Ranking the Big 12’s best football head coaches going into the 2024 season

See where Deion Sanders stands in our Big 12 head coach rankings

As we approach milestones on the football calendar, such as the NFL draft and spring practices beginning, this is the time of the year for rankings.

College football fans are currently trying to predict what the new-look Big 12 Conference will look like in 2024. Four new teams, including the Colorado Buffaloes, will join Big 12 next season, pushing the league’s total to 16 schools.

Buffs fans are pumped for what head coach Deion Sanders can do in his second season at the helm, but how does Coach Prime compare to other Big 12 head coaches?

Here’s how I rank each of the 16 Big 12 football head coaches going into the 2024 season:

Each Big 12 football team’s biggest transfer portal addition so far this offseason

We examined each Big 12 team’s most important incoming transfer

Loaded with another impressive incoming transfer portal class, the Colorado Buffaloes are poised to take another step forward in their first season back in the Big 12 Conference. Head coach Deion Sanders’ haul is currently ranked No. 1 in the Big 12 and No. 5 nationally, according to 247Sports.

However, the Buffs aren’t the only Big 12 football team that has attacked the portal this offseason. TCU and Arizona State, in particular, have each brought in about 20 transfers.

Coach Prime’s second spring practice season in Boulder will begin on March 18 with the Black and Gold spring game set for April 27.

Here’s a look at each Big 12 team’s biggest transfer portal addition so far this offseason:

New ‘5-7 model’ approved for 12-team 2024 College Football Playoff

This is not a permanent plan for the playoff. The format could change in 2026.

On Tuesday, the College Football Playoff Board of Managers unanimously made changes to the current playoff structure. The old model considered the six highest-ranked conference champions and spots for six additional highest-ranked at-large teams.

After all the teams, except Oregon State and Washington State, left the Pac-12 for the Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC — leaving only four power conferences — this was the most likely outcome.

The College Football Playoff website laid out the specifics of the plan:

“Under the 12-team playoff format that begins this fall, the four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded one through four and each will receive a first-round bye, while teams seeded five through 12 will play each other in the first round on the home field of the higher-ranked team. (The team ranked #5 will host #12; team #6 will meet team #11; team #7 will play team #10; and team #8 will meet #9.) The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played in the New Year’s Six bowl games, the national championship game will continue to be at a neutral site. No conference will qualify automatically and there will be no limit on the number of participants from a conference.”

Some fans and analysts wonder if this change will simply provide an opportunity for an additional SEC or Big Ten team to make the playoff, but the format will change in 2026, suggesting that this is a test run for a more permanent solution as realignment continues. The ACC membership is the next domino to fall, and the potential chaos it may unleash remains uncertain.

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Big 12 football media days are heading to Sin City

The Big 12 is heading out west for its annual media days.

The Big 12 announced on Monday that the conference will hold its annual media days session in Las Vegas, Nevada. Big 12 Media Days will take place on Jul. 9 and 10.

Normally this would take place not too far from conference headquarters at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Due to a scheduling conflict, the Big 12 and Commissioner Brett Yormark will head west.

“I’m thrilled to announce Big 12 Football Media Days are heading west for the first time in league history,” said Yormark. “The Big 12 lives at the intersection of sports and entertainment – as the Entertainment Capital of the World, Las Vegas is an ideal location to kick off the 2024 season. We are grateful to the Las Vegas Raiders and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority for their partnership and support.”

The conference officially expands to 16 teams as of Jul. 1, with Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah coming to the conference from the Pac-12. Oklahoma and Texas will officially join the SEC to put them at 16 teams as well.

It is the dawn of a new era, and it is almost poetic that it begins in a different state.

Clay McGuire returns home to coach Texas Tech offensive line

A former player returns home to Texas Tech once again.

Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire needed to replace his offensive line coach after it was announced that Stephen Hamby would not return to Lubbock for a third year.

The Red Raiders opted to look to the past with their next hire as they pegged a Mike Leach disciple as the next offensive line coach for the Red and Black. Clay McGuire, no relation to Joey, returns home to once again take over the reins of the offensive line. McGuire last coached for Tech under Kliff Kingsbury in the 2018-19 season.

McGuire played under the legendary head coach Mike Leach with the Red Raiders before joining the staff as an intern and eventually becoming the running backs coach for the pirate.

McGuire also coached at East Carolina on Lincoln Riley’s offensive staff as well as with Leach at Washington State. He leaves the latest tenure with the Cougars to return to his alma mater.

The Red Raiders offensive line could use some help up front and it was clear that Hamby wasn’t having the same success he did at Western Kentucky under Zach Kittley.

Longhorns Wire’s CFB contenders and pretenders for the 2024 season

We predict which football teams can live up to their hype in 2024.

Way-too-early predictions now have way-too-early revisions heading into spring football. With the retirement of Alabama head coaching legend Nick Saban the college football landscape changed.

We looked at Jesse Simonton’s pre-spring rankings on Monday. Brad Crawford followed suit with his own rankings.

Name recognition plays a huge role in early rankings. Rankings between 21-25 of Top 25 projections are sometimes reserved for big names with high ceilings that haven’t provided much reason for a being ranked. There are a few teams on both lists that cause that reaction.

We have stated before that five teams seem like solid picks to contend in 2024. Outside of those five, it’s a guessing game. With that in mind, let’s predict which teams are legitimate contenders and which ones are fool’s gold.

On3 Sports ranks Texas No. 4 in pre-spring Top 25 poll

The Longhorns are viewed as a team right behind Georgia, Ohio State and Oregon for 2024.

The transfer portal has transformed several rosters. Ohio State, Oregon and Texas are three of the biggest beneficiaries of the portal. They rank highly in one pre-spring Top 25.

On3 Sports’ Jesse Simonton ranks the Top 10 in the following order: Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas, Alabama, Ole Miss, Notre Dame, Michigan, Penn State and Missouri.

Other notable rankings in the list include Oklahoma at No. 13, Florida State at No. 16, Miami at No. 18 and Texas A&M at No. 23.

There’s plenty of variance in many of the preseason prognostications. For the most part, we have no clue what Alabama and Michigan will look like after losing the majority of their starters and elite head coaches. Many are giving both teams benefit of the doubt, but they won’t resemble the teams that made the playoff last season.

Alabama and Michigan are just two of a handful of teams we can’t reliably project with certainty. Five teams, however, seem like near locks to have strong seasons: Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas and Ole Miss. Given what those teams return and what they brought in through the transfer portal 10 wins seems like a realistic expectation for all five programs.

Outside of the above five teams, it’s anyone’s guess what could happen. Utah and Kansas State both appear primed for a collision course to the Big 12 title game. Missouri returns enough players to win 10 games in the SEC. Everything else seems unclear.

The transfer portal has helped complete several starting lineups. While there will be some change after spring football with transfers we have a good idea of who will rank at the top of college football. Texas will look to live up to its high billing in 2024.

Where Colorado ranks among Big 12 football teams in terms of returning production for 2024

See where Colorado ranks compared to other Big 12 teams in terms of returning production

Opposed to last year when only a few significant players stuck around, the Colorado Buffaloes will return most of their high-impact names heading into the 2024 season.

Those returning for the Buffs include head coach Deion Sanders’ sons Shedeur and Shilo Sanders, two-way phenom Travis Hunter, wide receiver Jimmy Horn Jr., safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig and linebacker LaVonta Bentley. Colorado’s offensive and defensive lines, however, will look quite different as Coach Prime added several notable transfers.

ESPN recently revealed its first college football returning production rankings for 2024 (subscription required) and CU fared quite well.

See where Colorado ranks among its Big 12 counterparts in terms of returning production:

Big 12 football: Post-national signing day overall recruiting class rankings

See where Colorado’s overall recruiting class ranks among Big 12 teams post-national signing day

For most of the country’s top college football programs, the 2024 national signing day was about as exciting as any other offseason Wednesday. A few notable class of 2024 recruits made things official with their respective schools, but the Big 12 Conference didn’t see much action.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders did, however, gain some needed depth at linebacker by picking up three-star Florida prospect Kyeran Garcia.

As of Thursday morning, Coach Prime’s overall 2024 signing class — transfers and high school prospects combined — ranks No. 22 nationally, according to 247Sports. The Buffs landed seven class of 2024 high school prospects, including five-star offensive tackle Jordan Seaton.

Here’s where CU’s overall 2024 signing class ranks in the Big 12, per 247Sports: