Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Big XII Week One Predictions, Kansas Jayhawks Season Debut - Big XII Squad

Episode Date: August 29, 2024

Welcome to the first episode of *Big XII Squad*, hosted by Drake Toll of Locked On Big XII! We're kicking off the season with a roundtable discussion featuring multiple Locked On podcast hosts as we dive into a comprehensive preview of the Big XII conference. In this week one episode, we cover everything you need to know about the Big XII schools, including: Arizona Wildcats Arizona State Sun Devils Baylor Bears BYU Cougars Cincinnati Bearcats Colorado Buffaloes Houston Cougars Iowa State Cyclones Kansas Jayhawks Kansas State Wildcats Oklahoma State Cowboys TCU Horned Frogs Texas Tech Red Raiders UCF Knights Utah Utes West Virginia Mountaineers Join us as we break down each team’s prospects and get expert insights from our panel of Locked On hosts. Whether you're a fan of one of these schools or just excited for Big XII football, this episode is packed with information you won't want to miss! **Subscribe and hit the notification bell** to stay updated on all Big XII news, previews, and expert analysis! **#BigXII #CollegeFootball #SeasonPreview #LockedOnBigXII #FootballAnalysis #BigXIISquad**

West Virginia has the opportunity to make a statement against Penn State. The Onsanders in Colorado have an oddly tough FCS game. Big 12 opening weekend is loaded. Let's get the squad together. You are locked on Big 12, your daily podcast on the Big 12 Conference, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Happy Thursday, everybody, and welcome to the Big 12 Conference squad. Sit back, grab your favorite beverage, and join us as we get you ready

for another wild week across the Big 12. We've got Cody Stovall representing Oklahoma State, JT Wister, still of Locked On Utes, Parker Ainsworth of Locked On Cougs, Mountaineer Paul with Locked On West Virginia, Richie Bradshaw, on Sun Devils. Chris Level with Texas Tech. And Kevin Borba have locked on Buffs. And college football is back this week.

Let's go rapid fire around the Big 12. Cody Stovall, the Oklahoma State Cowboys kick it off on Saturday. What do you think about this week's game? Well, I think it's going to surprise some people. It's going to stay pretty close for some time. They've won 29 games in a row back-to-back fcs national titles and their version of the heisman winner will be in stillwater but i don't think it's enough i think the cowboys definitely get the w jt wistersell you and i'll be on hand tonight as the utah youths kick off their season against southern utah their first game is a Big 12 member. What do you foresee happening at Rice-Eccles Stadium?

Well, considering the last time they played the Thunderbirds, it was 73-7, I don't think it's going to be much of a game. This Southern Utah team's a little improved, but I expect to see all the backups for Utah in by the second half. Utah rolls. It could be great to see Cam rising back on the field, though. As we move into a big weekend, Parker Ainsworth, your Houston Cougars aren't highly looked upon in the Big 12.

Yours truly recently this week said they would finish at 1-11 in the Big 12 conference play. We'll leave that conversation for later. As for this weekend, you get UNLV, and the spread's pretty tight. Yeah, UNLV, I'll talk about that later. But I will say that I feel like UNLV is coming off of a good year, but honestly, there's too much good mojos. Willie Fritz's first game in the Fritz era quarterback coming back down and

Smith, a big 12 starter, a couple of years in a row. I just think there's too many good things going Houston's way this weekend. Mountaineer Paul, you've got an FCS matchup on set. You've got Penn state on Saturday. Your thoughts on maybe the biggest game in the big 12 in the

non-conference well you nailed it biggest game in the big 12 absolutely this has been the and this is no lie the largest bill to a game i can remember in probably 10 years uh both fan bases have gone all out there has been banter on both sides. Pat McAfee and James Franklin really amping this thing up. As we move into Friday, Pat McAfee has got a lot on deck, a lot ready for this game to set the table for what's going to be a big game. Richie Bradshaw, you'll end things at 1030 Eastern time on Saturday, hosting Wyoming. What does Arizona State need to do against a Wyoming team that is less than a touchdown underdog? Yeah, the Sun Devils have a lot of proving to do this year in their second year with Kenny Dillingham. There's a lot of questions on the offensive side of the football.

When you lose Jaden Rashada, you lose Jalen Conyers, you lose Elijah Badger. Sam Levitt is your starter. You've got a host of running backs to be able to run the football with, with Cameron Scadaboo leading the charge. You need to show that you're able to take care of the football and be productive on the offensive side the best way you can do that is to hand it off to Scadaboo and the rest of the guys behind them if you're going to win any games this year let alone against Washington or excuse me against Wyoming you need to be able to run the football effectively this is a great way to come out and show that you're going to be able to step up to the plate this year let's fly out to lubbock texas chris level abilene christian you're 33 and a half point favorites in this game texas tech predicted to take care of business will that be the case

richie be careful wyoming i did that trip last year be careful uh i you know acu Be careful. ACU beat, or excuse me, they lost to Missouri two years ago, 34-17. They lost to Texas A&M last year, 38-10. I mean, I bet you see something similar in Lubbock. A lot of excitement around here. And kudos to U of H and Oklahoma State for, you know, trotting out former Red Raider quarterbacks. I feel like we're just the gift that keeps on giving. And I would say,

Richie, thank you for Jalen Conyers. It's a new tight end here in Lubbock. And we certainly appreciate it here. Love him very, very much. Take care of him for us. Guys.

It's another team kicking things off tonight. Colorado will host North Dakota state. Kevin Borba of locked on buffs. My first question is less about the Buffs and more about their opponent. Is this the North Dakota State of old or have you gotten a bit of a gap year? I wouldn't say it's a gap year, but it's

definitely a different era of North Dakota State football. They have a new head coach for the first time and I think it was presented to me in 20 years. They have an offensive-minded coach which is new for them. They're usually a more defensive minded, physically attacking team and now they have an offense coordinator from wyoming actually and so he's their new head coach first time head coach and i think he's going to try to give the buffs a run for their money and it's going to be a really close game probably a little

uncomfortable for colorado but that's what you get when you schedule a team that's won nine titles in 11 years we're going to talk more in depth about each of these games. What I'd like to do is a little word association before we get into the in-depth previews of our West Virginia and Penn state, Colorado and North Dakota state, and also talking Oklahoma state in their big game against South, South Dakota state. I want to do the word association. Just one,

one word about each game, Cody for Oklahoma state. What's the one word. What do you need to see on Saturday? I want to see domination. Domination. I like it. That was more than one word, but domination was somewhere in there.

JT, list yourself. A blowout. Parker Ainsworth, a locked on Cougs. New. Mountaineer Paul, you got Penn State this week. What's your word? Upset. For the Sun Devils of Arizona State, Richie Bradshaw.

Downhill. Texas Tech, their big favorites, Chris Level. Comfortable. Kevin Borba of Locked On Buffs in a game that a whole lot of people in the country want to see an upset in. What does Colorado's word? Blocking. And God knows they need it hey coming up let's talk more in depth about those biggest games in the big 12 right here on your big 12 conference preview opening weekend on tap

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Back here on the Big 12 Preview, giving you all things for this weekend at the conference. Let's go to the biggest games, and this one is one of the biggest to me because it's helping kick us off tonight, and it's got a perennial powerhouse at the conference, let's go to the biggest games. And this one is one of the biggest to me because it's helping kick us off tonight. And it's got a perennial powerhouse, the FCS level, Kevin Borba of locked on buffs, North Dakota state coming to town. They're still good. Is, is this a game that you're worried about an upset or you're pretty confident

about Deion Sanders? I would say I'm fairly worried about an upset because this is a North Dakota state team, regardless of the head coaching change, they have a winning pedigree. They're physical and they can run the ball. And Colorado couldn't stop the run last year. Obviously, they have a bunch of new players, but this is a dynasty. And regardless of who's the head coach, it's still a force to be reckoned with.

We've been joined by Spencer McLaughlin of Lockdown College Football. Spencer, we'll go to you in just one second, but I want to get to the other game tonight. First, JT Wistersell, Southern Utah is on tap. We already talked about a large spread. You said you're expecting a blowout. Is there any way in which tonight's game is not a blowout? I don't see it. And I know, Spencer, voice of the Thunderbirds, great having you on with us. But unfortunately, I think you will be calling a blowout. I think this Utah team's too good. If they want to achieve all of their goals, it starts with setting the tone in your first game of the season with a dominant win. Maybe it's one of those games where Southern Utah surprises them early, gets a little bit of a drive going that happened the last time they played. But I just can't see. Utah hasn't lost to an FCS team in a very long time like this. I don't expect this to be a game.

I think the Thunderbirds will fight hard, but I once again expect the starters to pretty much be done playing for Utah by the time halftime hits. Spencer, we'll go to you then when it comes to the Colorado game tonight, the Utah game tonight, what do you foresee in the opener for the big 12? Well, the only thing I can guarantee about that Southern Utah game is this is the best Southern Utah team Delane Fitzgerald has had going into his third season. They're a confident, talented, experienced bunch and Utah has to come out ready to play. Lest I remind you that two years ago, Southern Utah led that game 7-0 at one point. It ended in a certain way that we need not mention, but Utah is my preseason favorite to win the Big 12. And I think that Southern Utah is going to make the best punch that they can. And we'll see how much that can actually push the Utes.

As for Colorado, I think the upset potential here is wildly overhyped. I like Colorado big over North Dakota State. If you took out all of the noise with Deion Sanders and not letting a reporter or two ask questions in a press conference on all of that petty crap, if you remove that, you would have far fewer people saying North Dakota State could beat Colorado. That's people projecting what they want to have happen. That's like me saying the Mariners are going to shock me and make the playoffs this year after they fired their managers. I want that to happen. But deep in my heart, I know that's just not going to be the case.

It's college football season. I don't know what word. MLB talk. Great. Chris Lovell with Texas Tech this weekend. I know i know again blowout is the word right that's what utah wants if tech doesn't get a blowout is is that a black scar on an early season game for the red raiders well chris you do have to unmute. That would be helpful. Study show. Geez, I didn't even know I was muted. I didn't even know I was muted.

See, maybe this is me being just like, I don't need to say anything. The team will go on. Mountaineer Paul, you're muted as well. Yeah, that's right. You know, my word a while ago was comfortable. I don't expect you to. There's a lot of familiarity in this game between Texas Tech and Abilene Christian. Your former defensive coordinator is their head coach.

You have six former players on that Abilene Christian team that used to play for the Red Raiders. So they'll come out with a chip on their shoulder and all those things. I just want to see a healthy quarterback for once and see what that looks like and hand it to number 28, Taj Brooks, and see if you can't get his record-setting year potentially going as he's trying to be the rushing leader in Texas Tech history and all those things. But, you know, 20-, 30-point win, and I think you're very happy with the big road game coming up next week.

We say hello to Jake Hatch of Locked On Cougars representing BYU this weekend, the Salukis. I'll be on hand for that one in Provo, Utah as well. Perez Zen, a pretty good challenge challenge number 11 in the fcs is there a question mark here is byu just going to overmatch the salukis or should we be worried well the hope is that they overmatch the salukis byu is 18 and 0 all time against fcs teams drake and you better bring those sunglasses and that nice coat you wear for the party animals when you come down to Provo and hang out with us. But the bigger point to be made is BYU has to handle their business.

There you go. I like that. There's one shade. I like that a lot. They broke. But nonetheless, BYU doesn't even handle their business. The whole goal this year is to get to bowl eligibility. Well, that starts with a 1-0 record after you beat Southern Illinois on Saturday at night. Mountaineer Paul for West Virginia. And this is before we get to the big game where we, you know what? Yeah, I'm going to cut you off right there.

Spencer McLaughlin, let's go to those two first before we give an entire couple of minutes to the biggest game in the Big 12. We're talking this weekend about BYU and Texas Tech. Should we be worried about either? It seems like both those games have different feels. Yeah, first and foremost, Drake, I think that if you put those shades back on, you bear a striking resemblance to Prince Amon

from House of the Dragon with the one side. So that's the first thing I had to get off my chest there. Steve, Steve the Pirate. I think for BYU and Texas Tech, I expect them both. I'd be more concerned with BYU. I'm more interested in BYU and Texas Tech. I expect them both. I'd be more concerned with BYU. I'm more interested in BYU, though, because I don't love BYU's quarterback situation going into this year.

What I think is the deepest quarterback conference in the country, I'm intrigued by Baron Morton, of course. I just have a little bit more assurance on my end that he's going to succeed in that Texas Tech offense than what BYU is working with. So I'm a little bit more interested to watch the Cougars. And you take away whatever you can from these FCS matchups. Mountaineer Paul, you've already mentioned upset. What is the key?

What's the one spot you say, hey, West Virginia is better than Penn State at this. Or here's the little piece of the game that's going to go our way? Well, there's a lot, really. I've had two years to study this Penn State team. I've seen different iterations of that team and how they've gone through a little bit of a rebuilding process with Colton, Nicky, the coordinators. I think a lot of people don't mention that in this game, but there's three new coordinators for Penn State

in a game one scenario at Morgantown. Garrett Green, while the completion percentages talked about a lot, led the country in big time throws with 31. He led the country, led the entire country under two minutes. Nobody talks about that a lot either. Obviously, he had a top ten all-time rushing season for a quarterback last year. That doesn't get talked about that a lot either. Obviously, he had a top-ten all-time rushing season for a quarterback last year. That doesn't get talked about a lot. And for me, we went in the trenches.

I think we can still make those guys up front. I think, you know, we have the best player in the game, and that includes number 11 with Wyatt Milam. I really do think he's going to hold his own against that guy. For me, there's just so much into a home field advantage at West Virginia that in my opinion is big. I think if you're West Virginia too and you mention

the running backs, you're not in a bad spot. We are in a spot where we've got to get to the rest of the games of the Big 12 though. Spencer McLaughlin, what an inquisitive question you could mount in your ball. To each of you guys, I have written in my book a win for each of these teams, the Buffs, Texas Tech, the Cougars of BYU, the Utes, and West Virginia. Thank you guys for joining the show.

Coming up, we're going to give you the rest of the games in our locked-on Big 12 family. That is right after this. Don't go anywhere. Today's show is brought to you by FanDuel. Look, I get it. I get it. You have missed college football.

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Factor. It's the final segment, the final breakdown of this week's Big 12 games. Cody Stovall, we'll start with you and the Oklahoma State Cowboys, one of the competitive teams in the Big 12, so much so, many have picked them in the top three of the conference, a contender for Arlington. What do you need to see from Oklahoma State against the number one team in the FCS being less than 10 point favorites? Well, as I've mentioned earlier, I think domination

needs to be the mainstay for this game here. Casey Dunn does have a propensity to let games get unnecessarily close. We've never really, you know, had that OC since your six left that would step on your throat and in the game, put you out of your misery. That's what we need to see out of this, this offense against South Dakota state. For you, Richie Bradshaw, I've locked it. Wait a second. Spencer McLaughlin. I can't, I can't brush past you. You've got the, the number one team in the FCS on tap for Oklahoma state this weekend. Do you think there's any way we see something stunning? Well, you'd have to define stunning there, but I saw something stunning take place in Stillwater last year

with a non-Power 4 opponent. It was of technically a higher caliber in South Alabama, but South Dakota State is the current dynasty in the FCS ranks. A lot of people would say North Dakota State, but South Dakota State, they're the program that have won the last two national championships. They are rolling right now. So I've seen a lot crazier things happen on paper.

I'd love to say that Stillwater is a place that you don't go into and win, but I watched it happen last year and there are a lot of similar players from last year's Oklahoma State team and it's a very veteran unit. And you've got Alan Bowman at quarterback. And I'm not the biggest Oklahoma State fan in the world,

as I've predicted them to go eight and four this season, which is a disaster for Oklahoma State fans, or at least some of them. And it is, you know, give the coach a contract extension for others. Richie Bradshaw of Arizona State locked on Sun Devils. If you lose to Wyoming, what do we do? Is that wraps for the Sun Devils in 2024? It's the unmuting part that's always a fun.

It's optional. It's optional at this point. I mean, like you have to ask yourself the question, Drake, as the person running the show, do you really want to hear Richie talk? I don't. I guess so. I don't blame you guys if ask yourself the question, Drake, as the person running the show. Do you really want to hear Richie talk? I don't. I guess so. I don't blame you guys if no one wants to hear me talk. It's just the Sun Devils. It's not raps if you don't end up winning the first game of the year against Wyoming.

It's probably your quote unquote, like easiest win. But this is also a program that has won six games in the past two seasons combined. ASU is still trying to figure itself out piece by piece, week by week, game by game. This is a game you need to win. You don't blow up the season if you lose, but you're certainly not thrilled if you start off the year in the loss column. Spencer, does Wyoming have a chance? I'm interested in the Cowboys because they've been a program that has been middle, closer to the middle of the Mountain West, but they've poked their head into the upper tier

recently, but they have a coaching change this offseason. Kenny Dillingham going into year two with, I think, one of the best defensive coordinators in the conference in Brian Ward, who's got a strong defensive pedigree and background there. So I wonder how the Cowboys are going to be able to move the football. But we saw Wyoming win a game that they shouldn't have last year against Texas Tech. That was at home. This game is at Mountain America Stadium down there in Tempe. So I like the Sun Devils there. Certainly, though, they have to be on high alert. Parker Ainsworth locked on Cougs.

We saw UNLV be very competitive last year. Wins at Air Force and against Wyoming late in the season, going to a bowl game and scoring 36 against Kansas. If you lose to a fairly solid UNLV team that's not the UNLV of old. Does that derail Willie Fritz's year one? I think most people understand that Willie Fritz's year one is more about setting a culture and things like that. He's very well known for what he did at Tulane, but people forget he was there six, seven, eight years. Right. I will say I'm not I'm not so scared of this UNLV team as it would have been a year ago. They brought in a couple new quarterbacks.

As of depth charts being released this week, they hadn't really picked one. They're FCS caliber guys, not like national title FCS caliber guys like we talked about a couple times on the show, but like Holy Cross, Campbell, right? Like very normal. They're moving up to the group of five, kind of moving up in the world, kind of quarterbacks. I think there's a lot of things working Houston's way. Like I said, I, I will say like UNLV is not the scrub that we've seen other teams play in the

opening weekend though. So I do think it's gonna be a fun game. Maybe Willie Fritz's first year is just the friends we made along the way. And that's, and that's what makes it special for everyone. I don't think you're one of those friends. If I'm reading things right here, Matt, Matt rule started one in 11 at Baylor. And that's what makes it special for everyone. I don't think you're one of those friends if I'm reading things right here. Matt Rule started 1-11 at Baylor, and I think Willie Fritz is a very good football coach. Within three years, he'll have some success in Houston.

Spencer, does he start that success with a win in Game 1? No. I've got the Rebels here, and I'd feel more confident in the pick if Jaden Maiava hadn't gone to USC to be the backup. A curious move. A curious move to go in i guess he competed for the starting quarterback job at usc miller moss ends up beating him out uh i did see the hand gesture there from parker nil might have been the factor because he's a capable backup if miller moss were to go down with an injury if jade maiava run this team this

might be the preseason favorite to win the mountain West. I think that Barry Odom has done a great job. Brennan Marion is the offensive coordinator runs a lot of really, really fun stuff. Still. I think the rebels are going to go into Houston and win the football game in week one. I've got the upset.

We've got to move quickly here, Spencer. I want to get a couple of score predictions from you, Colorado, North Dakota state, Colorado 31, no Colorado, 38, uh, North Dakota State. Colorado, 31. No, Colorado, 38. North Dakota State, 24.

TCU, Stanford. TCU by 7. Let's get a score prediction from Cody Stovall quickly. 41-21. 41-21 over the number one team in the FCS. Oklahoma State takes the win. For you, Parker Ainsworth. 35-21. 41-21 over the number one team in the FCS. Oklahoma State takes the win. For you, Parker Ainsworth? 35-28.

Houston takes down UNLV by seven. And Richie Bradshaw, do you get the win versus Wyoming? What's that score? They're going to start the year off 1-0. They're going to take down Wyoming 27-17. And I'm muting Spencer's microphone. West Virginia beats Penn State 31-24 this weekend. Nobody can hear you. Oh, I don't know if I can let that just go by the wayside.

Spencer, one second is your score prediction. For Penn State and West Virginia, I will take the Mountaineers 31-20. I love it. Welcome to the big show, Spencer McLaughlin. To everybody who joined us today on the Locked On Big 12 Weekend Preview. Thank you very much. College football is back. Follow and subscribe to your favorite Big 12 channel.

We'll be covering your favorite team every day throughout the season. And don't forget, I'll have you covered on the entire conference every day with Locked On Big 12. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, this has been and it always will be Locked On. Thanks for making it your first listen every single day. Dos e Grande.