Big 12 Notes – Spring Practices

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Big 12 Notes – Spring Practices

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March 13th

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Utah head coach Morgan Scalley pledges $2 million of his salary to help pay players

… Paging Coach Prime … 

From al.com … Utah football coach Morgan Scalley has pledged $2 million of his salary to help fund the school’s NIL program, it was announced Thursday.

“The University of Utah and particularly Utah Athletics have been an extremely important and influential part of my life for as long as I can remember,” Scalley said. “My love for this place includes a vision of where we can go and what we can achieve, and it will require an increased effort from everyone who shares in that vision. Liz and I simply wanted to do something for this amazing place that shows our faith in and commitment to the future of this incredible University, and how excited we are for what’s to come.”

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FanDuel over/under win projections for the Big 12: CU last in the conference at 4.5

From FootballScoop.com … The folks at FanDuel dropped their team totals for the Power 4, and considering the money involved it’s definitely the most significant “stake in the ground, here’s what’s happening” predictions to date for the 2026 season.

Big 12
11.5: Texas Tech
8.5: BYU, Utah
7.5: Arizona, Houston, Kansas State
6.5: Arizona State, Baylor, Oklahoma State, TCU
5.5: Cincinnati, Iowa State, Kansas, UCF, West Virginia
4.5: Colorado

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March 12th

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Truth is stranger than fiction: Big Ten asks NCAA to put a halt to tampering investigations

From ESPN … The Big Ten sent a letter to the NCAA this week asking the organization to put a halt to “investigations and infractions proceedings” related to tampering, according to a copy of the letter obtained by ESPN.

The letter states that the “current framework” for tampering rules “cannot be credibly or equitably enforced,” pointing out the rules for tampering were designed before a modern era that includes paying athletes and essentially unlimited transfers.

“These rules were not designed for a world in which student-athletes are compensated market participants making annual decisions with significant economic consequences,” the letter reads. “The collision between the old rules and new reality is producing outcomes that harm the population that the rules were designed to protect.”

The letter comes in the wake of a flurry of recent tampering headlines. That included the NCAA seeking to impose significant penalties against tampering offenders. The case of linebacker Luke Ferrelli, who transferred to Ole Miss after enrolling at Clemson, has also put the issue in the forefront.

The prevalence of tampering in the current landscape is so great that numerous officials told ESPN’s Max Olson that it’s essentially a competitive disadvantage to not tamper.

“If you’re not doing that, you’re so far behind in the game,” an SEC general manager told Olson.

The Big Ten’s letter lays out why the current rules are antiquated for the modern space, suggests a pause that “does not create a window of impunity” and lays out a vision for building “a framework suited to the world as it actually exists.”

The Big Ten letter states: “We are committed to engaging in an expeditious process to develop a modern framework for contact rules that addresses the varied challenges and opportunities of the current collegiate landscape.”

The letter shows portal numbers from this year (the first football season with just one portal period) that have not appeared publicly. That includes 1,000 football players who entered the portal on Jan. 2 and took campus visits the same weekend. More than 300 had signed with a new school by the end of the weekend. Some signed as quickly as 90 minutes into the portal opening, and others had a “do not contact” designation that essentially couldn’t exist without some type of fact finding to determine a new destination.

… Continue reading story here …

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March 11th

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Big 12 Returning Starters: CU not alone in breaking in a new starting lineup

From CBS Sports … College football’s roster cycle has never moved faster. Programs can reshape entire depth charts in a single offseason through the transfer portal. While talent acquisition has become more fluid than ever, continuity still has to be developed the old-fashioned way.

That’s where returning starters still matter.

That pattern finally bent last season when Indiana defied all the odds during its historic run to a national championship. Each of the previous eight title winners had returned at least 11 players who made six or more starts the year before, but the Hoosiers finished the job with just eight. National runner-up Miami had a nearly identical profile, also bringing back eight such starters, with both programs surrounding their returning core with experienced transfers.

For this project, returning starters are defined as players who logged at least six starts during the 2025 season, including postseason games. Only offensive and defensive starters are included; special teams players were excluded.

Most spring rosters across the FBS have now been updated, though a small portion remain incomplete or unavailable. Programs without a published roster were reviewed as carefully as possible to determine returning starters for 2026. Because of college football’s evolving eligibility landscape — including medical redshirts, hardship waivers and other eligibility cases — the list below could change slightly as additional roster updates become available.

For now, each of the 10 teams with the best FanDuel Sportsbook odds to win next season’s national title are expected to return at least nine starters from the 2025 campaign. That group is led by Georgia, Notre Dame and Oregon, which each bring back 14 starters — among the highest totals in the country entering the 2026 season. Those three programs are tied for the FBS lead with eight returning defensive starters.

USC leads all FBS teams with 15 returning starters overall, including a national-high nine on offense, as Lincoln Riley looks to translate that continuity into a long-awaited breakthrough in the Big Ten.

At the other end of the spectrum, three FBS programs return zero starters from last season: Iowa State, Memphis and North Texas. Each saw their coach leave for a new position this offseason.

From the Big 12 … 

• BYU … 13
• Texas Tech … 13
• Houston … 12
• UCF … 10
• Kansas State … 9
• Arizona … 8
• TCU … 8
• Kansas … 6
• Colorado … 5
• Arizona … 5
• Cincinnati … 5
• Utah … 5
• Oklahoma State … 4
• Arizona State … 3
• West Virginia … 3
• Iowa State … 0

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March 9th

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Arkansas makes multi-million dollar deal for patches on uniforms (Tyson Foods)

… Paging Fernando Lovo (if we can tear him away from his discussions on naming rights for Folsom Field) … 

From CBS Sports … As college athletics scrambles to fund the exploding cost of paying athletes, Arkansas may have landed on one of the sport’s most aggressive new models: a corporate sponsorship designed primarily to pay players.

The Razorbacks and Tyson Foods have entered into a sweeping five-year partnership that will place the company’s logo on the jerseys of all 19 Arkansas teams beginning in the 2026–27 academic year. But the branding is only part of the story — roughly 90% of the money generated by the deal is expected to flow directly to Arkansas athletes through name, image and likeness opportunities with the company.

Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek calls the agreement announced Wednesday “the largest true sponsorship agreement in college athletics right now.”

“The intention is that every student-athlete will be positively impacted by this partnership,” Yurachek said. “That was really important to Mr. Tyson and Donnie King, their president and CEO, and Kristina Lambert, their chief growth officer. And it’s really important to us as well.”

Specific financial details of the Razorbacks’ mega deal with Tyson Foods — headquartered just a few miles away in nearby Springdale — were not disclosed. Tyson Foods chairman John Tyson told CBS Sports, however, that speculation about a nine-figure agreement is misplaced.

“It’s not $100 million, let’s put it that way,” Tyson said.

Still, the structure of the deal is what could make it notable nationally.

“The game’s changing so quickly,” Tyson said. “NIL sponsorships, funding for universities — the model is moving really, really quickly.”

… Continue reading story here …

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March 8th

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The Athletic: Two CU transfers impress staffers from Big 12 rivals

From The Athletic … College football’s January transfer portal window was fast and furious, with no shortage of drama. With the vast majority of player movement complete, The Athletic surveyed 14 people who work in front offices around the country to dive deeper into the storylines.

Which teams had the best classes? Which players did personnel staffers like the most? Did the new dates and length of the portal window work?

Staffers were granted anonymity in exchange for their candor.

Which team had the best class (not including your own)?

Big 12 staffer 1: I hate to say it, but Texas Tech is doing what they should with their money. To go out and get (linebacker) Adam Trick and (edge rusher) Trey White, I’d love to sit here and say we did that.

Group of 6 staffer 1: LSU clearly spent big. They went after some big hitters. Oklahoma State stood out to me because they had so many of those strong North Texas players. I think they’ll make an instant impact for them, and they have a lot of guys who know the system, have real snaps, and they’ll be an older team. They did a good job of not only bringing in their own guys but finding other quality guys as well. Texas Tech continues to plug along with the model they’ve built, bringing in impact guys at key positions and making investments there.

Big 12 staffer 2: I thought Houston was impressive. Their ability to compete financially was surprising.

ACC staffer 3: They overpaid for some kids, but from an evaluation standpoint, Texas Tech did a really excellent job. I thought their class was pretty exceptional. I thought Texas did a really good job with a handful of guys. I thought Tennessee did a pretty good job. They signed a couple kids that I liked. A large portion of Penn State’s class came from Iowa State, but I thought they did a good job given that. I thought Clemson did a really good job. Oklahoma State did an outstanding job.

Which teams underwhelmed you?

Big 12 staffer 2: Kansas State and Wisconsin. K-State overpaid for a lot of guys, in my opinion. I like a lot of the guys Wisconsin got, but I just thought they overpaid to get ’em. Some of Baylor’s takes were suspect.

ACC staffer 3: Pitt got destroyed in the portal, and I didn’t think they did a sufficient job replacing the talent they lost. Georgia Tech got absolutely decimated in the portal, and I don’t think they did a particularly sufficient job replacing what they lost, either. North Carolina was odd this cycle. I thought they overpaid for a couple kids.

Group of 6 staffer 4: I thought for us there were a lot of guys we were recruiting against Iowa State and Baylor. So I thought those players were kind of more our level.

Which transfer did you like the most (not including one of your signees)?

Big Ten staffer 1: (Linebacker) Adam Trick, who went to Texas Tech. I think he would’ve been an early Day 3 draft pick this year. I think in that league he’s going to do really well.

Group of 6 staffer 1: Caleb Hawkins (North Texas to Oklahoma State). I think he’s a flippin’ stud. He’s so talented. He’s going to come in and be one of the best running backs in the Big 12 on Day 1.

Big 12 staffer 2: I’m intrigued by (center) Demetrius Hunter (Houston to Colorado). He has started 24 Big 12 games. You can’t take that lightly. I thought he was a good take for Colorado.

Group of 6 staffer 2: I love (cornerback) Justin Eaglin (James Madison to Colorado). I really liked Kyri Shoels (San Jose State to Utah).

… Read full story here …

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March 6th

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CBS Sports: The 24-Team Playoff is Coming – Get Used to the Idea

From Tom Fornelli at CBS Sports … The 24-team College Football Playoff is coming. Fight against it all you want. Question its purpose. Decry the professionalization of the sport. It doesn’t matter. It’s Manifest Destiny, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

This week provided more examples of why you’d better accept it. In the idea’s infant stages, it was portrayed as nothing but a hare-brained idea by Big Ten and commissioner Tony Petitti. They were the ones pushing it. Greg Sankey, the principled and upstanding commissioner of the SEC, was the only thing standing between us and the tomfoolery.

Except now, SEC coaches are speaking up about the idea. And guess what? They’re on board. Both Georgia’s Kirby Smart and Tennessee’s Josh Heupel are on record as liking the idea, and why wouldn’t they be?

By my rough math (and by rough, I mean hyperbolic guess), 100 of the head football coaches at the FBS level share three agents. Those three agents have made sure that every single one of those coaches has bonuses in their contracts involved with making the playoff. While the size differs depending on the coach’s gravitas, everybody likes making more money. And the more spots available, the more coaches are likely to make more money.

You will hear people argue that we shouldn’t let coaches dictate the future of the sport because coaches are mostly thinking about themselves. I agree with those people. Instead, we must continue to let television executives dictate the future of the sport, and the conference commissioners who had the foresight to rip apart conferences at the behest of those television executives who eventually dropped the middleman and just took over the conferences themselves!

Am I being sarcastic as all hell right now? You’re damn right I am. Because I am annoyed by everybody when it comes to the College Football Playoff and expansion. I see and hear so many of my colleagues respond to the idea of a 24-team field by saying it’s the last straw, or the final frontier of stupid decisions in college football.

Are you sure about that?

In the last few years, we’ve seen Cal and Stanford join the ACC. The Big Ten has Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA

… . Oh, and it’s still called the Big Ten despite having 18 teams, much like the Big 12 is the Big 12 despite having 16. We are well past the stupid threshold here, folks!

You can also argue that a 24-team format destroys the value of the regular season, but I would argue conference consolidation killed it first. When you have 16 teams in your league, and all the best programs in the sport’s history have been condensed to primarily two leagues, losses are going to come with them.

The idea of every game mattering in the sense of determining the national champion died long ago. The 24-team format is the next logical — and I use that term loosely — step in the process of taking college football from its 20th-century values to a 21st-century reality.

… Continue reading story here …

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March 5th

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Bill Connelly ranks Power Four quarterbacks – Julian Lewis comes in at (pause) No. 64 out of 68

From Bill Connelly at ESPN … January’s transfer window has long since closed, and college football rosters are as stable as they’ll ever be as spring football gets started across the country. It feels like a good time to start looking toward the fall.

We’ll get to SP+ projections and infinite preview material soon enough, but let’s start, as we always seem to do, with the quarterbacks. On a couple of different occasions during the 2025 season, I ranked all 68 power-conference quarterbacks based on stats, trends and recent performances. Let’s do that again. We have at least a reasonable idea of who will start for most of the teams on the current power-conference rosters, so let’s take the next logical step. There they are, Nos. 1-68, heading into spring ball.

7. Drew Mestemaker, Oklahoma State Cowboys

9. Brendan Sorsby, Texas Tech Red Raiders

12. Devon Dampier, Utah Utes

15. Bear Bachmeier, BYU Cougars

21. Avery Johnson, Kansas State Wildcats

27. Noah Fifita, Arizona Wildcats

31. Alonza Barnett III, UCF Knights

35. Cutter Boley, Arizona State Sun Devils

36. Conner Weigman, Houston Cougars

40. DJ Lagway, Baylor Bears

50. Michael Hawkins Jr., West Virginia Mountaineers

51. Jaylen Raynor, Iowa State Cyclones

54. JC French IV, Cincinnati Bearcats

55. Jaden Craig, TCU Horned Frogs

62. Julian Lewis, Colorado Buffaloes

2025 stat line: 33.3 QBR, 589 passing yards, four TDs, zero INTs, 55.3% completion rate, 11.3 yards per completion

Deion Sanders and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur ran their QB room in scattershot fashion in 2025, starting three different guys at one point or another, but the uncertainty is gone in 2026. Two of those three are gone, and Lewis, the blue-chip, redshirt freshman, is the guy for new coordinator Brennan Marion. Lewis was good in one late-season start (a win over WVU) and lost in another (a blowout defeat to Arizona State), but he has tools.

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March 4th

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Number of playoff appearances if 24-team playoffs dated back to 2014 (CU: Twice)

From the Big 12 … 

• Eight appearances: Utah
• Six appearances: Oklahoma State
• Four appearances: Baylor; BYU; TCU
• Three appearances: Arizona; Cincinnati; Houston; Iowa State
• Two appearances: Colorado; Arizona State; Kansas State; UCF; West Virginia
• One appearance: Texas Tech
• No appearances: Kansas

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March 2nd 

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CBS Bowl Projections: One Playoff Team; no Bowl for the Buffs

From CBS Sports … As spring practice across college football nears full swing, it’s time for a borderline futile experiment — 2026 bowl projections for every game, from mid-December Group of Six pairings through New Year’s, punctuated by the College Football Playoff. Half of the 12-team bracket last fall was made up of first-time participants, spiking parity that enhanced the sport for fans.

Should we expect more unpredictability at the top of the postseason polls in 2026?

The Peach, Fiesta, Rose and Cotton Bowls hold playoff quarterfinal designations for next season, while the Orange and Sugar Bowls will host the semifinals. Add the additional 34 non-playoff games, excluding the now-defunct LA Bowl, and 40 total matchups will unfold next fall.

Teams we’re expecting to return to bowl eligibility after missing out last season include Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Virginia Tech and UCLA. North Carolina is another thanks to Bill Belichick’s offseason shakeup in his quarterback room and a schedule conducive to success.

While not all tie-ins have been determined yet, former Pac-12 programs are designated for Pac-12 bowls for one final season, which means Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington are eligible for the Alamo, Independence, Holiday, Las Vegas, and Sun Bowls along with Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah.

… College Football Playoff … Texas Tech …

Power Four tie-ins

• First Responder Bowl: Cincinnati vs. North Carolina
• Gasparilla Bowl: Auburn vs. Virginia
• Rate Bowl: Kansas State vs. Wisconsin
• GameAboveSports Bowl: Minnesota vs. Central Michigan
• Fenway Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. Tulane
• Pinstripe Bowl: NC State vs. Nebraska
• Military Bowl: Navy vs. Pittsburgh
• Texas Bowl: TCU vs. South Carolina
• Independence Bowl: Arizona vs. Army
• Birmingham Bowl: Duke vs. Kentucky
• Sun Bowl: Utah vs. SMU
• Duke’s Mayo Bowl: Illinois vs. Florida State
• Liberty Bowl: Florida vs. Oklahoma State
• Music City Bowl: Missouri vs. Iowa
• Las Vegas Bowl: Arizona State vs. Tennessee

Pop-Tarts Bowl

The pick: Houston vs. Clemson

From four wins to 10 in only two seasons with the Cougars, Willie Fritz has his sights set on a Big 12 Championship Game appearance at Houston in 2026. The Pop-Tarts Bowl has grabbed the league’s runner-up each of the past two years, and that scenario may unfold again. Getting Dabo Swinney and the Tigers would be a draw for organizers since Clemson has played in Orlando only once in the last decade (2021) in a postseason setting.

Alamo Bowl

The pick: BYU vs. UCLA

Nico Iamaleava and Bob Chesney could be an ideal match for the Bruins, leading to vast, program-wide improvements in 2026. Buy low on UCLA’s expected progress under its new regime with a clear path to bowl eligibility if this 41-member portal class can be impactful. BYU came up one win short of getting to the CFP last season and brings back the bulk of its lineup, including star tailback LJ Martin.

Power Four teams who missed the preseason bowl projections cut: Arkansas, Baylor, Boston College, California, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Northwestern, Purdue, Rutgers, Stanford, Syracuse, Wake Forest, West Virginia, UCF, Vanderbilt

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Food for Thought: CU is the last current Big 12 team to be ranked No. 1

… AP poll … Only three of 16 teams in the Big 12 have ever been ranked No. 1 in the AP poll. CU’s last time ranked No. 1 was in 1990. The other two? BYU in 1984 … and TCU in 1938 … The other 13 teams? Never …

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This post, about the Spring Practices game, from the 2026 Season, is filed under Article.
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