The 2026 preseason coaches poll gave the Big 12 a respectable showing on Tuesday, with four teams landing in the Top 25 and a handful more hanging around the edge. Texas Tech came in at No. 12, followed by BYU at No.
15, Utah at No. 21 and Houston at No. 24.
TCU, Arizona, Oklahoma State, Arizona State and Kansas State also picked up votes.
That spread says plenty about where the league sits entering the season: a lot of teams, not much separation, and no obvious answer to who truly owns the top tier. The Big 12 looks wide open again, but this version of wide open comes with a catch. The conference keeps getting grouped into that familiar middle class of good teams in the 15-to-25 range, and this feels like the year it needs to break out of that mold with a strong non-conference run and a real CFP showing.
The schedule does offer chances to do exactly that. Big 12 teams will get shots against No.
2 Oregon, with Oklahoma State hosting in Week 2; No. 8 Texas A&M, with Arizona State playing at home in Week 2; No.
5 Notre Dame, when BYU visits in Week 7; No. 22 Iowa, with Iowa State at home in Week 2; and No.
25 Missouri, with Kansas hosting in Week 2.
On paper, the Big 12 sides are underdogs in every one of those matchups. That doesn’t mean the games are meaningless.
Quite the opposite. If the league wants a better story line than “good, but not quite elite,” these are the kinds of contests that will shape the conversation.
A win or two would matter. Even a few tight losses could help.
And with future Big 12 vs. SEC/Big Ten games being canceled, the league has to cash in on these opportunities while they’re still on the table.
The coaches’ poll also raises a familiar question: which teams are being propped up too high? BYU, Utah and Houston all have a case to make for finishing better than expected, but they also have plenty to prove.
At least one of the three could wind up well short of its projected spot, and that would leave a fan base frustrated. Utah has to navigate life after Whittingham.
BYU is dealing with the loss of Jay Hill as defensive coordinator along with some key pieces. Houston, meanwhile, won five one-score games last season and avoided BYU and Utah on the schedule; this year, the road gets tougher, and the question is whether it can keep surviving the close ones.
Just as interesting is who got left outside the poll conversation altogether. With nine Big 12 teams either ranked or receiving votes, the league still had plenty of representation.
That leaves seven programs on the outside looking in, and UCF and West Virginia probably have the loudest case for feeling overlooked. The expectations and buzz around those two seem higher than what is being attached to the other five unranked Big 12 teams: Cincinnati, Iowa State, Kansas, Baylor and Colorado.
Still, the message for those programs is the same. There’s room for quiet optimism, but not much reason for swagger.
In a league this crowded, the preseason poll didn’t settle much. It just made the uncertainty look a little sharper.
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BYU Left Tackle Battle Just Got More Interesting This Spring
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The spring competition has only gotten more intriguing as Finau settles in and starts drawing positive feedback from coaches and teammates. BYU knew it was adding a player with experience, but the bigger question now is how quickly he can translate that trust into a real edge in a crowded battle for the spot. The Cougars have options there, and Finau's presence has made the fight for the job one worth watching closely. [Read more 🡒]