Kalani Sitake leads alma mater into new conference with a new quarterback

Sitake not only leads his program into a brand-new conference, but he also brings in a new quarterback to lead the offense. Slovis spent three years with the Trojans of Southern California, where he was Pac 12 Freshman of the Year and firstteam All-Pac 12, then transferred to Pittsburgh for the 2022 season.

fans,” Sitake said.

“I’ve been impressed with that.” sports.ed@ocolly.com

ARLINGTON, Texas -Kalani Sitake had never sat on a Media Day stage. As the head coach of a formerly independent program in BYU, he had never had an opportunity to. But his new quarterback, Kedon Slovis, has.

“I was actually getting some pointers and some tips from Kedon Slovis,” Sitake said. “He’s been through more media days than I have.”

Slovis brings maturity and Power Five experience to a program entering unchartered waters, and Sitake has been impressed so far.

“I think the high level of experience that the quarterback position -- I know a lot goes to what he’s done on the football field, but the things that I’ve been impressed with Kedon is the stuff he does off the field, the connection he has to his teammates, to his coaches, to our sports.ed@ocolly.com

Part of Slovis’ success will be BYU’s ability to protect him. The Cougars’ offensive line has been a strength in recent years, and they return an offensive front with a projected starting lineup consisting of four seniors. Even then, Slovis is able to avoid pressure and has been sacked 15 times or fewer in three of his four collegiate seasons.

“I want to make sure we give him a comfortable pocket, but I know if it’s not too comfortable he can find ways to extend the plays and hopefully find success,” Sitake said.

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The 2022 Big 12 Championship included Kansas State and TCU, who were originally projected to finish fifth and seventh, respectively.

To be fair, though, TCU coach Dykes himself said he would’ve ranked the Horned Frogs even lower than No. 7.

“I think we were picked seventh in the preseason poll, and I probably would’ve picked us lower, honestly... just based on what was coming back and the coaching change and all this stuff that transpired.”

When it came to the bottom of the poll, the media did alright, hitting two of the three (Kansas and West Virginia), Texas Tech came in at No. 9 but ended up finishing fourth in the conference, so, well done, Red Raiders.

Overall: not great, but it was clearly a season full of surprises, as most are in the Big 12 nowadays. Biggest Hit: Kansas and West Virginia in the bottom three Biggest Miss: Um, mainly everything else

2021:

On paper, it’s not great. But it really wasn’t that bad.

So, ripping the Band-Aid off right away, what a whiff on the media when it came to Baylor. The Bears were ranked No. 8 in the preseason poll and ended up hoisting the Big 12 Championship trophy after defeating Oklahoma State.

Yet, Oklahoma State was ranked No. 4 and ended up No. 2, Oklahoma came in at No. 1 but finished at No. 3 (with an 11-2 record), and Texas Tech and Kansas ended up at Nos. 9 and 10, as predicted.

The middle five teams in the final standings were very close: Iowa State went 7-6; Kansas State went 8-5; West Virginia went 6-7; and Texas and TCU both went 5-7. Because of this, it’s hard to nitpick the preseason poll; the Big 12 that year was top-heavy. All in all, not bad. It looks worse on paper than it really is. Solid job, media.

Biggest Hit: OSU and OU high praise Biggest Miss: Baylor... no wonder the Bears won the conference, that was perfect bulletin board material 2020: In a shortened season with games being canceled left and right due to COVID-19, this one was pretty weird off the field, let alone on the gridiron.

The media got the right top four, just not in the right order. The preseason poll ranked OU and OSU at the top, with Texas close behind and Iowa State closing out the top four.

Oklahoma won the Big 12 Championship that year, defeating Iowa State; Texas finished third, and Oklahoma State finished fourth.

Yet again, the media nailed the Kansas prediction, finishing last yet again (sorry Jayhawks, at least you were voted ninth this year).

Other than that, the middle of the pack was yet again mixed up, but if we’re being honest, that’s the least important part.

Out of the last three seasons, this was undeniably the media’s best showing. Nice job, media folks.

Biggest Hit: Correct top-four teams

Biggest Miss: The middle of the pack (not really a miss, though) sports.ed@ocolly.com

So, is the Big 12 conference just full of parody? Is the media composed of a bunch of stooges? Maybe it’s one, maybe it’s both. Either way, it’s safe to expect the preseason poll to have some hits and misses in a conference as competitive as the Big 12.

As a media stooge and preseason poll voter, I will probably be wrong, but I will probably be patting myself on the back in December as well. Only time will tell.

Davis