Before you know it, the colors of the leaves will begin changing, the air outside will start to get more crisp, and Big 12 football will be back! Join us for our college football odds series where our 2023 Big 12 winner prediction and pick will be unveiled.

With the college football landscape changing more often than a student's major, the Big 12 Conference of 2023 will be extremely unique to say the least. While this fall marks the final time Texas and Oklahoma will be members of the conference, the addition of schools like BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF will surely make for a riveting season with plenty of possibilities and outcomes.

Indeed, it is the Kansas State Wildcats that come into play this weekend as the defending Big 12 champs after they shocked the undefeated TCU Horned Frogs last December. Even though Texas and Oklahoma hold the best odds to win the conference in their final season, this is a league of parity that is guaranteed to be as unpredictable as it gets.

Here are the college football odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

College Football Odds: 2023 Big 12 Winner

Texas: +100

Oklahoma: +420

Kansas State: +500

Why Texas Will Win The Big 12

Year after year, the Texas Longhorns thrust top recruiting classes into action on the gridiron for measly results. In fact, Texas has been declaring they “are back” for quite some time now, but they truly have struggled to replicate the national success they once had when head coach Mack Brown paced the sidelines from 1998-2013. Nevertheless, this roster may be one of the more talented ones that have resided in Austin over the past several seasons.

On paper, Texas boasts the best odds to win their fourth Big 12 title since the conference's inception back in 1996 due to some strong quarterback play. While a majority of the headlines coming into spring practice were about incoming freshman Arch Manning (nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning), the young buck will have to sit and wait his turn due to the electric play of QB Quinn Ewers. As a freshman himself in 2022, Ewers almost single-handily knocked off number-one-ranked Alabama before going down with an injury that forced himself to miss a month of the season. Fast forward to 2023, and Ewers is fully healthy with a plethora of weapons on offense at his disposal.

The biggest question mark that this Texas squad has is finding the proper guys to replace the amount of NFL talent that is no longer on the team. Like many Big 12 schools, playing efficient defense proves to be difficult at times, as Texas was a middle-of-the-pack team defensively a year ago with the 54th-best overall defense in the nation. Undoubtedly, an elite defense would put this team over the top and officially give them the title of national contender.

Why Oklahoma Will Win the Big 12

Arguably with the most success as a Big 12 member during the last 17 years plus, the Oklahoma Sooners took a significant step back from their usual dominant ways in 2022. After former head coach Lincoln Riley got up and left the program out of the blue to take a job out west at USC, the Sooners decided to hire defensive mastermind Brent Venables from Clemson to lead the Sooners into a new era. Unfortunately, OU went 6-7 en route to their first losing season since the 1998 season.

Year two of the Brent Venables project will be a critical one to say the least given the fact that Oklahoma will be playing with the big boys of college football starting in 2024 and onward. Clearly, one of the main issues for the Sooners last fall was a little bit of everything. Whether it was unstable quarterback play, shaky defense, or even untimely injuries, it seemed extremely uncharacteristic for OU to scuffle the way they did a year ago. Of course, the Sooners' defense has been able to get away with its poor play due to some electrifying offenses that have made its way through Norman, but last season was a different story.

In reality, the Sooners did decide to hire Venables due to his defensive prowess after all. Above all else, stopping the run will be critical in the Sooners finding success on the football field. Believe it or not, but an important statistic to keep in mind will be keeping opposing teams from reaching the 200 rushing yards threshold. When rushing attacks would rush for at least 200 yards on the ground against the Sooners, Oklahoma went 0-6 compared to going 6-1 whenever they were stout on the defensive trenches. If Oklahoma can show even an ounce of improvement on the defensive side of the ball, then the Sooners should go back to their winning ways.

Why Kansas State Will Win The Big 12

The defending champs of the Big 12, very few individuals had the Wildcats being the conference's best in 2022. In shocking fashion, Kansas State took the conference by storm en route to a 10-4 record and an appearance in the Sugar Bowl versus Alabama. Can the Wildcats sustain this success in year five under head coach Chris Klieman?

Right off the bat following their historic season resulting in their third-ever Big 12 title, the university decided to ink Klieman to an extension though 2030 to keep the ball rolling. Of course, Kansas State's calling card over the years has been great play on the lines, a powerful rushing attack, and the ability to play clean football without turning the football over at an abundant rate. Without a doubt, fans and bettors should expect the Wildcats to come into 2022 with this similar playing style that has found much success over the years.

Not only will a familiar playing style benefit the Wildcats greatly,  but the key for KSU in 2023 is obviously limiting the turnovers. Clearly, this is a team that doesn't do well when they are playing from behind and forced to abandon their bread and butter. In fact, Kansas State was 10-1 when committing one or fewer turnovers but were 0-3 when they gave up the football at least twice and are 3-12 in the Chris Kleiman era when turning it over two or more times.

All in all, the biggest X-Factor for the ‘Cats entering 2023 will be running back Treshaun Ward. A transfer from Florida State, Ward rushed for 1,100 yards with a 6.5 yards per carry mark in two years as a Seminole. With the departure of halfback Deuce Vaughn, the Wildcats need someone to step up in the offensive backfield.

Final 2023 Big 12 Winner Prediction & Pick

It is quite evident how competitive this conference is, as last year proved to be TCU and Kansas State that caught the rest of the Big 12 by surprise. While it is almost a guarantee that there will be more than a few schools that will be more competitive than expected, this is Texas' conference to lose. Alas, the Longhorns are loaded with talent on both sides of the ball and have a great sense of urgency to come out on top in their final year of being a Big 12 member.

Final 2023 Big 12 Winner Prediction & Pick: Texas Longhorns (+100)