Last preseason, the media ranked Arizona State at the bottom of the Big 12. Five months later the Sun Devils won the Big 12 Championship, played in the College Football Playoff (Peach Bowl), and now have a really good shot with Heisman candidate Sam Leavitt to run it back. Along with ASU, Colorado and BYU were ranked in the bottom 11 last preseason and ended up in the top four.
Just like last season, the Big 12 is a wide open race. This season, the conference is even more competitive with the return of nine starting QBs and top notch portal talent like former New Mexico QB Devon Dampier to Utah and former CUSA player of the year in 2023 QB Kaidon Salter to Colorado.
Along with notable names returning and fresh faces entering the Big 12, a lot of talent is heading pro—making this season even more interesting for the conference. As the spring window sees movement, one team has caught the public eye and will likely continue their winning ways come late August, the Baylor Bears.
Only four years ago, Baylor stuffed Oklahoma State on a fourth and goal to win their third ever Big 12 conference championship. Four years later and the Bears have yet to recreate their magical Sugar Bowl season. After a tough 2022 and 2023 season, Baylor found themselves in hot water to start the 2024 college football season.
The Bears were ranked 12th in the Big 12 preseason poll. At first it looked like it would be another setback year for Dave Aranda’s team, starting the season 2-4, losing all four in conference play, including the heartbreaking loss to Colorado on Shedeur Sanders’ Hail Mary and Travis Hunter’s forced fumble in overtime. What seemed like a lost cause only fueled the Bears. In their next six games they went a perfect 6-0 capping off the regular season with a record of 8-4, ending with an overall record of 8-5 losing to LSU in the Texas Bowl.
In the second game of the 2024 season against Utah, the Bears ran for 108 yards. The next game against Air Force, the Bears ran for 230 yards. The difference, redshirt freshman Bryson Washington running for 106 yards against the Falcons. What followed this game was the birth of a star. The redshirt freshman ran for 100 yards in five of the last six games. In just the last two games of the regular season, Washington ran for a total of 305 yards. Against TCU, he ran for a whopping 196 yards and had 59 receiving yards.
By the end of the year, Washington ended with 1,028 yards, 12 rushing touchdowns, and one fumble which happened against Air Force in week three. The young running back had the 6th most rushing yards in the Big 12 just as a freshman. With the five running backs ahead of him in the NFL now, the upcoming redshirt sophomore is primed for a massive 2025 season.
Handing the stout freshman the ball is another star in redshirt junior quarterback Sawyer Robertson, who at the beginning of the season wasn’t even the starter; by the end of the season he solidified himself as the Bears QB for next year and is now on first round mock drafts for 2026.
He ended with more than 3,000 yards, ending up 5th in the Big 12 and 25th in the nation in passing yard leaders. In 11 games Robertson hit absurd passing numbers on impressive efficiency. The Bears QB ended 7th in total QBR for the nation. Robertson’s ability to stand poised in the pocket and quickly move his eyes to his other reads makes him an outstanding QB.
His performance at end of the first half against Texas Tech is worth watching. The poise, pocket presence, and ability to quickly move on from reads make this one of the most impressive plays of last season. An issue with Robertson’s play is his ball security as he ended up with eight interceptions, three of them against Houston.
Still, the number is below double-digits and his incredible 62.2% completion rate outweighs much concern. On top of his incredible play, Robertson is known for his humility. During the Texas Bowl against LSU, star linebacker Whit Weeks went down with an ugly ankle injury. Before the next play, the Baylor QB went over to Weeks to pray for his health. The NFL ready QB is the perfect option for NFL teams in next year’s 2026 NFL draft.
Helping Robertson is his tremendous receiving room. The Bears bring back their two leading receivers in redshirt senior Josh Cameron and 6th year senior Ashtyn Hawkins. Cameron was Robertson’s number-one guy totaling 754 yards and 10 receiving touchdowns. His size and ability to fight through the contact makes Cameron a very good receiver on third downs because he won’t shy away from the contact. On top of physicality, Cameron has wheels too, averaging 14.3 yards a play getting most of his yards after the catch.
Hawkins has incredible ball skills and lateral speed. His touchdown against Oklahoma State in week nine demonstrates those capabilities. The veteran receiver is going into his second year with the Bears program. In 2024, Hawkins had 567 yards and five touchdowns.
The productivity of these two and their senior redshirt tight end Michael Trigg already made the Baylor air raid offense a must see; but now adding Alabama WR Kobe Prentice and Texas State WR Kole Wilson to the offense, and Baylor is looking at absurd passing numbers. Lastly, increasing sophomore WR Jadon Porter’s production will give the Bears a six-man rotation at receiver.
On the other side of the ball, the Bears are gonna be looking for a way to end up in the top half of the nation’s top pass defense. Last season, the Bears ended 94th in the nation. On top of last year’s woes, they have to replace LB Matt Jones’ productivity and his 4.5 sacks, Treven Ma’ae’s defensive line presence and his 3.5 sacks, and Garmon Randolph’s impressive ability to get interceptions at his size and his 3.5 sacks. All three now play in the AFC West (Ma’ae and Jones, Raiders; Randolph, Chargers). They also lost a pair of sophomore defensive lineman in Brendan Bett to Florida and Trey Wilson to SMU.
Though the loss of production is massive and the loss of youth is large, the return of Baylor’s star, redshirt junior Keaton Thomas, gives the Bears a weapon in the first and second level. In his first year as a starter, the young linebacker led the team in tackles with 106 total tackles and 66 solo tackles. On top of tackles, he had 2.5 sacks and a pick six.
Thomas is set for an amazing junior season as “the guy” on defense. On top of his production is the return of safety Devyn Bobby and defensive line Jackie Marshal. Bobby had 76 total tackles and 3 interceptions, while Marshall had an impressive 3.5 sacks and one forced fumble. Expect these two to continue their high productivity.
To prevent last year’s defensive issues, the Bears hired longtime assistant Paul Gonzales to orchestrate the secondary. In the secondary, the Bears added Ohio State cornerback, junior Calvin Simpson-Hunt and Prairie View A&M CB, redshirt sophomore, Tay’Shawn Wilson. Expect Simpson-Hunt to get an immediate role for the Bears. On top of the already proven Devyn Bobby, previously mentioned, the Bears also have a pair of junior safeties. DJ Coleman and Devin Leamear will only get better from here and will build a lockdown secondary with players previously mentioned.
On top of all the talent added from the portal that will have an immediate impact, the Bears also added a long term piece in redshirt freshman QB Walker Howard from Auburn. Howard, 247 Sports’ 5th best QB in the 2024 freshman class, gives the Bears youth for the next three years, likely being the favorite to start in 2026 and 2027.
In the recruiting end of things, Baylor had the 5th ranked class in the Big 12 per On3 Sports in the 2025 class and the 40th overall class. Top prospects are LB Kaleb Burns, RB Michael Turner, and EDGE Kamauryn Morgan, giving the Bears depth this season, looking to improve their pass-defense.
Baylor opens the season on Friday, August 29 at home against the Auburn Tigers. Currently the Tigers are a 1.5 point favorite. Both Auburn and Baylor are desperate for good starts since both started last year 2-4 through their first six games. The following week, the Bears will head to Dallas to take on SMU.
By far their toughest stretch will be the beginning when they play Auburn in week one, SMU on the road in week two, and Arizona State at home in week four. Luckily just like last season, the second half of the schedule is far more favorable with home games against Utah, Houston, and UCF and road games against Kansas St, TCU, and Arizona.
To make it back to the Big 12 championship game will not be easy, but this year’s Baylor team has a good shot with their NFL ready QB and all the moving parts on their offense and defense. In no particular order, expect Baylor, Arizona State, Texas Tech, BYU, Iowa State, and TCU to headline the top six this summer in the Big 12 preseason poll, but like last year a team from the bottom can shoot up to number one.
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