The Biggest Question For Every Big 12 Team Ahead of Media Days

SicEm365 Co-Editor Grayson Grundhoefer asks the biggest question facing each Big 12 team heading into Big 12 Media Days.

Arizona

• Will the Wildcats be able to overcome a challenging Big 12 schedule?

Zona hits the road to face BYU, Texas Tech, and Kansas State, plus has to face Utah, TCU and Arizona State in Tucson. This is going to be a grind for them to repeat last season's success with these challenges, but a weak non-conference schedule should help their record.

Arizona State

• Is Cutter Boley good enough to make up for losing Sam Leavitt?

The Sun Devils made a surprise run to the College Football Playoff in 2024, then won eight games during an injury-plagued 2025 season. Leavitt moved on to LSU, and wide receiver Jordyn Tyson was selected No. 8 overall in the NFL Draft. These are some massive pieces to lose, and now the focus shifts to Kentucky transfer Cutter Boley. The four-star transfer prospect was in a challenging situation in Lexington and still has a lot to prove. 

BYU

• Can the Cougars find more explosiveness in the pass game with a revamped receiving room?

BYU loses its top three pass catchers (2,350 yards and 14 touchdowns), and no returning receiver had more than 14 receptions last season. This room is absolutely rough and could be the thing that keeps the Cougars from getting to the Big 12 Championship Game because the rest of the team looks stout.

Baylor

• Did the Bears do enough on defense this offseason?

The Bears have not been good enough on defense since 2021. The Bears had one of the worst Power Four defenses in the entire nation during the 2025 season. So Dave Aranda handed the keys to former Kansas State defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman. Then the Bears spent as much as they could on the defensive line with major additions on the interior and one on the edge. This group has the chance to completely flip the Bears' fortunes in 2026 if they hit the level they could.

Cincinnati

• Can Cincy find a way to win games in November?

Under Scott Satterfield, Cincy is 1-11 in games in November. That is a recipe for disaster, and it has completely derailed two promising seasons for the Bearcats. This season, they face Houston, Iowa State and BYU on the road with a home game against Colorado, so the end of the season will provide challenges once again. Now with a revamped team and a new quarterback, will they be up to the challenge?

Colorado

• Have the Buffs figured out a way to run the football?

In Deion Sanders’ first three seasons in Boulder, the Buffs are averaging 86.5 rushing yards per game and less than three yards per carry. This is not going to work or be sustainable unless your quarterback is insane and you find a way to win close games as they did in 2024. They have to protect Julian Lewis with a run game, or things could get very ugly for the second-straight season.

Houston

• How much has the support and NIL resources improved to help shape this year's roster?

Willie Fritz retained the Cougars roster plus he landed some massive commitments in the 2026 class, along with the transfer portal. The upgrade in NIL commitments this season has been key for Houston, and it has shown in their recruiting efforts. Now we will see if that impacts the play on the field, taking them from a good team to a legit conference contender.

Iowa State

• How can you replace all the talent you lost, including a coaching staff that built the program?

There are very low expectations for the Cyclones after losing Matt Campbell and most of their notable players. Iowa State has the lowest returning production of any team in the league by a wide margin, and its transfer portal haul is pretty mediocre. Lots of questions here, but the one I led with feels like an all-encompassing one.

Kansas

• Who is the starting quarterback, and will it matter after losing Jalon Daniels?

Neither Isaiah Marshall nor Cole Ballard has done anything up to this point in college, so there is a risk that this goes sideways. Even if the choice is a good one, will they be able to replace a guy who was a staple for the Jayhawks for many years? Daniels amassed 90 total touchdowns and 10,727 yards across 49 games over six seasons in Lawrence.

Kansas State

• Will new head coach Collin Klein be able to get some magic out of Avery Johnson?

Klein helped engineer a major offensive turnaround in Manhattan during the 2022 and 2023 seasons. The unit went from 76th to 37th in Year 1 to 10th in Year 2. Will Howard, Adrian Martinez and Avery Johnson thrived in his scheme. Then he went to Texas A&M and turned things around offensively for the Aggies. All eyes will be on Avery Johnson, and if he can take a big step forward in this scheme after a very underwhelming 2025 season.

Oklahoma State

• Does it happen in Year 1 for Eric Morris?

This hasn’t been the case for him in his career so far. At Incarnate Word, he went 14-15 his first three seasons before breaking through. As the offensive coordinator at Washington State with Cam Ward, the Cougars went 7-6 in his first season. At North Texas, he went 11-13 in his first two seasons before breaking through. These turnarounds haven’t been Year 1, even with a guy who went No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft. It will be interesting to see if he can adjust more quickly and if the North Texas guys are ready for this step up in competition immediately.

TCU

• Can TCU replace Josh Hoover?

The long-time starter has moved to lead the defending National Champions, Indiana. So now Sonny Dykes has to turn to Harvard transfer Jaden Craig, who has all kinds of records but zero experience against this level of competition. Hoover had his ups and downs, but posted huge numbers with a high completion percentage while working with zero rushing attack. Craig will have to be very good for the Frogs to be relevant this season.

Texas Tech

• The defense will be good, but can it be as good as last year's?

With Brendan Sorsby rightfully losing his eligibility, the Red Raiders will once again have a game manager at quarterback. Last year, that worked out thanks to one of the best defenses in the nation. This year, they have a ton to replace after losing six defensive players to the NFL Draft. They reloaded, but it is hard to imagine they will be at the level they were at last season. This team had 105 tackles for loss, 41 sacks, 17 interceptions and 23 forced fumbles last year.

UCF

• Will the offense take the step forward that is needed?

The Knights were 90th in the nation in scoring offense, while ranking in the bottom four of the Big 12 in third-down and red-zone conversions. James Madison transfer quarterback Alonza Barnett III will be the key one to watch if this thing flips for Scott Frost and company.

Utah

• What kind of impact will the end of the Kyle Whittingham era look like?

Whittingham is off to Michigan after a 20-plus-year run at Utah. Now, his longtime defensive coordinator, Morgan Scalley, takes over. There is no doubt he can coach defense, and I expect things to trend well in that area, but the offense certainly has questions. Scalley has to prove he can run a program, and that is still absolutely in question. This could be something that causes a bit of a step back from Utah this year.

West Virginia

• Can the Mountaineers ride momentum from the flashes shown late in the season?

The narrow losses to TCU and Arizona State, along with wins over Houston and Colorado in November, provided some brief flashes to end last season. Now, Rich Rodriguez will hope to convert that positivity into season-long results, or was that just a fluke against teams who looked past them?