COLLEGE FOOTBALL TODAY 17
The Favorite
Oklahoma is the clear-cut favorite having won three
straight conference titles and with twelve returning
starters from last year’s playoff team. Lincoln Riley’s
Sooners return six starters on each side of the ball and
had seven players named to the All-Big 12 Preseason
team. They will have a lot to replace with Heisman trophy
winner Baker Mayfield departing for the NFL. They have
arguably the best running back duo in the country in
Rodney Anderson and Trey Sermon who combined to
rush for just under 2,000 yards. Until someone knocks
them off, OU remains the favorite.
The Forgotten
Kansas has had one conference victory since the 2015
season. With much of the 2017 defense returning, the
Jayhawks should improve upon the 43.4 points per game
allowed last season, but losing standout defensive end
Dorance Armstrong Jr. to the draft stings.
The Dark Horse
West Virginia will go as far as quarterback Will Grier takes
them. The quarterback has some weapons to work with
in receivers David Sills V and Gary Williams. Holgorson
has had the ‘Eers playing good football ever since entering
the Big 12, but they’ve yet to take the next step to truly
compete for a conference title.
On the Hot Seat
Kliff Kingsbury is known for his high-scoring, explosive
air-raid offense but scoring 45 and letting other teams
score more than that is unacceptable. Kingsbury is going
into his sixth year as the Red Raiders head coach, and after
going 3-6 in conference play last season, he will need to
show drastic improvement if he plans on being the man in
charge following this season.