The Big 12 Broadcast, Week 1: Is Thursday Night Prime's Time?

By Simon Carroll

And so, finally, we get to play some proper football.

After TCU’s rather miserable trip to Dublin last week, the Big 12 returns with a full slate of action — and while there are plenty of games that should be comfortable wins for the conference, there are four in particular that could tell us a lot about what lies ahead.

Coach Prime's Last Stand?

There is no easing into Year Four for Deion Sanders.

Colorado opens its 2026 campaign tonight in Atlanta, where Georgia Tech awaits — and after last season’s miserable 3-9 campaign, the Buffaloes need to look considerably more like the team Sanders promised they would become.

There has been another enormous roster overhaul in Boulder, with Sanders bringing in 66 new players and changing both coordinators. At the centre of it all is Julian Lewis, who finally gets the keys to the offense after a limited role last season.

Unfortunately, the opponent is hardly ideal. Georgia Tech went 9-4 last season under Brent Key and has developed a reputation for being an exceptionally physical football team. The Yellow Jackets have their own questions, particularly at quarterback following the departure of Haynes King, but they will fancy their chances of making life very uncomfortable for Colorado.

And that might be the key here.

For all the talk surrounding Sanders, Colorado has to prove that it can handle a team that wants to punch it in the mouth. The Buffaloes are currently 6.5-point underdogs, which tells you just how far expectations have fallen since the glorious, Travis Hunter-fuelled days of 2023.

Sanders doesn’t need to win tonight. He does, however, need to give us a reason to believe Colorado is heading somewhere. Otherwise things could get dicey quick in Boulder.

Lagway Gets His Auburn Audition for Baylor

If Dave Aranda really is fighting for his job in 2026, he couldn’t have asked for a more intriguing player to help him make his case.

DJ Lagway arrives in Waco with enormous expectations after transferring from Florida, and Saturday brings his first chance to show Baylor fans exactly what they have bought into.

Unfortunately for the Bears, the audition comes against Auburn. And not in Waco, either; the two teams meet at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta in one of the weekend’s most intriguing Big 12-SEC clashes.

There is plenty riding on this for Baylor. The Bears went 5-7 last season and Aranda enters his seventh year in charge with his future firmly under the microscope. Meanwhile, Lagway arrives with the pedigree of a former five-star recruit but also something to prove after an inconsistent spell at Florida.

Auburn presents a fascinating first test. The Tigers have a new head coach themselves in Alex Golesh, and former South Florida quarterback Byrum Brown now runs the offense. But Baylor’s biggest concern might actually be on the other side of the ball. Last year’s meeting saw Auburn rack up 307 rushing yards in a 38-24 victory, and the Bears have spent the offseason attempting to rebuild a defensive front capable of stopping the run.

So this isn’t simply Lagway versus Auburn. It’s Lagway versus expectations, Aranda versus the pressure, and Baylor versus the demons of last year’s defeat.

A surprise win in Atlanta and suddenly the Bears’ season – and Aranda’s job security – looks very different.

Flukey Cougars? Or Big 12 Contenders?

Houston spent much of last season being one of the Big 12’s great surprises. Willie Fritz took the Cougars to 10-3, they finished ranked, and suddenly a program that had looked some way from contention was being discussed as a potential conference challenger.

Now comes the difficult bit: doing it again.

The Cougars open 2026 at home against Oregon State on Saturday, and there is a particularly tasty subplot given what happened when these teams met last year. Houston needed overtime to escape Corvallis after Oregon State pushed them all the way, eventually winning 27-24. This time, however, the Beavers arrive with a new head coach in JaMarcus Shephard and a significantly rebuilt roster after going 2-10.

Houston, by contrast, has continuity. Conner Weigman returns at quarterback, Amare Thomas is back at receiver and the Cougars have plenty of experience returning across the roster. They also come with hype, having been aggressive in the portal and competitive financially. They enter the season ranked No. 23 in the country.

That ranking makes this game rather more interesting. Oregon State should be beaten. Houston is a heavy favourite. And that’s precisely why this game matters; The Coogs aren’t sneaking up on anybody anymore.

Last year’s 10-win campaign was a brilliant story. But if Fritz’s team wants to be taken seriously as a Big 12 contender, these are the games it has to win — preferably without needing another fourth-quarter escape act.

Welcome to life with expectations, Houston.

The Stillwater Turnaround

There probably isn’t a bigger unknown in the Big 12 this weekend than Oklahoma State.

The Cowboys went 1-11 last season, losing their final 11 games. Eric Morris has subsequently taken over as head coach, and the roster has undergone a staggering rebuild. Saturday’s trip to Tulsa therefore isn’t just another opener; It’s our first proper look at whether Morris can actually get this thing moving.

The quarterback is particularly intriguing. Drew Mestemaker arrives from North Texas after a remarkable 2025 season in which he led the FBS in passing yards, yards per game, total offense and yards per attempt. If Morris can reproduce the offensive success he enjoyed at North Texas, there is at least a blueprint for a rapid turnaround.

But Tulsa is hardly the sort of opponent against whom Oklahoma State can afford to look dysfunctional. This is a rivalry game. It’s on the road. And the Cowboys are coming off a season in which practically nothing went right.

There is also the small matter of those 91 newcomers, an unprecedented number even in a conference that has Deion Sanders coaching in it.

Nobody expects Oklahoma State to become a Big 12 contender overnight. There’s too many good football teams in this league for that to be likely. Frankly, if Morris can get them looking like a competent football team again, that would be a pretty encouraging start.

To that end. Tulsa provides a good first measuring stick. Win convincingly and optimism suddenly becomes very easy to sell in Stillwater. Struggle, however, and that rebuild might look considerably longer than anyone wants it to.

The problem for the Pokes is that, whichever way this first game goes, an extreme reaction will follow. Tempering expectations will be difficult if they look good, despite the competition level rising exponentially when it’s time for conference play. Fail to handle business convincingly, and there will be no honeymoon. Mestemaker does not have any room to make a mess.

Big 12: Week 1 Schedule

Thursday Night:

12am – Bethune Cookman @ UCF

1am – Colorado @ Georgia Tech

2am – Idaho @ #21 Utah

Friday Night:

1am – LIU @ Kansas

Saturday:

5pm – Coastal Carolina @ West Virginia

5pm – Oregon State @ #23 Houston

6pm – Southeast Missouri @ Iowa State

8:30pm – Baylor vs Auburn (Atlanta, GA)

8:30pm – Boston College @ Cincinnati

8:45pm – Oklahoma State @ Tulsa

12am – Abilene Christian @ #12 Texas Tech

12am – Nicholls @ Kansas State

1am – Utah Tech @ #14 BYU

2:30am – Northern Arizona @ Arizona

3am – Morgan State @ Arizona State

Bye Week:

TCU (0-1)

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SIMON CARROLL

Lead Writer, Head of Content

PREVIOUSLY THE FOUNDER OF NFL DRAFT UK, SIMON HAS BEEN COVERING COLLEGE FOOTBALL AND THE NFL DRAFT SINCE 2009. BASED IN MANCHESTER, SIMON IS ALSO CO-CREATOR & WEEKLY GUEST OF THE COLLAPSING POCKET PODCAST AND COVERS THE JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS FOR SB NATION.

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