Coaches Poll Showcases Big 12 Depth vs. SEC and Big Ten

if you're a big 12 football fan you should absolutely love this coach's poll that dropped this week I'm Pete Mundo we are Heartland college sports we cover the Big 12 Conference and we so appreciate you being a part of the show whether it's on our YouTube channel whether it's on the podcast drop us that festar rating and review subscribe to both options regardless of what you prefer sometimes we do some stuff on YouTube that doesn't make it to the podcast and vice vers so you want to be on both places and as always we appreciate our radio Affiliates joining us here as a part of the show so subscribe podcast YouTube and uh that's a big way to build this show because we have less than a month to go until the start of college football season so the coaches poll dropped this week and everyone's gonna talk about the top of the coaches poll because that's what you know run-of-the-mill casual fans do they just look at the top five or 10 teams and they say ah Georgia Ohio State Oregon Texas Alabama who's going to win the national championship well for those of us who love college football because of the padron tree for those of us who love college football because of September October November and not just worrying about a Monday night in January one thing is very clear the Big 12 is going to be the most competitive and the most entertaining conference in America and we've been telling you that all offseason but as the polls start to drop the AP is next week the coach's poll was this week it's clear that that is becoming a consensus amongst all folks in college football who are in the know so the col the coaches poll dropped and here's what we got we got five Big 12 teams ranked and then we got five teams in the Big 12 who received votes so the highest ranked Big 12 team in the coach's poll was Utah at number 13 then you had Kansas State at 17 Oklahoma State at 18 Arizona at 21 and Kansas at 24 so I mean that looks about right I think the coaches poll have had the Utah Utes higher than maybe some other preseason polls you might have seen elsewhere but I respect that I think that's exactly where Utah should be and I'm okay more than okay with Utah being a top 15 team in the country and Utah being the highest ranked team in the Big 12 in this coach's poll no issues here whatsoever welld deserved I'm cool with it but then you also get five Big 12 teams receiving votes all right and that's notable and I'll explain why in a second here but the teams receiving votes West Virginia Iowa State UCF Texas Tech and Colorado were among the teams receiving votes so between teams ranked and teams receiving votes the Big 12 had 10 teams of the the 16 ranked or receiving votes now to put that into perspective where were the other power conferences how many SEC teams were ranked and receiving votes 12 what about the Big 10 10 the ACC had nine so the Big 12 was tied with the big 10 in number of teams ranked and receiving votes beat out the ACC and Trail the SEC by two if you were to ask people blindly on the street tomorrow when you're walking around hey between all the conferences you know which conference had the most teams who were ranked in receiving votes in the college football coaches preseason poll they'd say the SEC they'd be right they probably wouldn't realize the margin's not that big but they'd be right who was second oh the Big 10 no not so fast Big 12 was there as well and here's where gets even better for the Big 12 Conference there's nobody in the top 10 now ideally you want someone in the top 10 but if you're the Big 12 and you're going for the angle of we're going to be the most competitive we're going to be the most entertaining we are going to have the product and the entertainment in November that while you know Alabama is playing some FCS Florida A&M school you know before rivalry week the Big 12 is going to be loaded up with conference play every game is going to matter and it is going to be a down of thewire finish in this league where November has an opportunity to be like the NCAA tournament for college football in the Big 12 you're basically basically going to have elimination games in this league throughout the entire month of November and I can't wait it's gonna be so exciting for this conference and the coaches polling is just proving what we have been saying all offseason this is what the big 12 projects as so even though the SEC has 12 teams who are ranked to receiving votes I mean the last SEC team receiving votes is South Carolina Georgia is the number one team in the country in the preseason coaches poll does anybody think that South Carolina is gonna com be competing with Georgia with Texas and with Alabama when all is said and done no no one really believes that but Utah has a late season game at UCF last game of the regular season Utah is the Big 12 preseason favorite the highest ranked team in the coaches poll UCF was one of the last teams in the Big 12 to receive votes outside the top 25 it's entirely feasible that UCF and Utah are playing a game in November final week of the Season that has big 12 championship game implications so that's something right there that you have have to look at and say to yourself oh I I see I get it now I understand why the Big 12 has arguably and I would say definitely the best onfield product from an entertainment perspective in college football going into this season and the coach's poll is just solidifying that now CBS also put out its poll and CBS had five Big 12 teams ranked and it was the same five that were ranked in the coaches poll they had uh Utah in this case CBS had Utah come in at number 10 so they had Utah higher than the coach's poll then they had Kansas State at 17 they had Oklahoma State at 19 they had Arizona at 22 and they had Kansas at 25 so the same five teams now if I'm looking at this and I'm saying okay who's getting a little overv valued here I'm fearful that Kansas is you know I I think that Lance lipold is just an incredible head coach I'm a huge Lance lipold guy however I sit here and I say to myself are we buying Kansas too much are we overvaluing the Kansas Jayhawks because if Jaylen Daniels doesn't stay healthy there is no Jason Bean this year and I I've said it before but I'll say it again I am not going to let myself be overly reliant on the health of Jaylen Daniels I'm not going to do it so and I also am starting to wonder if Arizona is getting a little too much love when you bring in a new staff yes you've got you know your star skill position guys back you do have 15 returning starters but I'm just wondering if maybe that Arizona love is becoming a little bit too much and that was actually brought up in Phil Steels bare Market stock market index that he does every year so that's those are the two teams that I'm like I mean they have every right to be in the top 25 it's not bad it's just if you're going to tell me of those five teams who's not in the top 25 by the end of the year and which two big 12 teams are in I mean swap out Kansas Arizona and you could make a great case for Iowa State I'm very high on UCF West Virginia I like however that schedule is just brutal to start the season in non-conference and in Big 12 play they got 11 power five games so there's still a lot for West Virginia that I want to see early in the year just to get over that hump because it is just brutal for him and Neil Brown has said as much on the show if you haven't seen that you're going to want to find it on YouTube or on the podcast just search Heartland college sports subscribe that way you never miss an episode I'm Pete Mundo thanks for being here on the show we appreciate you as always hit the Thumbs Up Hit the Subscribe button and hit the five star on iTunes or Spotify it does make a very big difference it's a reason that we have dominated the Big 12 podcast scene for a very long time it's really because of you guys without you we can't keep growing so thank you so much for being here thank you for joining us as a part of the show as always and um you know it's gonna be here before we know it the college football season I can't wait now I look at the big 12 and you know this has been a topic of conversation on our forums which I would also hope you would join as the season gets started there's been a lot of action on there there's been this topic of conversation as to how much the new Big 12 fans that are on our forums and they're respectful about it but do they respect Big 12 defenses the more some of the newer fans are talking on our forums the more it's pretty clear to me that they don't and they've said as much they don't and I'm okay like I'm okay with that if you gotta see it to believe it that's cool I'm not gonna hold that against you but I'm telling you right now this conference is not what many outside of it perceive it to be it's not cheap trickery air raid don't run the ball that's just not what the big 12 is and that's not what the big 12 has been for at least going on half a decade now and if you need evidence of that just look at what came out with the do Walker Award preseason watch list 12 players from the Big 12 Conference now I know that there's dozens of players but still if you think the Big 12 is where it was a decade ago this should be proof that it's not if you're new to the conference 10 different teams earned some love on this list so the do Walker Award is given to the best running back in America 10 years ago the Big 12 was not getting a dozen players on the do Walker preseason watch list if there was one player on it it was a big deal and it was probably just as a favor to the league in some capacity right but that's not the case anymore you look at the 12 Big 12 players who were on the do Walker watch list Arizona's jakori crosy Merritt Arizona State's Cameron scabo BYU's LJ Martin Iowa State's Abu Sama Kansas's Devon Neil Kansas's Daniel highshaw Kansas State's DJ giddens Oklahoma State's Ali Gordon Texas Tech Tod Brooks ucf's RJ Harvey and West Virginia CJ Donaldson and Jem white so Kansas and West Virginia each had two running backs on the list and then you had Arizona Ariz State BYU Iowa State Kansas State Oklahoma State and Texas Tech and UCF all also represented on the do Walker preseason watch list that's where the big 12 is right now now does the Big 12 have sec defensive lineman across the board no it does not that's right now the biggest difference I would say is the defensive front seven between let's say the SEC and the Big 12 but the big 12 is not playing the game was playing a decade ago art BRS is not here okay Cliff Kingsbury is not here Mike Gundy is here but the days of Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackman are mostly gone Ali Gordon's on that list Ali Gordon is the reason at running back not Alan Bowman that Oklahoma State can get to a college football playoff this year so once we're all on the same page when it comes to that when it comes to what the big 12 is I think there will be more respect from the new teams and their fan bases as to the fact that this league does play defense and they'll be surprised by it and I hope they're pleasantly surprised by what they see from in Oklahoma State stingy very underrated defense Matt Campbell same thing stingy very underrated defense Kansas State chalk it right up to a stingy underrated defense and that's something that I think is going to continue to pay dividends for this conference as it moves forward um it does not get the credit it deserves from a defensive perspective and that's okay we know that's going to be the case I'm not going to sit here and complain for 10 minutes about the college football media uh we know what it consists of and I also understand that Utah Arizona Arizona State fans and Colorado fans have not watched a lot of Big 12 Football here lately and I don't blame them I haven't watched any Arizona State Games I mean I said on the forums the other day I don't think I've watched more than five minutes of an Arizona State football game in my life and I don't say that to be insulting and all to the Sun Devils like I'm just right here in Kansas City Middle America Big 12 dude watching all the big 12 teams and you know Pack 12 after dark is fun but by then I'm working on content for the website for the show that's what I'm doing I may have it on in the background but you know Arizona State's been down for a few years anyway it's been a rough go there and I brought this up because you know we've been wondering on this show and elsewhere where exactly the Arizona State fans are so now they're showing up in our forums and they're awesome I mean that you know they've given us some great information on how this team got to where it is in terms of How It's Been On The Struggle Bus for so long what happened how the whole Herm Edwards thing went down it's all up there on the forums you can read it for yourself but it's informative and I love that we're getting these sundevil fans to kind of come into the mix here and what they're most saying to us is we're just laying low we know we're on The Struggle Bus we're laying low it's cool we're going to be okay but right now there's not a lot for us to be Crown about and I can totally respect that that's one of those things where I'm like you know what um I'm I'm good with that I respect that I'm I'm like if your team's not doing it don't be a blowhard about it just you know sit there and chill lay low watch the rebuild and that's exact L what's going on here now as we go through all these preseason top 25s that are coming out this week and as I noted next week is going to be the AP poll Joe clatt dropped his top 25 and he's got Utah leading the way he's got him at number nine so the love for Utah runs deep for Joel clatt he's got him at number nine then he's got Kansas State at 16 Oklahoma State at 17 Arizona at 21 a Kansas at 20 Arizona at 21 so Joe clatt a little bit higher on the Big 12 teams than the coaches poll and the CBS Sports preseason poll and Joe cl's always been very fair to the Big 12 if there's someone I want to get on this show who I've not been able to get on this show yet it's Joel clatt I am a huge fan of his voice for college football he brings something different from all the ESPN guys he's kind of like my bucket list dude I mean we've had great people on the show in terms of media personalities I mean Josh Pate Tim Brando Phil steel is going to be coming on um a lot of great people have come on this show we've had multiple Big 12 coaches on but Joel clatt like I want to get him that's my guy that I have a tremendous amount of respect for and really like as a broad college football analyst and clearly he's higher on the Big 12 than what you're seeing from some of the other preseason lists and that tells me that for one of the best voices and most knowledgeable people who covers this sport to to be higher on the Big 12 than some average coaches poll not average but you know um you're finding the median it's everyone's poll thrown to one that's good for the league I mean I think that we are heading for a season here where if things break right for this conference in non-conference play which we've talked about extensively things need to break right there you got to get some big non-conference wins and then if you have a big November a thrilling November while you're sitting there with six seven teams in the mix the last three weeks while the SEC is playing FCS games with you know basically their SEC Championship Game decided by November 10 there's gonna be a lot of eyeballs on this conference and suddenly people are GNA be saying you know what uh maybe this big 12 thing is on the something and ESPN to their credit even wrote about it I mean ESPN had a piece the other day that was titled the SEC and the Big 10 are better and richer but no one will have more fun than the Big 12 Bill Connelly ESPN wrote this and he's right he's Absol we are going to have so much fun the SEC and the Big 10 are going to be favorites to have a team crowned National Champion I don't deny that but we are gonna have so much freaking fun in this conference every week your mind is going to be blown and that's what it's all about yes we want to get national championships we want to be competitive in the college football playoff I don't want to see one big 12 team make the playoff get the buy and then get blown out by four touchdowns in a quarterfinal game I don't want to see that I would be disappointed by that but I'm telling you right now when conference play gets going in mid-september late September and this league is running straight through to the Big 12 Championship AT&T Stadium in December we're going to be having the time of our lives meantime what's going to happen in the SEC in the Big 10 is you're going to have you know the Mississippi State fans the Indiana fans the ruter fans they're gonna be holding up their SEC SCC their Dopey conference signs that's what they'll be doing because most of that League those leagues will have very little to play for come mid October and the Big 12 is just going to be cooking by mid October and that is what is going to make this just absolutely awesome Stanley writes here on YouTube Pete it's the biggest year ever for the Kansas teams together you know I'd have to agree with that both Kansas and Kansas state ranked in the coaches poll in the preseason they may very well both be ranked in the AP poll come next week and you know when you think think about it during the mark manino era at Kansas when you know KU was like getting the orange bows and stuff K State was down because that was during the Ron Prince era so that's an excellent point and I'll tell you right now as a Kansas resident I don't you know I'm not going to be biased towards Kansas or Kansas State some of you claim I am but I I don't I didn't go to either school I live here in the Kansas City area I'm on the Kansas side of the state line but that is such a great point it could be a very special season when you think about it because Kansas state was down towards the tail end of Bill Snyder's first tenure into the Ron Prince era and then Snider had to rebuild that thing over a couple of years and by the time he had rebuilt it to 2011 which was the Colin Klein years um you know that's when K State was what undefeated in late November and Balor beat them to end their perfect season that's Kansas was falling off a cliff by that so these two teams together have not gotten a lot of hype and Candace is a state that obviously does not have the per capita Talent of a Texas or even you know probably in Oklahoma I'd have to look but Kansas does have some under recruited gems you know Kansas does not have the rules of Texas where they're not practicing all year round so it's a little bit different you're not going to have the guys who are as developed in Kansas as they are in Texas because the high school football rules how much you can work out offseason training offseason practice is different I mean Texas is now year round so the 17 18 year old at Texas is always going to be more developed than the 17 18yearold out of Kansas just generally speaking and the success model especially for Kansas state has always been to get those you know under recruited three star guys at a can and turn him into Hometown Heroes and by the way not that everyy Johnson was under recruited he wasn't obviously he was one of the top recruits in Kansas State history but when you get Avery Johnson as The Hometown guy and you get him with you know he's gonna be playing obviously with his childhood best friend it is going to be unbelievable to watch Dylan Edwards Avery Johnson two Kanas guys at K State potentially leading that program to dare I say a college football playoff I'm not predicting it I'm just saying that is very much in the cards and with the automatic bid the expectations should be there for Kansas State to win the Big 12 and that means they're in the college football playoff we've got this here also on YouTube Pete can't wait until the season starts I think a big 12 team surprises college football by the end of the season in late January so you're saying a big 12 team is going to be in the national championship if that's what you're insinuating I don't see it I want to be wrong to be clear but I don't see that um but there will be a big 12 team that surprises and I've written about this on the website when you look at the big 12 for the last four years there has been a middle of the- pack team that has always risen to the top and found itself in a big 12 championship game last year Oklahoma state was predicted middle of the pack obviously Texas won it two years ago TCU was predicted to be like seventh I think it was in the Big 12 they didn't win the Big 12 title game but they got to the playoff and got to a national championship three years ago it was Balor who nobody saw coming who ended up winning the Big 12 Championship so history tells us the Big 12 will have that preseason middle of the- pack team that rises who's it going to be you know I think the options are plentiful but I've looked at UCF I've looked at West Virginia Texas Tech they all can be Iowa State they all can be kind of on that list of teams that's right now predicted six seventh eth that can rise to the top when all of a said done in this conference and that's what's going to make it fascinating easily eight teams in this conference should feel like if things break right they can win the Big 12 which means they're in a college football playoff what other conferen is saying that I'm Pete Mundo we're Heartland college sports thank you for being here before you leave and don't go anywhere drop a festar rating and review if you're on the podcast right now it helps us so much and the podcast has grown for almost a decade because of you can you take 30 seconds out leave the fivestar rating and review we're at 700 and something ratings I want to get to 800 by the start of the Season can you help us do that just hit the five star it takes you a second and then of course on the YouTube page subscribe make sure you're here hit that thumbs up and um it's a great way to help us continue to build the show and share with five friends all right and we're on the forums every day don't miss out click on the forums tab at Heartland college sports we are building that community and it has been so fun to really get to know some of the people who have been consuming our content for years and some who have just been here for days so thank you guys have a great rest of your day I'm Pete Mundo we're Heartland college sports we'll talk to you soon take care