Where’s Oklahoma in USA TODAY Sports post spring Big 12 Power Rankings?

Iowa State had the opposite issue that Kansas, West Virginia, and Houston had. Their defense was great last season, but Hunter Dekkers and the offense struggled to put points on the board. And struggled might be putting it nicely.

They averaged 20.2 points per game, which ranked 114th in the nation. That’s also the same amount of points the defense allowed. There’s no margin for error with the Cyclones. Unless they can improve offensively, they’ll stay in the basement of the Big 12.

West Virginia was another team at the bottom of the conference that struggled on the defensive side of the ball. The offense had its moments, but was met with inconsistency with J.T. Daniels and Garrett Greene at the helm. Greene returns and will battle with Nico Marchiol for the starting quarterback job in 2023.

The defense will be without Dante Stills, who finally went off to the NFL. Will they be able to improve without their tone-setter at defensive tackle?

Kansas is an interesting team. They finished the 2021 season strong and started 2022 even hotter. But they fell off in the second half of the season. After playing so many close games, and with an injury to Jalon Daniels, the Jayhawks struggled to hang with the Big 12 over the final two months of the season.

They lost seven of their last eight games and allowed 35 points or more in each of those losses. The offense will help keep Kansas in some games, but if their 124th ranked scoring defense can’t improve, the Jayhawks won’t either.

Quarterback Clayton Tune is off to the NFL, but Dana Holgerson brought in former Texas Tech QB Donovan Smith to lead the offense. Smith was a productive player for the Red Raiders, but a coaching change and turnovers limited his potential with Joey McGuire.

There’s potential for Houston to make some noise, but the Cougars have to get better defensively. They allowed 32.2 points per game in 2022, 112th in the nation. It doesn’t get any easier jumping to the Big 12 where offenses like Texas and Texas Tech await.

The BYU Cougars will be making their first conference appearance since becoming independent in 2011. They’re a team that has the mentality to play with the Power Five. The question in year one is do they have the talent. Kedon Slovis transferred in from Pitt to take the reigns at quarterback, and the Cougars added Oklahoma State offensive tackle, Caleb Etienne.

They’ll be a tough matchup for everyone in the Big 12, but what’s their ceiling in year one?

Oklahoma State has some really good pieces in Brennan Presley and Collin Oliver. But it’s hard to argue they’re in a better position at quarterback going from Spencer Sanders to Alan Bowman. Injuries during his tenure at Texas Tech limited his upside.

Bowman spent the last two seasons in Michigan learning from Jim Harbaugh. With time to rest and recuperate, perhaps his body will be in a better spot to finally put together a healthy season that keeps Oklahoma State at the top of the conference.

New head coach entering a new conference. That doesn’t bode well for the Cincinnati Bearcats, who lost Luke Fickell to Wisconsin and quarterback Ben Bryant to the transfer portal.

The Bearcats will be going with former Florida and Arizona State quarterback Emory Jones. In Jones’ best season in 2021, he threw 13 interceptions. That won’t bode well in the Big 12, where defenses are improving. Still, his ability to run and throw will give Big 12 defenses fits.

The Knights are the national favorite of the four teams entering the Big 12 to have the best first season in the league. There’s reason for that. Of the four joining the conference, only UCF is returning its quarterback, John Rhys Plumlee. That matters.

Baylor is a team that is hard to get a handle on. They were bad in Dave Aranda’s first year, won the Big 12 title in his second season, and then fell back to the middle of the pack in 2023.

Blake Shapen’s back at quarterback, but he hasn’t proven to be consistent enough as a passer to bank on the Bears offense.

Joey McGuire and the Texas Tech Red Raiders showed a lot of promise in 2022. Picking up wins over Oklahoma and Texas are huge confidence builders for a program on the rise. With Tyler Shough returning for 2023, the Red Raiders are a team to keep an eye on for Big 12 contention.

No Max Duggan. No Kendre Miller. No Steve Avila. No Quentin Johnson. Big problem? TCU had a league-high eight players drafted in 2023. That’s a lot of talent to replace on that side of the ball.

Most importantly, the heart of the Horned Frogs, Duggan, is gone. Can they replicate the magic they had in 2022? We’re doubtful here at Sooners Wire.