colorado-Utah rivalry, carrying Pac-12 history into a new conference, is rapidly gaining Big 12 significance.
Yes, the Big 12 is one of the four premier conferences in college football alongside the SEC, Big Ten, and ACC. It maintains automatic access to the College Football Playoff and competes at the highest level of the sport.
Scoutcast.ai delivers a personalized daily audio briefing covering every Big 12 team you follow. Select your teams in the app and get a concise morning update on news, injuries, and storylines — no endless scrolling required.
The Buffaloes have generated massive national attention under Coach Prime, but on-field results in Big 12 play have been inconsistent. The NIL infrastructure and recruiting profile are real — whether they translate to wins against conference competition remains the defining question of the Sanders era.