Just under five Saturdays until Big 12 football embarks on its first season as a 14-member league.
The Big 12 finished its Media Days this past week, welcoming four new schools. Big 12 football and the conference at large will be saying farewell to two that have built the league's foundation and spent a lot of seasons as the premier program.
With coaches giving their two cents on the upcoming season and fall ball right around the corner, here's a look at each Big 12 football team's biggest concern entering 2023.
Big 12 football: Every team's biggest concern for 2023 season
Baylor: Secondary
There were multiple problems with the Bears in 2022, and head coach Dave Aranda was open to sharing what went wrong.
Baylor does have quite a few returning starters, more so on offense. However, the secondary took the most considerable toll in the off-season. Starting STAR Al Walcott and cornerback Lorando Johnson went to Arkansas while starting safety Devin Neal transferred to Louisville.
Safety Devin Lemear remains the lone starter, and although seventh-year linebacker and converted STAR Bryson Jackson moves to the secondary, he's been in college football a long time, and a position change could create early rust.
BYU: Skill position
The Cougars have had a fair share of good offensive talent, headlined by running back Tyler Allgeier and wide receiver Puka Nakua.
Quarterback Kedon Slovis will have some options with experience, including multi-year tight end Isaac Rex. Kody Epps and Keanu Hill are other main targets from 2022 but will be relied on more heavily in 2023.
With Slovis' final dance in college, he hopes to get the most out of his supporting cast and for BYU to crash the Big 12 party.
UCF: Defensive depth
Much of UCF's preseason buzz comes from John Rhys Plumlee and Gus Malzahn getting a second chance at the Power 5 level.
What does come as a worry is the team's defensive depth. The Knights last year recorded just six interceptions and 22 sacks, both in the lower half of the league. They addressed some problems through the portal with Oklahoma defensive lineman Derrick LeBlanc and Georgia linebacker Rian Davis.
Cornerback Decorian Patterson comes from Middle Tennessee and had more interceptions last year than the entire Knights team.
The immediate calvary is in Orlando, but how much can the defense step forward? In a new league, the unit's depth will be showcased.
Cincinnati: Can they meet the Big 12 standard of offense?
The Bearcats did not finish their American Conference tenure as expected, finishing 9-4 and losing to their current head coaches' former school, Louisville.
Their offense took a step back, averaging under 30 points per game, finishing eighth in the league in scoring and tenth in rushing offense.
They re-hauled the wide receiver unit, bringing in four transfers and have a new lead-running back in Corey Kiner, previously at LSU.
Emory Jones jumps over from Arizona State, uniting him with Satterfield, who is fearless in trying to let scrambling quarterbacks use their feet.
Houston: Depth in the trenches
Losing their top quarterback and wide receiver can have its challenges. The Cougars did an excellent job with the former, grabbing former Texas Tech QB Donovan Smith out of the portal.
Especially moving into the Power 5 ranks, Houston's biggest problem is depth along the offensive and defensive lines. On offense, their depth chart has been completely reshuffled after losing nine to the portal.
D'Anthony Jones led the Cougars in sacks last year but graduated. Derek Parrish was a multi-year starter who was also out of the program. Providing skill players a chance to succeed, the Cougars will need to play well on both sides and up front could become a big problem.
Iowa State: A running game
Although Cyclone fans should be excited about Hunter Dekkers' progression, a severe problem arise with how the skilled talent will help him.
It was obvious Iowa State had to go one-dimensional during critical parts of 2022, with the worst rushing offense in the league.
After great seasons from David Montgomery and Breece Hall have become main stables in the program over the past five seasons, it was a hard pill to swallow to see the ground game take a step back.
Senior Jirehl Brock is expected to be the go-to back in a critical 2023 season for Matt Campbell and none of the backs behind him have a ton of experience.
There's no All-Big 12 caliber offensive lineman up front and although Easton Dean is a good tight end, his priority is not in blocking.
Kansas: Defense
The Jayhawks took over college football last season through Jalon Daniels, formidable receivers and an excellent running game. The media recognized it and pegged four Jayhawks on the preseason All-Big 12 team.
However, the other side of the ball still has rough edges to patch out. They ranked last in defensive scoring, over 2.5 more per game than West Virginia. They finished 10th in run defense and eighth in sacks.
Cornerback Cobee Bryant has become a cornerstone for the secondary, and safety Kenny Logan Jr. is using his COVID year after collecting 100+ tackles last year. The Jayhawks added a few pieces along the defensive line.
If the offense can perform an encore, how much can the Jayhawks' defense help them out?
Kansas State: Should expectations be tampered with?
The Wildcats might be one of the least talked about conference champions in a while, with TCU receiving the CFP bid and making the conference's first National Championship game in the playoff era.
A good chunk of Kansas State's core pieces are off to the NFL, but the roster is still in great shape to repeat. Running Back Treshaun Ward is making up for the loss of Vaughn after getting a ton of carries the past few seasons at Florida State.
Offensive Lineman Cooper Beebe is widely considered a first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and critical senior defensive lineman Khalid Duke, linebacker Daniel Green and safety Kobe Savage leave optimism for the defense not to take a step back.
It's a massive season concerning the league's future, with Oklahoma and Texas' departure. If the Wildcats repeat, being the league's standard could fall in Manhattan.
Oklahoma: Wide receiver depth
Questions of what went wrong in Norman have been the main topic surrounding the Sooners' 2022 performance. Not being able to finish one-score games, lack of consistency on defense or occasional accuracy problems with Dillon Gabriel.
All are valid, but one of the more significant problems in 2023 is who will fill in big shoes catching passes for Gabriel.
Tight-end Brayden Willis and wide receivers Marvin Mims and Theo Wease are all gone from the program. All three took most of last year's receptions, leaving this year's team lacking consistent playing time.
Michigan transfer Andrea Anthony is expected to take a more significant role, as well as Jahlil Farooq. Venables was not shy to mention sophomore Gavin Freeman as a player that made serious progress over the off-season.
Oklahoma State: Finding Playmakers
This is a very odd Mike Gundy-led football team. The Cowboys are young at quarterback and had to dip into the portal to find a one-year rental in Alan Bowman. They should have a decent rushing attack and some solid receiving options.
The offensive line could feature five offensive linemen, and the defense has some key pieces. However, the O/U total is six at the moment.
Bowman has not seen consistent playing time in a few years, the Cowboys got a Division II defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo for the same position with them, and they have some holes in the secondary.
This is the team that is probably going to see the most shifting of any by the time November rolls around. The key is more unknown names make the most of added playing time and keep the Cowboys in contention for an 18th consecutive bowl appearance.
Texas: Secondary
To the people that believe in the annual Texas preseason hype, the first factor they look over is this year's secondary.
It wasn't elite in 2022 and lost a couple of quality seniors in Anthony Cook and D'Shawn Jamison.
Jahdae Barron has the most experience (leading the team with 11.5 tackles for loss in 2022), and the Longhorns snagged Arkansas' Jalen Catalon out of the portal. Jerrin Thompson is a solid returnee, who racked up over 80 tackles last season. The biggest problem was creating turnovers as the secondary returned only four picks from the year before.
Outside of those two (which Catalon has not seen consistent time in a few years), the room looks hazy and could be seen as a weakness as early as Week 2 in Tuscaloosa.
Texas Tech: Keeping Tyler Shough healthy
The off-season buzz surrounding the Red Raiders starts and finishes with Tyler Shough. In his eight games started, he is 7-1 over the past two seasons. The problem is, he can't stick on the field throughout a season.
It's been one of the biggest drawbacks to why Texas Tech has yet to have more success over the past few seasons.
If the well-seasoned quarterback stays healthy and maintains his expectation, it could be a season to remember in Lubbock.
TCU: Quarterback
The Max Duggan revival story received mass attention in 2022. But an underlying fact remained quiet as he wasn't the intended starter.
Chandler Morris won the quarterback battle in Fall camp but got injured in the season-opener at Colorado. The rest was written.
Morris has had one complete performance over the past two seasons, a thrilling upset over Top-10-ranked Baylor in 2021.
Outside of that and a few other starts, Morris has been underwhelming. With offensive coordinator Garrett Riley off to Clemson, this begins a new project for Sonny Dykes in Year 2.
And how Morris fits into the new scheme could tell a lot about TCU's season.
West Virginia: Getting the hot seat cooler and takeaways
Neal Brown's comments at media day on Thursday may have been an attempt to light a spark in the fanbase and win them over for one more season. His seat is warm, and it could be the last season in Morgantown on that seat.
The Mountaineers were picked last in the Big 12 preseason media polls, trailing Houston and Cincinnati by nearly 100 points. He's fallen below .500 during his stint with West Virginia, and one more season might be the nail in the coffin.
One of the top reasons behind pessimism is the lack of explosive defensive plays last year. They ranked seventh in the league in sacks and had just four interceptions all season.
For West Virginia fans, it is more than just making a bowl game for them to be comfortable with him at the helm. And for the players on board with Brown, it's about getting him a little more security with the program.
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