Big XII Season Projections and Award Winners

The College Football Dawgs Big XII reporters have voted Texas as the Big XII regular season pick to win the conference, receiving nearly half the first-place votes. Kansas State ranks second overall, even though TCU received one more first-place vote. The reason K-State beat out TCU for the second spot is all but one of the reporters believe that Kansas State will finish in the top three. On the flip side, the reporters overall are more uncertain about Sonny Dykes and company to replicate last year’s success, having them placed as low as eighth place. UCF is the highest-ranked newcomer coming in sixth place.

Big XII Champion Dark Horse- Texas Tech

Texas Tech finished the 2022 season at 8-5 and fourth in the Big XII standings.

They are a trendy dark horse candidate in the conference this year after having the fourth-ranked high school and transfer rankings in the Big XII from the 2023 recruiting cycle. Joey McGuire is showing how well he can recruit to Lubbock, Texas, and get the best out of his players, demonstrated in the last four games of the 2022 season, which all resulted in wins.

Tyler Shough is returning this season after suffering an injury in the 2022 season opener against Murray State. He will bring his athleticism back to the Red Raider’s backfield.

If Texas Tech doesn’t make the Big XII title game this year, expect them to sooner rather than later.

Offensive Player of the Year- Quinn Ewers, QB, Texas.

As a freshman, Quinn Ewers completed 58.1% of his passes, throwing for 2,177 yards, 15 touchdowns, and six interceptions. He should be able to increase those numbers this season with the experience from last year. Even with losing two great running backs, Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson, Texas should have enough firepower returning to give Quinn Ewers the necessary help to be the leading quarterback in this conference with a lot of quarterback experience coming back.

Defensive Player of the Year- Daniel Green, LB, Kansas State

Daniel Green is a sixth-year player, which includes a redshirt one year and his covid year. He played through several injuries in 2022, which hurt the production he expected from himself. Even though Daniel played through injuries in 2022, he still amassed 58 tackles, 3.5 tackles for a loss, two sacks, and two interceptions. With all this experience and drive to go out on a high note, it is reasonable to see why Green can be the conference’s defensive player of the year.

Big XII Coach of the Year- Chris Klieman, Kansas State

Chris Klieman finished the 2022 season with a record of 10-4 and a Big XII Championship. Kansas State lost 2022’s unanimous All-American, Deuce Vaughn, and 2022 Big XII Defensive Player of the Year, Felix Anudike-Uzomah, to the draft. If Kansas State can replace those players (as well as a few other key roster pieces from last season) and make the Big XII Championship again in 2023, Chris Klieman will have a significant case to win the Coach of the Year award in the Big XII.