{"id":865625,"date":"2026-04-13T17:21:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T17:21:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/865625\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T17:21:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T17:21:20","slug":"college-football-rankings-espn-ranks-big-12-football-programs-during-spring-practice-from-first-to-last","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/865625\/","title":{"rendered":"College Football Rankings: ESPN ranks Big 12 Football programs during Spring practice from first to last"},"content":{"rendered":"

ESPN ranked all of the Big 12 football programs during Spring practice based on the SP+ ratings from Bill Connelly and practice intel. All of the teams were ranked nationwide and we\u2019ve compiled them all within the Big 12 conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a reminder, SP+ is a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency,\u201d Connelly wrote.<\/a> \u201cIt is a predictive measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football, not a r\u00e9sum\u00e9 ranking. Along those same lines, these projections aren\u2019t intended to be a guess at what the AP Top 25 will look like at the end of the season. These are simply early offseason power rankings based on the information we have been able to gather.\u201d<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s do it. Let\u2019s dive into the initial ESPN rankings for all football teams in the Big 12.<\/p>\n

The reigning Big 12 champions top the rankings going into next season. However, Tech went one-and-done in the CFP, so Joey McGuire and crew will look to improve upon that result.<\/p>\n

Former Cincinnati QB Brendan Sorsby transferred in to solidify the position. Linebackers John Curry and Ben Roberts are back and Wake Forest DL Mateen Ibirogba comes in as well.<\/p>\n

2. BYU<\/a> (18)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kalani Sitake made the biggest wave at the end of the year when he opted to return to BYU rather than leave the Big 12 for Penn State. A Pop-Tarts Bowl champ, the Cougars aim for a conference crown and CFP appearance this time.<\/p>\n

QB Bear Bachmeier enters his sophomore year, RB LJ Martin returns and the defense gets some great juice back for 2026. LB Isiaah Glasker, safety Faletau Satuala and DT Keanu Tanuvasa will lead an elite unit.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a new era for Utah under Morgan Scalley, but Utah didn\u2019t think Kyle Whittingham was necessarily going to land the Michigan job after stepping down. With that, top contributors went to Ann Arbor, like pass rusher John Henry Daley.<\/p>\n

So how can the Utes get back to the top of the Big 12? Still, the ESPN rankings like them in this conference and are top 25 overall. Standouts Devon Dampier, Byrd Ficklin and Wayshawn Parker are back, among others.<\/p>\n

New head coach Collin Klein is here to save the day! Kansas State needs a boost for QB Avery Johnson if it is going to contend for the Big 12 this year.<\/p>\n

The bigger question might be how the defense adapts to losing a lot to the transfer portal. But if they can overcome some shortcomings, perhaps the Wildcats can surprise. It seems like the current roster bodes well in ESPN\u2019s SP+ ratings from Connelly since they are top four in the conference.<\/p>\n

\"what-is-smu-facing-in-holiday-bowl-vs-arizona-justin-spears-breaks-down-wildcats\"Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Brent Brennan and Arizona really improved in Year 2 and the Wildcats round out the top five of the Big 12 rankings from ESPN\u2019s SP+ ratings. Now, they\u2019ll look to compete for the conference crown with key returners.<\/p>\n

QB Noah Fifita is back for his final year of eligibility and he\u2019ll lead the offense. Brennan going from four wins to nine from one year to the next should not be overlooked.<\/p>\n

6. TCU<\/a> (34)<\/p>\n

Sonny Dykes has done a great job getting the Horned Frogs back into Big 12 contention the last two years, winning 18 games combined. Harvard QB Jaden Craig comes in to replace Josh Hoover, who\u2019s off to Indiana.<\/p>\n

Dykes also hired UConn\u2019s Gordon Sammis as the OC for 2026, promising to bring new ideas to that side of the ball. But can TCU get out of the middle tier?<\/p>\n

How about Willie Fritz leading this team to 10 wins this past year? The Cougars now have, arguably, an even better roster going into 2026.<\/p>\n

RB Makhi Hughes comes in to join QB Conner Weigman, giving them a nice 1-2 punch. They should certainly compete for the top of the conference, despite coming in at No. 7 on ESPN\u2019s metrics.<\/p>\n

\"Eric\u00a9 DOUG HOKE\/THE OKLAHOMAN \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Eric Morris will begin a new era at Oklahoma State as he takes over for Mike Gundy. If the Cowboys are going to contend for the Big 12, perhaps it might take a year or two.<\/p>\n

But OSU added 19 players in the portal to infuse talent into the roster. QB Drew Mestemaker and RB Caleb Hawkins should be awesome to watch, so look out for the Cowboys.<\/p>\n

Kenny Dillingham really poked the ASU bear to make sure he had the resources to compete for the top of the Big 12 each year, rather than their magical 2024 season being the outlier. What stinks for the Sun Devils is they lost QB Sam Leavitt (transfer to LSU), WR Jordyn Tyson (NFL Draft) and RB Raleek Brown (transfer to Texas.)<\/p>\n

But Arizona State welcomed back DT CJ Fite and landed transfers in QBs Mikey Keene and Cutter Boley. As of now, they\u2019re ranked NO. 9 in the conference, so there\u2019s some hills to climb.<\/p>\n

Cincinnati rounds out the Big 12 top 10 rankings from ESPN\u2019s SP+ ratings. The Bearcats are also a top 50 program in the country according to the metric.<\/p>\n

The Bearcats have to figure out QB between transfers JC French IV and Liam O\u2019Brien. But running back Zion Johnson should have a big year in 2026, so long as he is healthy.<\/p>\n

11. Baylor<\/a> (51)
12. Kansas<\/a> (57)
13. UCF<\/a> (60)
14. Iowa State<\/a> (64)
15. Colorado<\/a> (65)
16. West Virginia<\/a> (66)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ESPN ranked all of the Big 12 football programs during Spring practice based on the SP+ ratings from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":865626,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[7,49,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-865625","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-football"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116398559084368225","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=865625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}