Week 1 brings the first real look at a Big 12 race that already feels wide open, and the league’s opening weekend has plenty of moving parts. Every conference team is set to play except TCU, which gets the weekend off after its 15-10 loss to North Carolina and won’t return until it hosts Grambling State on Sept. 12.
The conference’s marquee matchups and biggest unknowns are spread all over the map, but a handful of players stand out as the ones worth tracking first. Some are trying to prove they can handle a bigger stage. Others are looking for the right system to unlock what they already do best.
DJ Lagway is at the center of the biggest game on the board when Baylor meets Auburn in Atlanta on Saturday. There may not be a quarterback in the Big 12 with more pressure on him than Lagway, the former five-star who spent two seasons at Florida and never fully found consistency there.
The arm talent was never the issue. The interceptions were.
Too many of them piled up and kept dragging down everything else.
Now it falls to offensive coordinator Jake Spavital to get the most out of him and put Baylor back on track. Dave Aranda’s future is tied to that formula, and a strong showing against Auburn would be a major first step for the Bears.
Houston’s Makhi Hughes is walking into a reunion that could suit him well. Willie Fritz recruited him out of high school back when Fritz was at Tulane, and Hughes rewarded that trust with two huge seasons for the Green Wave - one under Fritz and one under John Sumrall - topping 1,000 rushing yards both years.
After transferring to Oregon before last season, he mostly disappeared from the spotlight and didn’t even get to 100 yards for the Ducks. Now he’s back in Fritz’s orbit at Houston, in a system that should feature his strengths.
Saturday’s game against Oregon State is the first chance to see whether that fit clicks again.
Arizona State’s Omarion Miller is another transfer looking for the right stage. In another era, he likely never would have left Colorado.
But the portal changed everything, and now he’s in Tempe as a key piece for Kenny Dillingham. That mattered because the Sun Devils lost Jordan Tyson to the NFL and needed a receiver who could step in and help new quarterback Cutter Boley, who came over from Kentucky.
Miller caught 45 passes for 808 yards and eight touchdowns last year at Colorado, and with a more stable quarterback setup and an offense built to feed top wideouts, he has a chance to make a real leap.
Texas Tech is also counting on a portal addition to keep its defense humming. Adam Trick comes in from Miami (OH) after a 2025 season in which he posted 8.5 sacks, giving him 13 for his career.
The Red Raiders leaned on transfer help to build one of the nation’s elite defenses last season, and one of the biggest success stories was David Bailey, the former Stanford pass rusher who finished strong enough to become the No. 2 overall pick in the NFL draft in April. Trick is being asked to follow that path.
Abilene Christian won’t provide the hardest test, but it will give a first look at how he fits into Texas Tech’s scheme.
BYU’s Faletau Satuala rounds out the group, and he’s coming off the kind of season that turns a safety into a real difference-maker. Last year, he finished with 84 tackles and three interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown.
That blend of run support and coverage ability is rare, and it gives the Cougars a valuable piece on the back end. BYU’s game against Utah Tech probably won’t be close, but with seven starters back on defense, the bigger question is how the group comes together in its opener.
Satuala is likely to be right in the middle of that answer.
In Other News...
Baylor Faces An Early Test That Could Define Dave Arandas Rebuild
The early part of Baylors season is already carrying a little extra weight, and the matchup with Auburn only sharpens that feeling. Both programs have spent the offseason reworking themselves from the inside out, with new coaching staffs, plenty of transfer movement and a clear sense that the first few weeks will reveal more than any summer projection ever could. For Baylor, the attention falls quickly on quarterback DJ Lagway, the Florida transfer whose debut will offer an immediate look at how the Bears offense is coming together.
Auburn brings its own new-look intrigue, with Byrum Brown returning at quarterback after his move from South Florida and Alex Golesh in place as head coach. Baylor has also spent the offseason trying to tighten up on defense under coordinator Joe Klanderman, which makes this more than just a season opener type of test. It is the kind of nonconference game that can tell a team whether it is merely reshaping its identity or actually ready to start building something around it. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor Faces An Early Chemistry Test With Auburn Up First
During Baylors Sept. 1 player availability session, linebacker Kyland Reed offered a look at the kinds of early-season adjustments that come with opening against a fresh opponent like Auburn. Facing a team unit that has not yet settled into its own rhythm can make Week 1 feel less like a routine opener and more like a test of communication, preparation and composure, especially for a Baylor group trying to set its tone early.
Reed also put a spotlight on the leadership side of things, noting the weight that comes with serving as a team captain. And with former Baylor teammate Bryson Washington now at Auburn after transferring this offseason, there is an added layer of familiarity to the matchup, one that gives the opener a personal edge even before the first snap. [Read more 🡒]
Dave Aranda Has One Thing Baylor Fans Need To See Early
Dave Aranda heads into another Baylor season with the temperature around his job still high after a 5-7 finish, and the noise only grows louder because the contract keeps him in place through 2029. For a fan base that has already started calling for a change, the question is less about long-term theory than whether the program can show real signs of life early and begin climbing back toward the level Baylor expects.
The opening stretch matters because it will shape how the rest of the year feels, both inside and outside the building. Analysts around the program are not talking about a sudden championship leap so much as steady improvement and a team that looks better organized, more competitive, and more durable from week to week. If Baylor can deliver that kind of early progress, it would do more than calm the criticism for a while - it would give Aranda something far more valuable than patience, which is proof the program is moving again. [Read more 🡒]