FILE - Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham applauds his players during a NCAA college football game against Central Florida Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb, File)

Arizona State was a big surprise debuting in the Big 12 with a conference championship and making the College Football Playoff after being picked to finish at the bottom of the 16-team league.

Kenny Dillingham, the 35-year-old coach now in his third season at his alma mater, bluntly told his Sun Devils they really didn't do anything special last year.

“The reality is there’s been a lot of teams in college football who have done what we’ve done, who have won one year and then come back to reality,” Dillingham said. “What would be special would be to continue to build off of that. The real challenge was how do we not become what normal teams in our situation do, which is fall back to where we’ve always been.”

After a CFP quarterfinal loss in double overtime to now preseason No. 1 Texas, the No. 11 Sun Devils are the highest-ranked team from the unpredictable Big 12, even after the departure of do-everything running back Cam Skattebo to the NFL. They return quarterback Sam Leavitt (2,855 yards, 24 TDs passing), the preseason Big 12 offensive player of the year, and receiver Jordyn Tyson (75 catches, 1,101 yards, 10 TDs) is healthy after missing the end of the last season with a collarbone injury.

The last time Arizona State was higher in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 was No. 8 in 1998, what turned into a 5-6 season.

The Big 12's other ranked teams are No. 17 Kansas State and league runner-up No. 22 Iowa State, who open against each other with a conference game in Ireland on Aug. 23, along with No. 23 Texas Tech. All return quality starting quarterbacks.

Texas Tech transformed its program with big money through the transfer portal and made the preseason poll for the first time since 2008, six years before three-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Patrick Mahomes played a game for the Red Raiders.

Passers and a rusher make contenders

Baylor redshirt sophomore Bryson Washington (1,028 yards, 12 TDs) is the only of the Big 12's eight 1,000-yard rushers back from last season. The Bears, who won their last six regular-season games, also return quarterback Sawyer Robertson (3,335 yards, 27 TDs).

Leading passer Shedeur Sanders (4,134 yards, 37 TDs) went in the NFL draft after two seasons at Colorado, but the next eight top QBs were all coming back, including Iowa State's Rocco Becht, Texas Tech's Behren Morton and K-State's Avery Johnson. The only change was Jake Retzlaff unexpectedly leaving BYU this spring after a since-dismissed civil sexual assault lawsuit.

Three seasons after making the national title game, TCU has Josh Hoover (3,949 yards, 27 TDs) after a 9-4 season capped by four consecutive wins.

Old coaches feeling some heat

Only Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz in his 27th season has been with his FBS team longer than Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy and Utah’s Kyle Whittingham. The Big 12's stalwarts are coming off huge disappointments in their 20th seasons.

Utah was the presumptive favorite last year to be the team to make its Big 12 debut with a title, but had its first losing season (5-7, 2-7 Big 12) since 2013. Two-time Pac-12 champion quarterback Cam Rising had to “medically retire”, but dual-threat QB Devon Dampier followed new offensive coordinator Jason Beck from New Mexico.

Oklahoma State was 3-9 and didn't win a conference game, its first losing season since Gundy's 4-7 debut in 2005. And there is still plenty of uncertainty with two new coordinators and a lot of transfers.

“The changes in how we go about rebuilding, whether it’s financially or roster management, have been challenging but also intriguing,” Gundy said. "It’s different than it’s ever been before.”

Familiar new coaches

Scott Frost has reunited with UCF and Rich Rodriguez is back at West Virginia, but they are new coaches to the Big 12 since those schools weren't yet in the league when they were there.

“Whatever head coaching spot, it takes you six to nine months to kind of get a lay of the land," Rodriguez said. "Well, West Virginia took six to nine minutes. ... But, then again, there’s also times of change.”

The Mountaineers are in their 14th Big 12 season. They has three consecutive 11-win seasons in the Big East from 2005-07 before Rodriguez went to Michigan.

This is UCF’s third Big 12 season. Frost coached UCF’s undefeated season out of the American Athletic Conference in 2017, when the Knights declared themselves national champions and he left for Nebraska.

Games to watch

TCU opens 2026 in Ireland against North Carolina, but this year will be in Chapel Hill as the visitor for Bill Belichick’s UNC debut on Labor Day night.

The Horned Frogs two years ago lost their season opener in coach Deion Sanders' first game with Colorado. Sanders, who was treated this summer for bladder cancer, has his first Buffs game without a son on the team Aug. 29 against Georgia Tech.

Other notable games: No. 11 Arizona State at Baylor, and No. 23 Texas Tech at Utah, Sept. 20; TCU at No. 11 Arizona State, Sept. 26; No. 17 Kansas State at Baylor, Oct. 4; No. 11 Arizona State at Utah, Oct. 11; No. 23 Texas Tech at No. 11 Arizona State, Oct. 18; No. 11 Arizona State at No. 22 Iowa State, and No. 23 Texas Tech at No. 17 Kansas State on Nov. 1; Big 12 championship game, Dec. 6.

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