ESPN College Football

It's time to look forward to 2013 and the Big 12's best passers. Hitting 3,000 yards is the benchmark for a productive season as a college quarterback.

Four Big 12 quarterbacks threw for at least 3,000 yards last season -- but all four threw for more than 4,000 yards. Two more quarterbacks hit 2,500 yards.

Who will crack the mark in 2013? With so many jobs up in the air, it's going to be tough to predict, but here's who I'm buying as a 3,000-yard passer in 2013, in order of the likelihood they'll do it.

1. Bryce Petty, Baylor: Of all the new quarterbacks in the Big 12, Petty has the most experience in his current system and has the deepest receiving corps. BU's got solid running backs, but this is still a pass-first offense and Petty's got an arm capable of making any play necessary. This is a no-brainer.

2. Michael Brewer, Texas Tech: Call me a believer in coach Kliff Kingsbury as an offensive mind. We'll see about Texas Tech as a whole, but Brewer's got a diverse skill set and his ability to run will make it easier for him to throw. Defenses will have to watch for both. Add to that a high tempo and a very, very good and deep receiving corps, and Brewer should be able to crack 3,000 yards sometime in early November.

3. Clint Chelf, Oklahoma State: Oklahoma State didn't have a 1,600-yard passer last year, but that's what happens when the injury bug bites. OSU has had a 3,000-yard passer in three of the past four seasons before that, though, and cleared the mark easily in team passing yards in all three seasons under the Air Raid. Chelf's likely to hit 4,000 if he wins the job officially.

4. David Ash, Texas: Ash has never hit the 3,000-yard mark, but he's getting better and his receivers are, too. Texas wants to play faster, too, which means more snaps and more pass attempts for Ash, even with a great running back corps with a ton of depth. He was at 2,699 yards last year, but he's got a great shot to get over the top this year.

5. Casey Pachall, TCU: Back in 2011, Pachall was 79 yards short of his first 3,000-yard season. He was well on his way last year with almost 1,000 yards in his first four games (including a win over SMU in a downpour). This one may be close, but if Pachall recaptures the job and only looks like a shell of himself, the odds are still in his favor to crack 3K.

6. Blake Bell, Oklahoma: This one may be close. I'm giving Bell the benefit of the doubt here. Bell's not as refined a passer as Landry Jones, but he's better than he's looked thus far in his career. He'll be running more than Jones, but I'm betting Bell clears the 3,000-yard mark safely.

7. Clint Trickett, West Virginia: West Virginia's going to run the ball a lot more this season with a lot of depth and talent at the position, but it's hard to see whoever wins the QB job not hitting at least 3,000 yards. They won't be reaching Geno Smith's 4,200 yards, but if Trickett beats out Ford Childress and Paul Millard in the Big 12's most unpredictable QB competition, he's hitting 3,000 yards.

Oklahoma Sooners football coach Bob Stoops discusses the devastating tornado in Oklahoma.

Getting a little dusty in here.

• Nice job from the University of Oklahoma, who opened up its dorms to help those who were affected by Monday's tornado.
• It's been a sad season of team sports for Texas, writes Cedric Golden of the Austin American-Statesman.
• Mike Casazza of the Charleston Daily Mail tried to wrap his head around Clint Trickett throwing passes to Ivan McCartney for WVU. Hats off to the WVU baseball team yesterday, too.
• Can Arthur Brown step in and replace Ray Lewis?
• Paul Rhoads says college football commitments are basically hotel reservations. Randy Peterson of the Des Moines Register writes about an early signing period in recruiting.
• Go donate to the Red Cross.

Our ESPN Stats & Info crew put together 100 numbers you should know with 100 days left before the season starts, and plenty of them are taking up residence in the Big 12.

Colleague Mark Schlabach also has a fun column about the inevitable, brutal, annual summer of anticipation for every college football fan. Let's take a close look at the numbers.

13. (OU streak free): Oklahoma has gone 13 seasons without losing consecutive regular-season games. That's right, the last time the Sooners lost back-to-back regular-season games was in Bob Stoops' first season in Norman in 1999 (to Notre Dame and Texas).

What's more impressive? That stat, or the fact Stoops has never gone consecutive seasons without a Big 12 title while at Oklahoma? Crazy.

16. (Conference realignment): There will be 16 teams with new conference / independent homes entering the 2013 season.

And for the first time since 2010, none of them have any Big 12 ties? Throw a party, Big 12 fans. Stability!

25. (Barry Sanders' Heisman Trophy season): Twenty-five years ago, Barry Sanders of Oklahoma State claimed the Heisman Trophy. In his Heisman-winning campaign of 1988, Sanders rushed for an FBS record 2,628 yards.

Still 25 years later, that rushing number is unfathomable. The Big 12's leading rusher last year, Joseph Randle, had just over 1,400 yards. I really don't think we'll ever see anyone break Barry's record.

31. (New coaches): There will be 31 FBS coaches entering their first seasons at new schools.

Just one in the Big 12, but he's been a high-profile addition. The King, Kliff Kingsbury, returns to his roots in Lubbock as Texas Tech's head coach.

47. (Oklahoma's win streak): Oklahoma's NCAA-record 47-game win streak spanned 1953-57, including back-to-back national titles in 1955-56. The streak ended with a 7-0 loss to Notre Dame on Nov. 16, 1957. Those two programs will meet this season on Sept. 28 in South Bend.

Another record that's not going to be touched ... ever.

73. (Bill Snyder still going): Age of Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder, who is the oldest active FBS coach. His Wildcats are 21-5 over the past two seasons and appeared in a BCS bowl for the first time since 2003 when they fell to Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl last season.

K-State seems due for a step back this season, but are you willing to guarantee it?

Which number piques your anticipation the most?

Three Big 12 centers are up for the Rimington Trophy as the nation's top center. The trophy committee released its award watch list on Tuesday morning. Here are the players in the mix from the Big 12.

• Dominic Espinosa, Texas
• BJ Finney, Kansas State
• Gabe Ikard, Oklahoma

Good set of centers there. I'm a little surprised Iowa State's Tom Farniok did not get some love, but players not on the preseason watch list are still eligible to win the award.

Ikard definitely has the best chance of that bunch to win the trophy, but he's so versatile, an injury or two might mean a position change. Ikard has played all over the place for the Sooners.

No Big 12 player has won the award since another Dominic, Nebraska's Dominic Raiola, won the inaugural award back in 2000.

TCU's Jake Kirkpatrick won the award in 2010, and West Virginia's Dan Mozes won it in 2006.

We're only 100 days away from the college football season, but today we're looking at what each conference needs to do, team by team, between now and then. Here's the Big 12's checklist.

1. Sort out and develop those quarterbacks. I've written about it plenty, but there's no doubt that the quarterbacks are the story of the Big 12 this offseason. There won't be lots of experience next fall, but there will be a lot of talent. To tally the Big 12 quarterbacks: Four teams (Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, West Virginia) still possibly don't know who their Week 1 starter will be, and another (Oklahoma) hasn't officially announced one, though Blake Bell appears to have earned the job. Two more Big 12 teams (Baylor, Texas Tech) will have quarterbacks making their first career starts in Week 1. Iowa State quarterback Sam Richardson will be making just his third career start and Kansas' Jake Heaps will be making his Jayhawks debut after starting almost two seasons at BYU. Texas' David Ash is the league leader with 18 career starts, and though TCU's Casey Pachall has 17, he hasn't officially won the job and hasn't played since October.

2. Try to find a national title contender. The Big 12 won't have much preseason hype, but consider this: Oklahoma State was picked third in the Big 12 preseason poll in 2011, with just one vote to win the league. Kansas State was picked sixth last season. By November, those squads had made it very, very clear that they were the Big 12's best teams in those respective years, and were right in the thick of the national title race.

3. Get to politicking with pollsters. That said, the preseason hype will be at an all-time low this year in the Big 12. The conference has never started a season without a team in the top 10, but that looks likely to happen this year. It's going to take a lot to change that, but here's guessing most coaches across the Big 12 aren't real excited to have their teams earn a bull's-eye on their backs. Oklahoma being preseason No. 1 in 2011 offered another reminder that preseason polls don't mean a whole lot.

4. Mix in the new faces. Everybody's dealing with freshmen in fall camp, but teams like Kansas State, Kansas and West Virginia are mixing in tons of new contributors who were nonfactors on last year's teams or not even on the roster this time last year. Oklahoma is doing it on defense, too.

5. Keep bringing up the rear. The Big 12 coaches have been trumpeting the bottom half of the league, an argument for the top half's road to the national title game being college football's most difficult. Having nine teams crack bowls after the 2012 regular season helped that case, but the league will need it to continue. Kansas is moving in the right direction while trying to end its 21-game losing streak, but it's not going to be easy for Iowa State to make another bowl game after this season.

Our list of the top 10 Big 12 players ever generated as much response from you all as anything we've ever done. I really appreciate all of it. Many of you agreed with the list. Plenty of you didn't. That's pretty natural. It was an absolutely brutal list to put together. Tons of talented guys have a case to be on it, and might be on your list. I wouldn't necessarily disagree. Still, I only had room for 10. Here's an extensive list of all the guys who I also think have a strong case for inclusion. They're the players who just missed my all-time top 10. In no particular order, here they are:

Eric Crouch, QB, Nebraska: In 2001, won the Heisman Trophy, Davey O'Brien Trophy, Camp Award and was the Big 12's Offensive Player of the Year. Finished his career with 4,481 passing yards and 3,434 rushing yards and accounted for 84 touchdowns.

Justin Blackmon, WR, Oklahoma State: Won the Biletnikoff Award in 2010 and 2011, and was the Big 12's Offensive Player of the Year in 2011. Finished his three-year career with 252 catches, 3,564 receiving yards and 41 total touchdowns.

Grant Wistrom, DL, Nebraska: Won Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors in 1996 and 1997. Won the Lombardi Award in 1997 and helped Nebraska go 49-2 during his career. Finished with 58.5 tackles for loss and 26.5 sacks.

Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech: The first-ever two-time winner of the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top receiver. He was a unanimous All-American in both seasons and finished his career with 231 catches for 3,127 yards and 41 touchdowns.

Troy Davis, RB, Iowa State: Finished second in the Heisman voting in 1996 and fifth in 1995. Topped 2,000 yards rushing in both seasons and scored 37 touchdowns. He was the Big 12's Offensive Player of the Year in 1996.

Darren Sproles, RB, Kansas State: Rushed for 1,986 yards in K-State's Big 12 title season in 2003. Finished his four-year career with just under 5,000 rushing yards. Scored 44 touchdowns in his final three seasons and was fifth in Heisman voting in 2003. Also returned a punt for a touchdown in 2003 and averaged more than 27 yards on kick returns.

Dat Nguyen, LB, Texas A&M: Won All-Big 12 first-team honors three times, and was the league's Defensive Player of the Year in 1998, leading the Wrecking Crew to Texas A&M's only Big 12 title. Won the Bednarik Award and Lombardi Award that season. Made 51 consecutive starts and finished his career with 517 tackles, the only player in A&M history to lead the Aggies in tackles for four seasons.

Cedric Benson, RB, Texas: Won the Doak Walker Award as the nation's best running back in 2004 and was a two-time first-team All-Big 12 selection. His 5,540 career rushing yards are second all-time at Texas to only Ricky Williams.

Chase Daniel, QB, Missouri: Led Missouri to two Big 12 Championship games and helped the Tigers reach BCS No. 1 in 2007. Finished his career as the school's all-time leader in total offense. Threw for 12,515 yards and 101 touchdowns in three years as a starter. Finished fourth in Heisman voting in 2007.

Tommie Harris, DT, Oklahoma: One of the greatest freshmen in Big 12 history. Won the Lombardi Award in 2003 and earned All-Big 12 and All-American first team honors in 2002 and 2003.

Derrick Johnson, LB, Texas: Made the All-Big 12 first team three times and finished his career with 458 tackles, 69 tackles for loss, 11 forced fumbles (nine in 2004) and nine interceptions. Won the Butkus Award and Nagurski Trophy in 2004.

Michael Bishop, QB, Kansas State: Became a starter at K-State after a junior college national title. Finished second in the 1998 Heisman voting to Ricky Williams and helped K-State to an undefeated regular season. Was 22-3 as a starter and accounted for 5,715 yards of total offense and 59 total touchdowns.

David Ubben says defensive inexperience and an underrated receiving corps is Oklahoma's reason for hope and concern in 2013.

FriendZone might be the most brutal show on TV.

• Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman has some Longhorn Network updates, thoughts on Wes Lunt and more.
• Limiting Lunt's options is a bad look for Mike Gundy, writes Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman. Former OSU OC Todd Monken says Lunt should have stayed in Stillwater.
• TCU coach Gary Patterson sat down for an interview with a man I'm sure you've all heard of.
• WVU got a nice boost when WR Ivan McCartney came back and rejoined the team. Mike Casazza of the Charleston Daily Mail has the report.
• Jason Kersey of The Oklahoman talked to coaches and players about the suspended recruiting proposals, and writes about OU's search for size at receiver.
• Kansas' Toben Opurum's career thus far is pretty much the craziest thing ever.
• Bob Stoops has agreed to play a celebrity golf event.
• Matt Tait of the Lawrence Journal-World writes about KU's graduating players.
• Former Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein still believes he can be a quarterback at the next level, writes Jeff Legwold of the Denver Post.
• The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal has a look at some future Red Raiders.
• Gina Mizell of The Oklahoman looks at OSU's efforts to recruit out west.

Thanks for all the e-mails this week. Good to hear from you. Here's where you can reach me if you've got more to say.

Mike in Overland Park, Kan. writes: Hey Dave, regarding your "10 best Big 12 players ever" list -- I guess I should have known it would basically be a TX/OU All-Star team. How about a list of 10 best players NOT on TX/OU?

David Ubben: Well, yeah, Mike. I don't know what you expected. Such is life in the Big 12, which Texas and Oklahoma have dominated for most of its history. Off the top of my head, here's how I'd rank the top 10 players in Big 12 history who didn't play for Texas or Oklahoma:

1. Ndamukong Suh
2. Robert Griffin III
3. Tavon Austin
4. Justin Blackmon
5. Troy Davis
6. Darren Sproles
7. Grant Wistrom
8. Michael Crabtree
9. Eric Crouch
10. Chase Daniel

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Dave in Dallas writes: How does the Big 12 stop from becoming the Big East? Does it need to have the normal 8 teams fall apart and let UT and OU battle for the top while 3rd place has 7 wins. It isn't very interesting but it seemed everyone was happy when it was a TOP HEAVY conference especially when the winner of the North would be a 9-3 or 8-4 team. Do you think that the loss of Nebraska and now the resurgance of a lost A&M is now weighing on Texas/OU and the overall strength of the conference?

DU: I don't think that's a fair assessment. And I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "becoming the Big East." The Big 12 has two of college football's biggest brands, which the Big East hasn't had since Miami and Virginia Tech left, and both Texas and Oklahoma are bigger brands than both.

As for the Big 12's recent parity, part of it has been Oklahoma and Texas sliding a bit, but you're underrating how much the rest of the Big 12 has grown. Oklahoma State and Baylor are stronger than they've ever been since the Big 12's birth, and you could make an argument for Iowa State as well. WVU is spinning their wheels a bit, but they could bounce back in 2014. Texas Tech is trending in the right direction. The loss of Nebraska and Texas A&M is huge. No doubt about that. Texas A&M's growth -- or at least the speed at which it occurred -- was largely unpredictable. Nebraska hasn't done a lot since leaving the Big 12. Would the league love to have both back if some of the recent history was erased? Sure. But the Big 12 is far from being doomed to having a reputation like the Big East. For now, the Big 12 has a great case as the best conference behind the SEC, and as I've written over and over again, the gap isn't as wide as some might think.

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Mark Messick in Nashville, Tenn. writes: I get that Stoops is trying to fight for spots in future football four's to keep what happened to okie state from happening again. but as bad as we've played against SEC teams for the last 10 years, it really comes off as being whiney. Am I missing somthing or does he have another agenda that isn't being discussed?

DU: You make some good points, Mark. For one, I do think Stoops is motivated by knowing the playoff is around the corner, and the SEC's reputation is going to benefit it. I also agree that 1) he has something of a point and 2) the way in which he chose to express it didn't come off like he would have liked. Dropping the term "propoganda" will rarely work out well for you. Like I said, too, seeing how his team has performed against the SEC the last few times they've faced a team from there, his complaints didn't hit home like he would have wanted.

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Marty in Manhattan, Kan. writes: Hey Ubben... were you aware that Kliff Kingsbury has a superbowl ring??? How have you gone this long with writing an article about it?

DU: I am, and I mentioned it several times when he got hired. Coincidentally, he earned a ring with the Patriots in 2003 with his new peer, Kansas coach Charlie Weis, as his offensive coordinator. That's quite an odd connection. Still, he was the No. 3 quarterback on that team. That was 10 years ago. I'm sure you'll see more stories on that when Texas Tech preps to play Kansas, but it's a pretty crazy bit of Big 12 coaching trivia.

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Lance Casey in Suwanee, Ga. writes: David, Was there any talk about Oklahoma State redshirting Wes Lunt? Especially if Daxx Garman showed enough in the Spring that he could be number 2 or 3 QB. This way they are 3 deep even though Wes is waiting 1 year. He has to wait 1 year anyway if he goes to another D1 school. Thanks for your feedback

DU: You definitely heard that as a possibility if Clint Chelf won the job, and I think it would have worked out well for OSU if everybody would have stayed healthy, but for a young quarterback not anywhere close to home, asking him to sit out a year after winning a starting job a year earlier is tough to do. I don't think Garman would have had anything to do with the decision. You're forgetting about J.W. Walsh. I don't think OSU would have hesitated to pull the redshirt if Chelf had gotten hurt, but who knows how Lunt would have felt about that gamble?

I can't blame the guy for leaving, but I'm sure OSU hates to see him go. I'm expecting him to do big things wherever he ends up.

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Brad in Fort Worth writes: Where do you see Wes Lunt transfering to?

DU: My money is on Illinois, where he'd play for former Oklahoma State DC Tim Beckman and help him build the Illini program back up to where it was when Juice Williams, Rashard Mendenhall and Ron Zook somehow earned a Rose Bowl bid.

HornsNation
From Max Olson and William Wilkerson : In this week's edition of The Heard, Texas has made a jump for ESPN 150 defensive back Arrion Springs.

From the HornsNation staff : Which team on Texas’ 2013 schedule should fans worry about most and why?

From Sean Adams : What are the chances Tyrone Swoopes becomes the backup quarterback this season? More in Sean Adams' weekly mailbag.

More from Wilkerson : Class of 2015 cornerback Kendall Sheffield bonds with Texas coach.

SoonerNation
From Bob Przybylo: Ohio offensive lineman Alex Dalton commits to OU over Stanford, Arkansas, Indiana and Nebraska.

More from Przybylo : In this week's Sooner Intel, is OU out of the race for four-star safety John Bonney?

More from Przybylo : 2014 in-state receiver Jalen Adams talks about his interest in OU.

• West Virginia QB Chavas Rawlins enrolled early and came to Morgantown this spring, but he's already transferring. Odd move there.
• Was Ohio State AD criticizing or complimenting Iowa State with his recent comments?
• Charlie Weis is looking to give KU fans reason to believe, writes Taylor Eldridge of the Wichita Eagle.
• Jason Kersey of The Oklahoman writes about Oklahoma OC Jay Norvell's wife's battle against the disease she's fought her whole life.
• Former Texas QB Vince Young tells Bruce Feldman of CBS Sports that getting his degree this weekend will top winning a national title.
• A couple folks from the Dallas Morning News say the Cowboys could use Collin Klein. Interesting idea from Kevin Sherrington.
• Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury sat down for an interesting Q&A with the paper in Amarillo.

Mel Kiper Jr. is continuing his look through the top prospects at each position in advance of next year's NFL draft, and his list of the top 10 cornerbacks includes four players from the Big 12.

It was a deep position last year, but could it be the Big 12's deepest and best position in 2013? We'll see how the new quarterbacks develop, but these guys won't make it easy on 'em.

Oklahoma's Aaron Colvin tops the list from the Big 12, showing up as Kiper's No. 4 overall cornerback. He's moved positions in the secondary throughout his career, and that versatility really impressed Kiper. He broke up 14 passes last year and also came up and made a pair of sacks.

TCU's Jason Verrett was my pick as the Big 12's best cover man a year ago and showed up as Kiper's No. 5. His performance in slowing down Geno Smith drew Kiper's attention, and Verrett was one of just a handful of guys to pick off the West Virginia quarterback.

Justin Gilbert's eye-popping physical attributes have him at No. 6. He's got a lot of potential to rise on this list. He had a really poor 2012 after a promising sophomore season in 2011. He can be a lot better than he was last year. If he proves that, he'll jump up this list.

Texas' Quandre Diggs is No. 7, and despite being smaller than a lot of these guys, he's one of the league's most instinctive players. You saw that when he made an impact immediately as a true freshman. I wouldn't look beyond his teammate, Carrington Byndom, cracking this list by season's end, too.

The Lott IMPACT Trophy released its watch list on Thursday, which means only one thing: It's officially watch list season in college football.

The award is given annually to college football's best defensive player who makes an IMPACT on and off the field. IMPACT stands for Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity.

Staying out of trouble off the field is a huge factor to win this award, so there are a couple of good defenders in the Big 12 who didn't show up on the watch list. I'm not real surprised at their absence. Calling them out here doesn't seem like a productive exercise, but any basic Google search can probably answer your questions.

Here's who made the list from the Big 12:

• Calvin Barnett, DL, Oklahoma State
• Aaron Colvin, CB, Oklahoma
• Ahmad Dixon, S, Baylor
• Bryce Hager, LB, Baylor
• Jackson Jeffcoat, DE, Texas
• Jason Verrett, CB, TCU
• Ty Zimmerman, S, Kansas State

Notre Dame's Manti Te'o won the award last year. No Big 12 player has ever won the award, but TCU's Jerry Hughes took home the trophy back in 2009.

Baylor is also one of just six schools with more than one player on the watch list.

Poor OKC fans. Brutal past couple weeks.

• SI.com's Stewart Mandel has a lot of Big 12 talk in his mailbag. He says Bob Stoops has a point, and weighs in on WVU's struggles in the conference.
• Mac Engel of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says just when TCU is done with one issue, another comes up. That's called a "trend."
• Will Parchman of the Waco Tribune-Herald writes about Art Briles keeping the quarterback machine well-oiled for Baylor.
• Texas Tech tight end Jace Amaro showed up on Mel Kiper's top 10 tight ends in the 2014 draft class.
• West Virginia's goals for Tier 3 rights bids are ambitious, writes Bob Hertzel of the TImes West Virginian.
• The Alamo Bowl could benefit big from the College Football Playoff, writes Tim Griffin of the San Antonio Express-News.
• Baylor offers up a video update on the progress it has made on the new stadium, scheduled to open in 2014.
• If you didn't know, Kansas State is having a pretty crazy season in the major sports. Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman sees it.
• Get to know Taylor Cox a little better in the "Two Minute Drill."
• Dayne Crist says goodbye KC Chiefs, hello Baltimore Ravens.