The Big 12 Broadcast Week 0: Quarterbacks, Hotseats, and a day in Dublin

By Simon Carroll

Welcome to 2026’s first edition of The Big 12 Broadcast, your weekly look at the stories, arguments and talking points shaping the conference as we head into another weekend of college football. Every Friday, we’ll pick out five things worth giving a damn about — from quarterback decisions and coaching pressure to eligibility nonsense, conference-wide issues and the games that could shape the season. And with the Big 12 finally kicking off this weekend, there’s no shortage of material. So let’s get into it.

Marshall gets the nod, Jayhawks bank on upside

Kansas has finally ended its quarterback battle, and Lance Leipold has gone with the guy who always seemed to offer the highest ceiling. Isaiah Marshall has beaten out Cole Ballard and transfer Chase Jenkins to become the Jayhawks’ starter, bringing an end to one of the more intriguing competitions of the Big 12 preseason.

There is an obvious gamble here. Marshall has barely thrown a college football. He attempted just three passes in 2025, completing all three for 28 yards. Ballard, meanwhile, has considerably more experience and had even been named one of Kansas’ five captains on Wednesday.

But Marshall showed enough as a runner last season to make the decision understandable. Fifteen carries produced 160 yards, including a 43-yard touchdown against Oklahoma State, and his dual-threat ability gives Kansas another dimension that Ballard simply doesn’t possess to the same extent.

That doesn’t make this the right decision. It just makes it the more interesting one.

Kansas has gone 5-7 in each of the last two seasons. Despite that being more than decent compared to previous eras of KU football, Leipold has raised the bar – and to achieve his own lofty expectations, he needs a quarterback that can lead his team to wins. Marshall now gets the opportunity to provide it. The Jayhawks have chosen potential over certainty. If it works, Leipold will look like a genius. If it doesn’t, we’ll spend the next few weeks wondering why they didn’t go with the safer option.

That’s the fun bit about picking a quarterback. Until the games start, nobody actually knows.

Texas Tech test the Big 12 with another QB controversy

There are times when college football manages to make something complicated that really shouldn’t be complicated. The Tommy Castellanos situation is one of those times.

Castellanos committed to Texas Tech this week after a Kentucky judge granted him and nine other players a temporary injunction allowing a fifth season of eligibility. The former UCF, Boston College and Florida State quarterback went undrafted in 2025 and subsequently worked out as a receiver for the Miami Dolphins. He now gets another shot at college football after putting up 6,449 passing yards and 48 touchdowns across four seasons.

And then came the punchline.

The Big 12 unanimously introduced a rule stating that its members cannot field professional athletes — including anyone who has declared for a professional draft and failed to withdraw in time, appeared on a professional roster or signed a professional contract. Crucially, the conference says the rule applies independently of NCAA eligibility decisions.

So, naturally, the Big 12 has introduced a rule apparently designed to prevent the exact sort of player it has just allowed Texas Tech to sign. But the terminology is written in such a way that it actually allows Castellanos to become a Red Raider; the QB didn’t declare for the draft (he was a senior), wasn’t drafted or signed as a UDFA, and only attended the Tennessee Titans’ minicamp. Coincidence? Maybe not.

This isn’t really about Castellanos. He’s simply the latest player caught in the absurd intersection of courts, NCAA rules, conference rules, professional football and the increasingly desperate attempts to put boundaries around college eligibility. Spare a thought for Will Hammond, whose own patience must be wearing thin with his school by this point

Of course, it won’t be lost on any other Big 12 school that Texas Tech has somehow found itself at the centre of another quarterback mess again. At this point, you almost have to admire the consistency with which they test the boundaries within which they are supposed to operate. Those tortillas are beginning to leave a salty taste in the mouth.

The Big 12 hot seat: Prime? Aranda? Satterfield?

As with every college football season, there are plenty of coaches entering 2026 with pressure on them. But a trio of names in the Big 12 stand out for very different reasons: Deion Sanders, Dave Aranda and Scott Satterfield.

Let’s start with Coach Prime. Colorado’s 3-9 season last year was bad enough; the way it finished was worse. The Buffaloes lost their final five games by an average of 25 points, and Sanders enters the season with a 16-21 record in three years in Boulder. He remains one of the biggest names in the sport, but the celebrity isn’t going to protect him forever. Another season of dysfunction and losing football would force some very serious conversations.

Aranda’s situation is different. He has already won a Big 12 championship, but that feels increasingly distant. Baylor has managed only one winning conference record in the four seasons since its 2021 title, and Aranda’s seat has been hot for long enough that another mediocre campaign may finally end the discussion. Swinging for the fences by bringing in DJ Lagway was a boom or bust move in Waco; can the former Gator gunslinger save Aranda’s job?

Then there’s Satterfield, whose Cincinnati team has improved from three wins to five to seven over his first three seasons. That’s progress — but finishing 2025 with five straight defeats rather blunts the enthusiasm. He is now 15-22 overall and 9-18 in Big 12 play. It’s also fair to wonder just what the record last campaign would have looked like without Brendan Sorsby under center; bringing in former Georgia Southern QB JC French showed some good ‘outside of the box’ thinking, but much like Aranda Satterfield’s job security could be tied to the success of a quarterback with much to prove.

All three need wins. The difference is that, for all three, what those wins look like may matter just as much as how many they get. The good news? The Big 12 delivers surprises every season. Don’t be shocked if at least one of the Bears, Bearcats or Buffaloes make Vegas look stupid.

The Big 12 Needs Big Wins

This is the drum I’ve been banging all offseason, and now it’s time for the Big 12 to actually do something about it.

The conference has 13 non-conference games against Power Four opponents or Notre Dame this season. That’s a hell of an opportunity. It is also a hell of a responsibility.

The Big 12 enters the season with four teams ranked in the AP Top 25: Texas Tech at No. 12, BYU at No. 14, Utah at No. 21 and Houston at No. 23. Arizona, TCU and Oklahoma State also received votes. There is enough quality here for the conference to make a genuine argument for multiple College Football Playoff places.

But nobody is going to hand those places over.

Baylor gets Auburn. Cincinnati gets Boston College. Colorado travels to Georgia Tech. Utah hosts Arkansas. Oklahoma State gets Oregon. Kansas gets Missouri. BYU gets Notre Dame later in the season. These are the games that will shape how the rest of the country views the Big 12.

And this is where the conference has to be ruthless.

You can’t spend all offseason complaining that the Big 12 doesn’t receive enough respect, then lose the games that provide the opportunity to earn it. If the league wants to send more than one team to the CFP, its best teams need to beat teams from other conferences — preferably ranked ones.

Last year, The Big 12 actually had the best record against other P4 conferences and Notre Dame (factoring in any Group of Five losses). The SEC and Big Ten casually ignored that fact when making their annual case for strength of schedule (set by ESPN’s dubious ‘FPI’, which favours both conferences) to be given more weight. Another season winning out of conference games gives the Big 12 a platform to tell the college football world ‘we deserve more respect’.

But they have to win the games. Beginning with the first on Saturday…

Dublin: TCU gets the first word

And finally, we’re off.

The Big 12 season begins in Dublin on Saturday as TCU takes on Bill Belichick’s North Carolina in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic. For TCU it’s an unusual place to begin a season, but there is nothing unusual about the stakes. The Horned Frogs have a chance to make the first statement of the Big 12 campaign – and Belichick gets another crack at the team that embarrassed him 48-14 last year.

That defeat was the biggest win of TCU’s 2025 season, but Sonny Dykes’ team has changed considerably since then. Josh Hoover is gone, with Harvard transfer Jaden Craig expected to take over at quarterback, while Gordon Sammis replaces Kendal Briles as offensive coordinator. TCU nevertheless returns from back-to-back nine-win seasons and has won consecutive bowl games.

UNC, meanwhile, has gone hard into the transfer portal after Belichick’s disastrous 4-8 debut. Quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. is another major addition, and the Tar Heels have plenty of talent capable of making this considerably more competitive than last year’s meeting.

For TCU, though, this is about more than revenge.

It’s the first game of the Big 12 season. It’s being played in Dublin. It’s on ESPN. And everyone watching gets to decide whether the Horned Frogs are a genuine contender or simply another good-but-not-great Big 12 team.

Dykes is an experienced operator who knows how to win. The Horned Frogs are two-score favourites, but Dublin has caught out teams before, and a loss on the Emerald Isle has been tough to get over for vanquished schools in previous years.

TCU will be fully focused on bringing the win back to Fort Worth, and landing the first punch for the Big 12 in 2026.

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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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