Josh Pate Puts Two Big 12 Teams in His Post-Spring Top 20

The Big 12 programs mentioned by Pate were the defending league champs, Arizona State, and the star of the offseason, the Texas Tech Red Raiders. The Sun Devils were listed at No. 13 in the country while Texas Tech rounded out the list at No. 20.

Arizona State, led by star quarterback Sam Leavitt, will be tasked with following up on their incredible season in a new role: the hunted instead of the hunter.

In addition to the role switch, they will need to find some production in the rushing attack after losing one of their best players, Cam Skattebo, to the NFL Draft. Army transfer Kanye Udoh looks like the man for the job, but it also wouldn’t be shocking to see them roll out a bit of a rotation approach.

For Texas Tech, it’s all about turning expectations into reality. We’ve seen explosive offseason adds before from Joey McGuire, but this year feels different. Will it come true? Only time will tell, but both programs should expect to see their name near the top of the Big 12 Preseason Media Poll this fall.