The conclusion of the Big 12 Conference baseball tournament a week ago also meant the end of head-to-head team competition for the current iteration of the league.
While Oklahoma and Texas will continue to represent the league through the end of the college sports season — expect to see Big 12 patches on their uniforms at the outdoor track nationals beginning Wednesday — their departures for the Southeastern Conference will become official at the start of next month.
Also this offseason, though, the Big 12 will replenish and further expand its membership with the additions of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah from the hollowed-out Pac-12 Conference.
Some of these schools are more familiar to followers of Kansas than others — Colorado was already in the Big 12 and its predecessor for 62 years before its comparatively brief 14-year stint in the Pac-12 — but the offseason provides an opportune time to develop familiarity with their athletic offerings ahead of the start of the school year.
To begin, here’s a look at what to expect from these schools’ football programs, two of which KU will take on this season: Arizona State in Phoenix on Oct. 5, then Colorado at Arrowhead Stadium on Nov. 23.
Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) runs away from Washington cornerback Elijah Jackson (25) during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023, in Tucson, Ariz.
Arizona
A program that embarked on a dramatic upward trajectory in three seasons under Jedd Fisch, culminating in just the third 10-win season in program history, endured a bit of a reset this offseason. Fisch left for Washington, took a slew of players with him and was replaced by Brent Brennan.
Even with the upheaval, the Wildcats have the core of an excellent passing offense in place with wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who finished the year fifth in the nation with 1,402 receiving yards and was a third-team All-American, and quarterback Noah Fifita, who seized control of the starting role midway through his redshirt freshman year and ended up getting named Pac-12 freshman of the week on five separate occasions, including after he threw for 527 yards and five touchdowns in a dominant win over rival ASU.
Of the team’s remaining all-conference honorees from last season, offensive tackle Jordan Morgan is gone to the NFL, where he was a first-round pick of the Green Bay Packers, but linebacker Jacob Manu is back after leading the Pac-12 with 116 tackles as a sophomore, as is placekicker Tyler Loop (49-for-57 on field goals in his career).
The team’s offseason transfer crop includes a few who followed Brennan from his previous gig as the head coach at San Jose State (such as running back Quali Conley and defensive end Tre Smith) in addition to Power Five acquisitions such as former Ole Miss running back Kedrick Reescano and Indiana cornerback Jordan Shaw. The Wildcats were also able to retain multiple players who had initially entered the transfer portal in cornerback Tacario Davis and offensive lineman Raymond Pulido, both with starting experience in 2023.
Arizona State defensive back Shamari Simmons reacts after forcing an incompletion on a pass to UCLA wide receiver Logan Loya during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023, in Pasadena, Calif.
Arizona State
One of KU’s first-ever conference games against a new Big 12 foe is set for Tempe, Arizona, on Oct. 5. (The Jayhawks will already have faced Colorado in soccer and volleyball by then.)
The Sun Devils lost a lot of talent to the transfer portal after going 3-9 in their first season under Kenny Dillingham, including their two leading receivers (wideout Elijhah Badger and tight end Jalin Conyers), a promising young quarterback (Jaden Rashada) and a former walk-on who blossomed into an all-conference defensive lineman (B.J. Green).
But Dillingham showed an ability to replenish the roster with highly touted players like USC transfer running back Raleek Brown and Oregon transfer cornerback Cole Martin, as well as former Michigan State quarterback Sam Leavitt, who seems in line to start with Rashada’s departure.
ASU will be hoping for some sense of continuity beyond Dillingham as previous key transfer acquisitions like center Leif Fautanu, cornerback Shamari Simmons and running back Cam Skattebo are back for more in 2024. Skattebo combined for more than 1,000 yards rushing and receiving with 10 touchdowns, while Simmons was the leading tackler from his defensive back spot and also had an interception, two fumble recoveries and six pass breakups.
FILE – Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, left, talks to his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, in the first half of an NCAA college football game against Stanford Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, in Boulder, Colo. Deion Sanders is accomplishing what he pledged to do by overhauling his offensive line to better protect his often-hit quarterback son. The Colorado coach reached into the transfer portal and brought in linemen from the University of Houston, Connecticut, Indiana and UTEP.
Colorado
The highly scrutinized Buffaloes started virtually from scratch with a new roster under head coach Deion Sanders last season and came out of the gates with a 45-42 victory over national runner-up TCU, kicking the hype machine into overdrive before CU lost eight of its last nine games and finished 4-8.
Still, it was a star-making season for Travis Hunter, a former five-star prospect who had joined Sanders at the Football Championship Subdivision level with Jackson State in 2022 before following him to Colorado, and as a true sophomore played on both sides of the ball, accumulating 57 catches for 721 yards and five touchdowns as a receiver and 30 tackles and five interceptions as a cornerback. Sanders’ son Shedeur, the starting quarterback, threw for 27 touchdowns to just three interceptions.
The popular knock on Colorado in its first season under Sanders was its poor line play. The offensive line, which struggled to protect Sanders as it allowed 56 sacks on the season, has a new position coach in Phil Loadholt. He will be charged with tutoring players like five-star freshman offensive lineman Jordan Seaton and a slew of transfers, including Tyler Johnson (Houston), Payton Kirkland (Texas), Justin Mayers (UTEP) and Zack Owens (Clemson). The Buffaloes similarly beefed up their defensive line with Green as well as their two highest-rated transfers by 247Sports, Samuel Okunlola (Pittsburgh) and Quency Wiggins (LSU).
After an offseason characterized by turnover amid the roster and coaching staff — for the second straight season — the Buffaloes will face North Dakota State, Nebraska and Colorado State before they get into the thick of their first Big 12 schedule since 2010.
Utah quarterback Cameron Rising (7) looks to throw a pass during the first half in the Rose Bowl NCAA college football game against Penn State Monday, Jan. 2, 2023, in Pasadena, Calif.
Utah
Utah comes into the Big 12 with one of the most consistent records of recent success of any team in the modern edition of the conference, more than a decade removed from its last losing season and having won four of its nine bowl games in the same time frame, including back-to-back New Year’s Six appearances in 2021 and 2022. On the whole, Kyle Whittingham’s time at the helm includes 10 bowl victories in 19 seasons, and he will now prepare the Utes for a second conference transition during his tenure.
Cameron Rising, who has been playing college football since 2018, will return as Utah’s starting quarterback after missing the entire 2023 season due to injury. He threw for 3,036 yards and 26 touchdowns in 2022 and will have new weapons in the passing game in players like tight end Carsen Ryan (a UCLA transfer) and wideouts Taeshaun Lyons (Washington) and Dorian Singer (USC). The running back position is a bit more of a question mark after Ja’Quinden Jackson transferred to Arkansas, with Idaho transfer Anthony Woods and freshman Isaac Wilson joining Micah Bernard and Jaylon Glover.
The Utes will be rebuilding at a few other position groups, such as safety, where two players went in the NFL Draft and where they are primarily relying on returnees to step up into greater roles after adding just one transfer in Alaka’i Gilman (Stanford).
Henry is the sports editor at the Lawrence Journal-World and KUsports.com, and serves as the KU beat writer while managing day-to-day sports coverage. He previously worked as a sports reporter at The Bakersfield Californian and is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis (B.A., Linguistics) and Arizona State University (M.A., Sports Journalism). Though a native of Los Angeles, he has frequently been told he does not give off “California vibes,” whatever that means.
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