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We've still got more than nine months before most players can sign letters of intent, but we released our initial ESPN 150 on Thursday. You can see the full list here.

Most of the prospects remain uncommitted, but you might be surprised at where a few of those players are headed.

The highest-ranked prospect committed to a Big 12 school is headed to ... Baylor? Believe it.

Here's a quick look at where each Big 12 commit in the ESPN 150 is heading.

• No. 73: Davion Hall, ATH, Texarkana (Texas) -- committed to Baylor
• No. 77: Derick Roberson, DE, San Antonio -- committed to Texas
• No. 94: Justice Hansen, QB-DT, Edmond (Oklahoma) -- committed to Oklahoma
• No. 136: Jerrod Heard, QB-DT, Denton (Texas) -- committed to Texas

That gives Texas two commits to lead the Big 12, ahead of Baylor and Oklahoma, each with one.

Hall is the nation's No. 9 athlete and the No. 10 overall player in Texas and had offers from Texas A&M and Arkansas, as well as LSU.

Heard is the nation's No. 4 dual-threat quarterback, just behind Hansen, who is No. 3 among the nation's more mobile passers.

Roberson is the nation's No. 8 defensive end and the No. 11 player in Texas.

Four Big 12 teams will kick off their spring games this weekend. Oklahoma State caps our previews today, since the Pokes will be kicking it off on Sunday.

Oklahoma State

When: Sunday, 12:30 p.m.

What you need to know:

• Don't call it the spring game, or you'll be sorely disciplined. It's the spring "finale."
• Admission is just $5 and includes a ticket to the baseball game that begins at 2 p.m.

What to watch:

• The quarterbacks. It sounded like Clint Chelf was holding onto the starting position, but Mike Gundy made things interesting by saying all scenarios for all three quarterbacks "are still out there." It's important to remember that the spring game is just one practice and just one scrimmage, but it's the closest thing in the spring to a real-game atmosphere. All three of OSU's quarterbacks -- Chelf and sophomores J.W. Walsh and Wes Lunt -- won a conference game last season, so how they play with the crowd there isn't a huge concern, but Saturday might very well shape how that quarterback race looks in the fall. I'm not sure what to expect. Anything could happen. It's tough to put a ton of stock in the stats, though. You'll have to focus on what each quarterback does against the first-team defense alone, and with the first-team offense to really be fair.
• The speed of the offense. I'll be honest, I'm skeptical of all this talk about how the Pokes' offense is way faster than it was in 2010 under Dana Holgorsen, and faster than it was last season. It might be a little bit, but it's almost physically impossible to move significantly faster than OSU does when it wants to play really fast. I'm sure OSU will want it to get some work, but I trust somebody will have the stopwatch going for time between snaps.
• The cornerbacks. The defensive line will be interesting, too, but Justin Gilbert is talking about all he's learned after a really difficult 2012 season, and Kevin Peterson could be a breakout star next year with All-Big 12 possibilities. They'll get plenty of work with a lot of balls in the air on Saturday, but will Gilbert get back to form and will Peterson show some more promise after a really strong true freshman season in 2012?

The Mustangs will have an open practice at 9 a.m. Saturday at Pettus Practice Field, with many current and former players signing autographs afterward. There will be an NFL Punt, Pass and Kick competition afterward for kids ages 6 through eighth grade.

The Mustangs are intriguing, first and foremost, because they brought Hal Mumme aboard as their assistant head coach and passing game coordinator. Pairing the Air Raid curator with head coach June Jones and his run 'n' shoot pedigree is a fascinating experiment in and of itself.

Kenneth Acker, who is coming off a second-team All-Conference USA season in the secondary, is another experiment this spring, with the staff splitting the cornerback wide to catch some passes with the offense.

Defensively, the Mustangs are replacing a bulk of their production from last season, with Margus Hunt, Ja'Gared Davis and Taylor Reed all gone. Kevin Pope and Robert Seals must step up at linebacker.

Four Big 12 teams will kick off their spring games this weekend. We'll be offering up a preview of each throughout the day.

Texas Tech

When: Saturday, 1 p.m. ET

What you need to know:

• It will be televised live by Texas Tech TV on Fox and around the region on Fox Sports Southwest.
• Admission is free.
• Excitement surrounding Kliff Kingsbury's arrival means Tech is expecting record crowds.
• The scoring system will be offense-defense based. There won't be two separate teams.

What to watch:

• The design of the offense. Kingsbury isn't laying out exactly what Tech's offense will look like, but his plan was to get more acquainted with his personnel and what it can do early on in spring and shape his offense around that. He's not handing the QB job to Michael Brewer yet, and Davis Webb is making the competition a little interesting, but what exactly the offense looks like will be even more interesting. You can expect it to be spread out and likely pass-heavy, but how many opportunities will Brewer have to run it and how quickly will the offense move? Kingsbury will be calling plays for the offense.
• The design of the defense. Kingsbury and defensive coordinator Matt Wallerstedt had a similar plan for the defense. Assess the personnel and design the defense around what it does best. The frequencies of four-man fronts and three-man fronts is still up for discussion and may change throughout next season, too, depending on how well it works. Tech has solid talent on both sides of the ball, but how the defense plays and what it looks like will be intriguing.
• The young receivers. Dominique Wheeler and Reginald Davis were both ESPN 150 signees a year ago and redshirted. Tech's receiving corps is deep and solid, but Wheeler and Davis have been turning heads all spring, and I'm psyched to see them in action. This year, they'll likely just be providing depth barring injury with Eric Ward and Jace Amaro being featured in the passing game, but Saturday might change those expectations in a big way.

There's still a long way to go, but when it comes to the 2014 recruiting class, everybody's chasing Texas.

The Longhorns have the nation's biggest class and with the debut of our ESPN class rankings today, they also have the best class, edging out Florida at No. 2 and some other team the Longhorns might recognize, Texas A&M, at No. 3.

The Longhorns-Aggies battle will be really interesting to watch over the next 9.5 months until signing day, but give Texas the edge for now.

Texas is the only Big 12 team in the top 15, but you can see the full rankings here.

We're continuing our march across Big 12 country with your dream trek for 2013. Want to see the best of the best in the Big 12 this season? Come along with us.

We don't make the final decisions about where we spend our fall Saturdays, but I'm walking week by week through the 2013 season and forecasting where I'd like to be. Circumstances change as games happen, of course, but here's how I'd project the season. Road nonconference games count. Let's move on with the next week.

More 2013 Ultimate Big 12 Road Trip.

Here's the Week 9 schedule across the Big 12:

• Texas at TCU
• Iowa State at Baylor
• West Virginia at Kansas State
• Texas Tech at Oklahoma
• Oklahoma State at Iowa State

My pick: Texas at TCU

Last year's Thanksgiving game was the moment Texas' comeback attempt in 2012 was officially deemed a failure, but it was an ugly game on both sides. Don't expect this one to be much prettier, with two defenses that should be solid and two teams that love to run the ball. David Ash should face his toughest task of the season against what should be the Big 12's best defense, and most likely its best secondary, led by cornerback Jason Verrett and safeties Elisha Olabode and Sam Carter.

Every year, a handful of games decide the Big 12 title, and this should be one of them. You never know how the race will shape up, but TCU and Texas will both be in contention, and in a wide-open race, just about every game against a Big 12 team in the top half of the league is a must-win. You never know who you'll need that tiebreaker against to punch a sure ticket to the BCS. You know TCU's crowd will be into it. The Frogs' new stadium isn't big, but definitely surprised folks around the Big 12 with the atmosphere it can provide. Last year's win over the Horns was the Frogs' most satisfying of the season, and they'd love to log another one at home, where they went just 0-4 in Big 12 play last season.

If the quarterback matchup ends up being Ash vs. Casey Pachall, it'll be one of the Big 12's best, too. Put it all together, and you've got what should be one of the best matchups of the Big 12 season.

Honorable mention: Texas Tech at Oklahoma

Traylon Shead arrived at Texas back in 2010 with great expectations already attached to him as one of the most highly touted recruits in the country.

But Shead never really got his career going with the Longhorns. After two seasons, he decided to transfer. His stat line when he left? Empty.

Shead landed at Navarro Junior College and vowed to himself that he would prove all his doubters wrong when he got his next shot in Division I.

Now here he is, with his next shot.

Shead arrived at SMU in January with great expectations, deja vu for a player already used to the pressure. With Zach Line gone, all eyes have turned to Shead as the next great running back for the Ponies. He has spent the spring learning the system and preparing himself for his moment in the spotlight come August.

"Because I have high expectations here, the biggest transition is to come in and try to have a big impact because, to live up to those expectations," Shead said in a recent phone interview. "That means I have to work a lot harder, study the playbook and be a good student.

"Being compared to Zach, it’s an honor. But also there’s a lot of pressure. If you don’t live up to it, you have a lot of criticism. In the back of my mind, this is my last go around in D-I and I really need to buckle down and prove all those doubters wrong and prove to everybody who gave me a chance that they gave the opportunity to the right person."

The comparisons between Line and Shead are easy to make. Both are bigger backs with deceptive speed. (Line is 6-foot-1, 230 pounds; Shead is 6-2, 225 pounds). Both excel at catching passes out of the backfield. Both are also good blockers. Shead, however, comes into SMU with much bigger expectations. Line was recruited to SMU as a linebacker. Shead was a Parade All-American.

Things just did not work out for him at Texas. When asked for his reasons behind transferring, Shead mentioned wanting to be closer to his daughter, Aniya, who turns 2 next month. Dallas is much closer to his hometown of Cayuga, Texas, than Austin. Shead saw that Line was about to end his SMU career so he had it in his mind that he wanted to play for the Mustangs after spending a year in junior college.

What a year it was. Shead ran for 1,194 yards and 17 touchdowns for Navarro in 2012. He signed with SMU in December and has been taking first-team reps for the past several weeks of spring practice, alternating with Prescott Line -- Zach's brother. Aniya and her mom -- Shead's girlfriend -- stay with Shead in Dallas for a majority of the week.

When asked for how he looks back on what happened at Texas, Shead said, "I take it as a learning experience but I appreciate the coaches for giving me the opportunity to come there and to leave in such a good way. Just not being able to play much there, I have a lot of doubters here and there. That’s my mentality since I was at Navarro, to get back to D-I and I appreciate SMU for giving me the opportunity. Now that I’m here, it’s time to prove those doubters wrong and prove I can play at D-I even though I came from a small school in East Texas. That and going home and seeing my daughter, are the two biggest factors that motivate me."

Shead says he feels as if he has picked up the offense well this spring, but has plenty more work to do in the offseason. He wants to work on his pad level, stamina and footwork, all while trying to pattern his game after Falcons running back Steven Jackson.

"Seeing how big of an impact he had in college and in the NFL -- that’s what I’m trying to work toward," Shead said. "He has speed and power, and he’s also a big back. We’re similar in size so that’s what I’m trying to get my game level to."

Turnover at the quarterback position is the story of the Big 12 this spring, but some schools have made decisions, some are close, and some haven't gotten far in replacing their passers. Here's an update on where each race sits.

Note: Because they have clear, incumbent starters, Iowa State and Texas have been omitted from this update.

Baylor: Bryce Petty entered the spring as the likely successor to Nick Florence and cemented his status as the starter with a strong 15 practices. Petty was officially designated as the starting quarterback on Baylor's post-spring depth chart, besting Seth Russell.

Kansas: Jake Heaps transferred from BYU and looks to have easily surpassed Michael Cummings, as expected, with a strong spring, working mostly with the first team. Kansas held its spring game on Saturday and Heaps far outperformed Cummings, tossing four touchdown passes and completing 20 of 28 passes for 257 yards. Not much competition here.

Kansas State: K-State is about halfway through spring, but there's been almost no development (publicly, at least) in the quarterback race. Last year's backup, the speedy Daniel Sams, is helping juco transfer Jake Waters get acquainted, but they're still splitting reps with the first team and I'd be surprised if we see an announcement until fall.

Oklahoma: Bob Stoops doesn't care about establishing a starter heading into summer 7-on-7 drills, but Blake Bell might have taken that out of his hands with a strong performance in the spring game. An endorsement from Landry Jones can't hurt. Bell showed this spring he's more than a BellDozer and made plays with his arm on Saturday, completing 14 of 23 passes for 214 yards and two scores. Stoops hasn't made an official designation, but Bell looks like he's distanced himself from his competition in Trevor Knight and Kendal Thompson.

Oklahoma State: You can find folks anywhere making a case for Clint Chelf, J.W. Walsh or Wes Lunt, but Mike Gundy's opinion is the only one that matters. He says Oklahoma State's starter is Chelf, and Chelf is receiving most of the first-team reps this spring. It's not hard to see that changing, but for now, the job is Chelf's. The rising senior may have to do something to lose it.

TCU: Most assumed Casey Pachall's return to the team meant he'd step back in and reclaim his job. This spring, it hasn't been that easy. He may do exactly that this fall, but Gary Patterson says he's looked rusty after not throwing or lifting from October to January while receiving in-patient treatment for drug and alcohol addiction. Meanwhile, sophomore Trevone Boykin has looked much improved. Patterson says it's still an open competition, the duo is splitting first-team reps and there may not be a decision until fall.

Texas Tech: It doesn't seem like Michael Brewer has a ton of competition on the roster, but Kliff Kingsbury turned some heads when he trotted out Davis Webb to start a recent scrimmage. Brewer still has to earn the job and it's hard to see that not being the case, but for now, this job is still up for grabs.

West Virginia: This one's still wide open. Texas natives Paul Millard and Ford Childress are still splitting first-team reps and there doesn't appear to be much separation just yet. Expect this competition to heat up in the fall. The coaching staff has already said they don't expect to name a starter by the end of spring or even by the beginning of fall camp.

We're continuing our march across Big 12 country with your dream trek for 2013. Want to see the best of the best in the Big 12 this season? Come along with us.

We don't make the final decisions about where we spend our fall Saturdays, but I'm walking week by week through the 2013 season and forecasting where I'd like to be. Circumstances change as games happen, of course, but here's how I'd project the season. Road nonconference games count. Let's move on with the next week.

More 2013 Ultimate Big 12 Road Trip.

Here's the Week 8 schedule across the Big 12:

• TCU at Oklahoma State
• Iowa State at Baylor
• Texas Tech at West Virginia
• Oklahoma at Kansas

My pick: TCU at Oklahoma State

If you can get yourself out of a fried stupor from last weekend at the State Fair of Texas (this is easier said than done), there's going to be a heck of a game a little more than four hours north up in Stillwater. To me, these are the two most complete teams to start the season, and while it's still way too early to view this game as a real Big 12 title game, I'd be surprised if we didn't look back on it in December as a night that had a profound impact on the race for the trophy.

I feel bad for TCU, which travels to Stillwater in two consecutive seasons because of a quirk in the Big 12 schedule that forced it to inherit what would have been Texas A&M's schedule. Gary Patterson told me one big focus for the Frogs this season is eliminating the rough performances you'll see from young teams, and there wasn't a worse one for TCU than last season's game in Stillwater. It led 14-9 at the half before being outscored 27-0 in the second half. This game will hold a special significance for TCU, but expect this game to be prime time, and when the stakes are this high, OSU fans rise to the occasion.

This should be a great atmosphere and an even better game. Two teams with good defenses and good offenses, and the talent to make 2013 a very special season in school history. They'll have to go through each other to do it, though.

Turnover is an annual tradition in college football, but with that, teams' strengths and weaknesses constantly shift, too. Today, we'll wrap our series looking at the biggest strengths and weaknesses for each Big 12 team.

We'll close with those Baylor boys in Waco.

Strongest position: Running back

Oregon transfer Lache Seastrunk emerged as the Big 12's best running back over the final month of the season, sprinting to a 1,000-yard season and returning to Waco for a highly anticipated encore. He's the Big 12's most dangerous player with the ball in his hands and will get plenty of chances to showcase his game-breaking speed. He's sometimes a bit too ambitious and and takes losses in the backfield, but it's definitely worth it, and he's working on being more north-south through the first line of the defense this spring.

He's not alone, either. Running back Glasco Martin "runs angry," Bears coach Art Briles told me on my visit earlier this month. We've seen that to be the case over his career, but the duo definitely balances each other out well. Martin is a more physical runner capable of earning tough yards, and he'll come in handy in short-yardage situations this season. The depth is impressive, but the Bears' 1-2 punch at running back is the Big 12's best entering the season. I don't know if I buy talk of them both hitting 1,000 yards this year, but they're going to be tough to handle all season.

Weakest position: Defensive tackle

Beau Blackshear and Javonte Magee have potential, but both combined for just 1.5 tackles for loss in spot duty last season, and they'll be forced into starting duty this season. Neither of them have a career start, though reserve Trevor Clemons-Valdez made three last season before being passed up on the depth chart this spring. Baylor's had issues stopping the run, and though it should be better at safety and defensive end this year, that development won't look nearly quite as impressive if the teeth of the defense doesn't toughen up a bit.

The position isn't a huge weakness, but when you look at the rest of the Bears' roster, it pops out to me as the biggest question mark on a defense that should be improved.

Chris Low breaks down a deep and versatile group of running backs at Texas A&M.

The Big 12's schedule is set, and this year, we didn't have to wait until just a few months before the season to see it.

We'll take a closer look at each Big 12 team's schedule with some analysis over the coming weeks. Next up: the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Full schedule:

• Aug. 31: vs. Mississippi State at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas
• Sept. 7: at Texas-San Antonio at the Alamodome
• Sept. 14: vs. Lamar
• Sept. 28: at West Virginia
• Oct. 5: vs. Kansas State
• Oct. 19: vs. TCU
• Oct. 26: at Iowa State
• Nov. 2: at Texas Tech
• Nov. 9: vs. Kansas
• Nov. 16: at Texas
• Nov. 23: vs. Baylor
• Dec. 7: vs. Oklahoma

Non-con challenge: Mississippi State. This game was one of two that sparked a dispute between Mike Gundy and athletic director Mike Holder, but it's happening, and it'll attract a ton of attention on the first weekend of the season. Dan Mullen has built the Bulldogs' program in the brutal SEC West, but the Pokes will be a tough draw in Texas. We'll see more Big 12-SEC matchups this season than we've seen in awhile, but this will be one of the best.

Gut-check game: Kansas State. It's tough to tell what to expect from K-State this year, who returns just eight starters from last year's title team, but even at home, K-State has given OSU tons of trouble lately. It nearly knocked off the Big 12 champs in 2011 and had the most success slowing OSU's offense in 2010, though it did so without Justin Blackmon. K-State will probably be a tougher matchup than West Virginia, and we'll learn a bit about the Cowboys in this early-season matchup.

Eyeing revenge: Oklahoma. I've been saying it for a year or so now, but if you take the pageantry of the state fair out of the equation, Bedlam is gaining quickly on Red River as the Big 12's best rivalry. The last three games have been incredibly memorable, and two of them were played with the Big 12 title on the line. The Sooners knocked OSU out of the title chase with a dramatic comeback and overtime win in Norman last season, but the rivalry goes back to Stillwater to close the season this year. Don't be surprised if a win for either team in this game means a share of the Big 12 title or the league championship outright.

Chance to impress: at Texas. Texas looks good on paper, and don't be surprised if the Nov. 16 matchup is something of an elimination game in the Big 12 title race. You've got to knock off the other contenders to win a title, and OSU will have to try and win its third game in Austin in four years. That won't be easy, but OSU seems likely to have a good shot to control its own fate in the Big 12 race if it goes down to the 40 Acres and comes back to Stillwater with the win.

Upset watch: at Iowa State. I mean ... obviously, right? I'd say there will be some special motivation for OSU's first return to Ames since that painful upset in 2011 that dashed the Pokes' national title hopes, but Paul Rhoads knows defense and everyone in the Big 12 knows the Cyclones are dangerous in Ames. It's one of the most underrated venues in the league.

Final analysis: What a way to close the season for Oklahoma State. It's a backloaded schedule, and if OSU is going to win the title, it will have to earn it with games against Oklahoma, Baylor and Texas to close the season. Don't be surprised if two of those teams (or maybe even all three) control their fates in the Big 12 title race to close the season. The Mississippi State game to open the season will be a good test early on that pays off in conference play, and doesn't have the same level of pressure as the 2009 opener against Georgia that was one of the most hyped season openers in school history. The good news for OSU is in a year that it looks like a contender, it gets five league games at home and goes on the road just four times (West Virginia, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Texas) and gets fellow contenders Oklahoma and TCU in Stillwater. That's welcome, and my pick as the Big 12 favorite this season has a schedule that sets them up for success and, perhaps, a second Big 12 title in three years.

We haven't heard much from ex-Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe lately, who now does some consulting and is working with the new Big East. He joined his permanent replacement, former Stanford athletic director Bob Bowlsby at a panel in front of 200 students at the University of Texas on Wednesday, and both had a few interesting nuggets to share.

Poor Bowlsby was forced to reiterate his stance that the Big 12 was staying at 10 teams, but by far the most interesting thing of the day was Beebe talking about feeling validated once the Big 12 executed the grant of rights. I've long contended that Beebe was the most unfairly maligned persona throughout the realignment saga, and the grant of rights is one of the big reasons why.

Beebe had long campaigned for the grant of rights to secure the Big 12's future, but the league's members could never agree to make it happen. It took Nebraska and Colorado leaving before they seemed to listen to the idea of a grant of rights, which wasn't officially executed until two more teams, Texas A&M and Missouri, left the conference.

"I feel like the conference was driving over a cliff, and they turned the bus around and ran me over," Beebe said.

Ouch. Beebe's biggest negative was either an ignorance of public opinion or a refusal to acknowledge reality when speaking publicly. I felt embarrassed for him when he told me in August 2011 that he disagreed with an A&M official that told me about "60 percent" of the A&M fan base would support a move to the SEC. Truth be told, the A&M official's estimate was probably quite conservative. Still, the biggest problems that led to the Big 12's forced metamorphosis predated Beebe, and he worked to change them. Expanding wasn't the answer until the league was trimmed to just eight teams. The perception that the Big 12 was "reactive, not proactive" is overly simplistic and not really true. Beebe worked hard to keep the league together behind the scenes.

Bowlsby was also asked about paying student-athletes a "cost of attendance" stipend, and he's in favor, but only if it's for all athletes. I'd agree with that sentiment, but I also believe football and basketball players should be paid. In that same breath, I also recognize that there's no simple or realistic way to make that happen and keep the situation relatively fair in both sports, so you won't see me campaigning for it.

Really interesting stuff, but for folks hoping the Big 12 reaches out and poaches a few more Big East members or some programs from the ACC in the future, Bowlsby doesn't sound very interested.

"Engulf and devour doesn’t work,” he said, adding that it was a "zero-sum game."

I do think once the playoff arrives, the Big 12 will seriously reassess where it sits in the expansion discussion, but don't expect any real talk about expansion until then, and only if the Big 12 somehow finds itself at a competitive disadvantage with 10 teams in the post-playoff college football world.

The 2013 draft is bad. Weak. Shallow. Limited. Bereft of quality players. The worst since 2000. Insert your own preferred pejorative wherever you like, but know it's probably been used already. A consensus has been reached: If you're looking for future NBA All-Stars, the June 27 draft is not the place for you.

Whether you agree with that meme or not (and I don't), whatever you thought the NBA draft was Tuesday afternoon, it got worse Tuesday night.

That's when Oklahoma State point guard Marcus Smart, the national freshman of the year, Big 12 player of the year and No. 2-ranked player overall on Chad Ford's NBA Draft Big Board made a legitimately shocking decision. He would forgo sure NBA riches. He would stay in school for his sophomore season.

Brace yourself for an example of why they pay me the big bucks ... but this is crucially important news for Oklahoma State. (See?) Smart is a legitimate star at the collegiate level, and thrillingly unique. His stardom doesn't come from scoring, or even offense more generally; indeed, scoring was the least notable aspect of Smart's freshman season. He finished with a 102.2 offensive rating and shot just 29 percent from 3 and just 46.5 percent from inside the arc. But for a tidy 26.8 assist rate and a compensative ability to get to the foul line, Smart did his best work on the defensive end, where he finished top five in the nation in steals percentage (5.3 per 100 possessions). He is also regarded as one of the game's singular young leaders, a drive, focused force of nature who not only makes his teammates better but makes his teammates want to be better. You can't find a coach in the country who has coached with or coached against Smart who won't loudly sing his praises.

This dynamic -- shaky offense, great defense -- spawned a few regrettable stats vs. eyes arguments during Smart's freshman season, to the point where (through no fault of his own), Smart probably overshadowed the huge improvement of Cowboys shooting guard Markel Brown. And his game does have flaws, particularly that shooting. But consider this: In 2011-12, Oklahoma State ranked No. 107 in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency. In 2012-13, they ranked No. 11. Smart doesn't get 100 percent of the credit for that, but as his team's best defender and best player and all-around leader, he deserves plenty.

So Oklahoma State will be much better than we expected next season, because Travis Ford, and not one of the first few teams on the 2013 draft board, will have Smart in the lineup. Good enough to end Kansas' nine-year reign atop the Big 12? You won't get me on record predicting against Kansas, but it's a real possibility. Smart will be taking a chance at an injury next year, and he'll have to dive in to a much more loaded draft pool, and there will be lots of second-guesses (how do you turn down a top-five pick?) and laments (who are we supposed to draft now?).

But Smart has never struck the college hoops world as anything but a driven young dude who values the experience, who wants to win at the college level, and who doesn't much care about the rest. Come to think of it, maybe we shouldn't be so shocked after all.

Colleague Todd McShay turned in his latest mock draft, and he's got four Big 12 players going in the first round. How do you see their respective NFL careers panning out?

He says Cleveland will make Geno Smith the first Big 12 talent off the board at No. 6, making life a little nerve-racking for another Big 12 quarterback: Oklahoma State's Brandon Weeden, who had an underwhelming rookie season.

Oklahoma offensive lineman Lane Johnson is projected a pick later to the Arizona Cardinals at No. 7. Will he build on his potential and become the player NFL scouts are projecting him to become?

West Virginia's Tavon Austin had a stellar college career and a combine performance that gave his stock a big boost. If Tampa Bay picks him with the 13th pick like McShay says it would, could he be the Big 12's best talent from this class in the NFL?

What about another guy with a great career: Texas safety Kenny Vaccaro? He was one of the league's biggest hitters, and McShay says he'll give the Dallas Cowboys' secondary a boost with the No. 18 pick. Could he stay in-state and become a fan favorite?

In McShay's mock draft 4.0, he didn't have any Big 12 talents going in Round 2, but we'll throw Baylor receiver Terrance Williams in the mix, too.

How will the nation's leading receiver's career play out? Will he make the transition and become the Big 12's best? Vote in our poll.