Over the last decade, there’s been a prevailing narrative that the Big 12 is one of the worst conferences among the Power Five in football. While they haven’t had the playoff success that the SEC, ACC (Clemson), or Ohio State have had, they’ve been a very competitive league. 2021 was no different.
The Big 12 has always stood strong on the depth of the conference that has provided some parity throughout the league. Last season saw several teams with an opportunity to play for the conference title entering the final month of the regular season. Baylor, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and Iowa State were in a tight race and after it was all said and done, Baylor and Oklahoma State made the trip to Arlington, Texas to replace the teams that played in the Big 12 championship in 2020; Oklahoma and Iowa State.
And although Baylor jumped out to a big first-half lead in the Big 12 title game, Oklahoma State rallied back at the end and were within inches of taking the lead on a goalline play that came up just short.
The Big 12 then sent seven of its 10 members to Bowl games. The only teams that didn’t participate were Texas, Kansas, and TCU. The conference went 5-2 in the bowl season, outscoring their opponents by 8.71 across all seven games. The only games they lost were Iowa State’s 20-13 loss to Clemson and West Virginia’s 18-6 loss to Minnesota. In their wins, the conference outscored their opponents by an average of 16 points per game. Against the Power Five, the Big 12 went 4-2, including a 2-0 record over the SEC.
Looking at how the conference compares to others, the Big 12 finished second only to the SEC in 2021. The only Power Five conference to not have a win percentage greater than .500 was the Pac-12. The teams that have historically been the standard-bearers for the league, USC, Stanford, and Washington, went a combined 11-25 last season. The Pac-12 had two teams with 10 or more wins. By comparison, the Big 12, SEC, ACC, and Big 10 each had three or more teams with 10 or more wins. The SEC and Big 10 had four teams with at least 10 wins last season.
Oklahoma and Texas will one day be moving to the Big 12 and Cincinnati, BYU, Houston, and UCF will be joining the Big 12. The conference’s present and future remain in really good shape as the league continues to evolve.