Big 12 QB tiers: Ranking the top units across the conference

The Big 12 is a conference that wants to prove it can compete with the SEC and Big Ten for national championships. To do that, they'll need some excellent quarterback play.

It's an interesting season for the Big 12, in large part because of Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are heavy favorites, except for the major questions that they now have to answer at quarterback because of the Brendan Sorsby scandal. That makes it a much more open race.

There are 16 teams in the Big 12. So, the teams are broken up into four tiers, with four teams in each one of those tiers. 

The Top-Tier Teams

Utah Utes, BYU Cougars, Arizona Wildcats, Kansas State Wildcats

It's a new era at head coach for Utah, but the Utes retain quarterback Devon Dampier. He came as a transfer before last season and threw for 2,490 yards and 24 touchdowns while rushing for 835 yards and another 10 touchdowns. So, it's a new offense but a proven quarterback.

After that, the quarterback position gets interesting in the Big 12. BYU returns Bear Bachmeier, who was thrown into action as a freshman and thrived. A duel-threat, he could be a major issue for defenses. Of course, the same could be said for Noah Fifita, who is now a fifth-year senior, as well as Avery Johnson, who is also a senior, for Arizona and Kansas State, respectively.

The Upper Middle-Tier Teams

Houston Cougars, Oklahoma State Cowboys, UCF Knights, TCU Horned Frogs

The Houston Cougars have become a popular darkhorse pick in the Big 12. That's largely because they return Conner Weigman. He had the best season of his career in 2025 with Houston, and the hope is he can build on that.

The rest of this tier is headlined by teams that grabbed high-performing quarterbacks from lower levels of the sport. Oklahoma State hired North Texas coach Eric Morris, who brought his quarterback, Drew Mestemaker, with him. UCF, meanwhile, added Alonza Barnett, who just took James Madison to the College Football Playoff. Then, TCU turned to the FCS ranks to take All-Ivy League quarterback Jaden Craig. They're all talented, but have to prove it moving up.

The Lower Middle-Tier Teams

Baylor Bears, Arizona State Sun Devils, West Virginia Mountaineers, Iowa State Cyclones

At one point, DJ Lagway was supposed to revive the Florida Gators. That didn't happen, though, particularly as injuries derailed him. Once his head coach was fired, he hit the transfer portal and landed closer to home with Baylor. There, he'll hope to re-spark his career.

Arizona State hopes to compete in the Big 12, but it'll be doing so with some questions at quarterback. Transfers Cutter Boley and Mikey Keene will battle for the job, but neither has proven themselves just yet. After that, West Virginia is likely turning to Michael Hawkins, who showed sparks at Oklahoma. This group is then wrapped up by Iowa State, where outgoing head coach Matt Campbell took everything that wasn't nailed down. The hope is Jaylen Raynor can step up and transition well to the Big 12. 

The Lower-Tier Teams

Texas Tech Red Raiders, Colorado Buffaloes, Kansas Jayhawks, Cincinnati Bearcats

Texas Tech was supposed to have a top-tier QB situation. Then, Brendan Sorsby got popped for gambling on his own team. Will Hammond is a good backup, but he's still injured, so the Red Raiders are already on QB3. 

At Colorado, Deion Sanders struggled to replace Shedeur Sanders a season ago. He'll likely be turning to Julian Lewis, who is young but does have good potential. Kansas and Cincinnati are in rougher situations. Unproven Isaiah Marshall has one start, or Kansas could go with Cole Ballard. As for Cincinnati, Georgia Southern transfer JC French IV is the likely starter, replacing Sorsby.