The Big 12 conference is in stable shape and should field several competitive football programs in 2021.
According to ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI), it will be one of the most competitive conferences in the country this season. ESPN’s FPI is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team’s performance going forward.
Nine Big 12 teams were present in the top 15 of ESPN’s FPI rankings for strength of schedule in the country. Let’s go ahead and address the elephant in the room as the one outlier — Oklahoma — has the easiest schedule of all teams in the Big 12.
Kansas and Texas sit atop the conference with the toughest strength of schedule, while Oklahoma and Baylor are at the tail end. The Sooners are scheduled to face Tulane, Western Carolina and Nebraska as their three nonconference opponents this season. No explanation needed as to why they’re sitting at the bottom of the Big 12 in this particular category.
Take a look at ESPN’s FPI rankings for strength of schedule in the Big 12 for the 2021 college football season: