College Football Previews 2025: Big 12
Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast
Richard Johnson and Alex Kirshner
4.9 • 916 Ratings
🗓️ 24 July 2025
⏱️ 121 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Shehan Jeyarajah, college football writer for CBS Sports, returns to the show to join Alex and Richard for a meaty preview of the Big 12. You may enjoy Shehan’s recent report on the details behind Texas Tech’s NIL boom. In this preview:
* Arizona State loses Cam Skattebo but still has so much returning from a team that nearly made the playoff semifinals
* Iowa State has questions … and probably answers
* Cincinnati likely has its best team under Scott Satterfield, which isn’t saying a ton but could still be fun
* Colorado probably (famous last words) will be less of a media circus
* Baylor has huge upside with a full year of Sawyer Robertson at QB
* Kansas State needs a less sloppy season from Avery Johnson
* BYU’s linebackers rock, but the QB situation does not
* Oklahoma State asks: Does Mike Gundy have one last job in him?
* UCF reunites with Scott Frost but may find that the world has changed
* Texas Tech spent millions of dollars on the No. 2 transfer portal class. Shehan explains the nuts and bolts of how the Red Raiders are trying to get a bang for their buck, and the group talks about reasonable expectations
* WVU has Richard deeply intrigued as Rich Rodriguez comes home
* TCU can’t waste a quarterback like Josh Hoover
* Kansas has Jalon Daniels back, a solid defense, and medical questions
* Houston brings on Conner Weigman, who’s hoping for a better second act
* Arizona might no longer be the offense-first dynamo we thought they were
* Utah should be much better … but how much better?
We then award Big 12 preseason awards such as the Split Zone Duo Dude of the Year, the Low-Key Cool Game of the Year, and the Coach Who’s Most Likely Not to Return. Thanks to Shehan for joining us and to you for listening.
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Let us know your favorite team if you’ve got one, and leave your name or don’t. We just want to hear why you enjoy the sport.
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Producer: Anthony Vito
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | We're coming, and we ain't backing down. |
| 0:01.9 | We don't need a bunch of cats in here. |
| 0:03.4 | Looking in the mirror. |
| 0:04.5 | Everybody just do your job. You understand that? Hey, will you shut up? I'm bitterly disappointed with the officiating today. Guys being dudes. And they run through our like a shit through a ten horn, man. Ah, fuck it. Thank you, Lee. Conference preview season rolls on here at Splitsund Duo. I'm Alex Kershner, joined by |
| 0:21.4 | Richard Johnson, and a frequent flyer, one of the great guests that we get to have on this show from time to time. Shahan, Jay Arasha of CBS Sports. Shahan, welcome back to the crew. Thanks so much for having me. It's been a little while. I feel like it's been since like January, since the end of the season. It's been a long cold off season. If Shahan is on, you know what we're talking about. It's the Big 12. Sean, you recently were at the Big 12, Big 12 media days. First and foremost also, Sean wrote one of the great offseason stories that anybody has written in college football media on Texas Tech. We will certainly touch on that and get to that when we get to Texas Tech in the preview. |
| 0:58.8 | But how were Big 12 media days? Because you were Big 12. I was at SEC, decidedly different experiences. |
| 1:05.2 | Yeah, I definitely got the better end of the deal there. So last year, SEC and Big 12 were both in |
| 1:10.6 | DFW, which if you asked me, I think everything should just be in DFW all the time, because it makes my life incredibly easy. As wrong as any person has ever been that, I mean. But, you know, so for this obviously gets a little inside baseball, but like the SEC is a made for TV event. It, you know, they are shuttling guys from TV appearance to TV appearance. |
| 1:31.7 | Now, Richard gets to be one of the TV guys at least now, so he gets some folks. |
| 1:35.8 | But like, there is no outside access. |
| 1:38.4 | You can't have a casual conversation with anybody at any point during the entire event. |
| 1:43.5 | Or as the Big 12, |
| 1:44.4 | they're just like, |
| 1:45.0 | what if we threw all of our coaches and our best players |
| 1:48.2 | and also every athletic director, |
| 1:50.1 | essentially, |
| 1:50.8 | just into a football field and just said, |
| 1:53.6 | hey, hang out. |
| 1:55.0 | Did I see that at the Big 12 media days this year, |
| 1:57.9 | they had everyone in full uniform? |
| 2:00.0 | No, okay. |
| 2:00.4 | So what happened? |
... |
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