Projected Big 12 football order of finish and conference champion: Can Iowa State upset Oklahoma? Texas play spoiler?

Will Oklahoma win another Big 12 football championship or is this the year for Iowa State or another challenger to upset the Sooners?

With Big 12 Media Days underway, let’s take a look at how the Big 12 football season could play out in 2021.

While the Big 12 did not send a team into the College Football Playoff a year ago, this year may be different.

Last season saw the Oklahoma Sooners thrash the Florida Gators in the Cotton Bowl and the Iowa State Cyclones dominate the Oregon Ducks in the Fiesta Bowl. These two teams are serious contenders for the College Football Playoff.

Projected 2021 Big 12 football order of finish

1. Oklahoma Sooners
2. Iowa State Cyclones
3. Texas Longhorns
4. Oklahoma State Cowboys
5. West Virginia Mountaineers
6. TCU Horned Frogs
7. Kansas State Wildcats
8. Baylor Bears
9. Texas Tech Red Raiders
10. Kansas Jayhawks

There are only two teams with a chance of making the College Football Playoff this year. They are Oklahoma and Iowa State who should be in the top six in the preseason AP Top 25 with Oklahoma having a chance to be the No. 1 team.

The Big 12 Championship Game projects to see Oklahoma take on Iowa State with the winner potentially clinching their spot in the four-team College Football Playoff. Iowa State is still fantastically well-coached under Matt Campbell. As for the seven other teams in the Big 12, there are plenty of things to be excited about across the board. The Sooners boast the Heisman favorite with quarterback Spencer Rattler also potentially in the mix to be the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Texas will be much improved under new head coach Steve Sarkisian, but the Longhorns are still a year away and two recruiting classes away from keeping pace with Oklahoma in the Big 12 hierarchy.

Oklahoma State has the potential to play spoiler with Spencer Sanders at quarterback. The Cowboys may not make it to Arlington, but they will have a say in who inevitably gets there. Keep an eye out on Neal Brown’s West Virginia Mountaineers this year. Though the talent in Morgantown is not quite top-four in the Big 12, Brown can coach his team inside of the top 25.

Gary Patterson’s TCU Horned Frogs edge out Chris Klieman’s Kansas State Wildcats for sixth place based on past coaching success in the conference and how they finished last season. Dave Aranda’s Baylor Bears will be bowling this year, despite them finishing in eighth place in the Big 12 standings.

As for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, this is a prove-it year for Matt Wells. With former Oregon Ducks quarterback Tyler Shough running the show, they need to push towards bowl eligibility for him to feel safe heading into 2022 in Lubbock. As for the lowly Kansas Jayhawks. Lance Leipold is a great head coach, but he is going to need some time to reshape the worst program in the Power Five.

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