Who would have thought the Big 12 would be first of the Power 4 conferences to solidify its title game teams. A year ago, the Big 12 had so many possibilities, it took until the final game to decide Iowa State vs. Arizona State for a spot in the CFP field. This year, after Arizona State lost to Arizona on Friday night, it confirmed a Texas Tech-BYU rematch while the ACC, Big Ten and SEC still had plenty to sort out on Saturday in the final week of the regular season.
Texas Tech has been the strongest team in the conference and with its only loss to Arizona State, after the Sun Devils lost, it confirmed their conference dominance. The Red Raiders invested nearly $30 million in their roster so it’s no surprise they are one of the top teams in college football and the Big 12. The win also proved the Big 12 doesn’t have the parity it did a year ago.
How Texas Tech set new standard for Big 12 football
Conference realignment shattered everything we knew about the old Big 12. For years, Texas and Oklahoma alternated leading the conference. When both darted for the SEC, it opened the door for a new contender to take over the conference. The conference looks like it has its new yearly contender.
Utah and BYU have shown they can compete and Arizona State is still relevant, but Texas Tech set a new standard. NIL and the transfer portal has benefitted the Red Raiders more than anything this season. Ohio State set the standard for what it takes to build a championship roster.
You have to have a good coach, but all you truly need is a big enough NIL budget to pluck the best players out of the portal and build a championship roster. No other team in the Big 12 will be able to compete with the Red Raiders and now they’re the top of the conference.
Will the Big 12 still be a conference of parity?
A lot of the parity in the Big 12 came from the changing of the guard. The real question is if Texas Tech can assert its dominance in the conference. One year of success doesn’t immediately make you the best team in the conference forever, just for one season. The Red Raiders need consistent success. For now, the parity is still alive with the conference having different conference winners since realignment.
Over the last four years, there have been eight different teams to play in the Big 12 title game. There’s still a lot of parity within that conference. For context, that’s only happened in the FBS two other times, and both times were in the MAC conference. This is why the Big 12 doesn’t get respect when it comes to the College Football Playoff.
Until the conference has its proven contender, it will probably always be a one-bid league, with the conference champion as the only one getting in. If the Big 12 wants to be taken seriously, they need a team to start establishing themselves as the contender of the conference. That could be Texas Tech.
The Red Raiders need to run the Big 12 moving forward if they want to bring the Big 12 to the same level the ACC, SEC and Big Ten are. Just like you know Georgia and Alabama are going to be atop the SEC; Ohio State and Michigan are going to be atop the Big Ten, Texas Tech needs to be at the top of the Big 12.
This year is either proof the Red Raiders are headed to the top or proof they’re just another one of the long list of teams that were relevant for a season in the Big 12.