Big 12 football: buy or sell?

It has only been 1 week and the Big 12 conference already has many storylines that need to be addressed. Whether it is big stat lines, getting blown out, or playing games too close for comfort, many rumors and takes are starting to swirl around social media. Here are a few buys or sells from the first week of play in the Big 12.

Buy: Tetairoa McMillan

Arizona kicked off their 2024-25 campaign with a win against New Mexico. While the team overall has its question marks (specifically the defense), Tetairoa McMillan is a very bright light in the program right now.

In their Week 1 win, McMillan accumulated a school record 304 receiving yards on 10 catches and got in the endzone four times. McMillan also became the first player in FBS history to have 10 plus catches, over 300 receiving yards, an average of over 30 yards per catch and have four touchdowns.

While this type of production likely will not last the entire season, expect McMillan to be one of the top wide receivers in the Big 12, and maybe even all of college football this season.

Sell: West Virginia

Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff and the Pat McAfee Show could not stop the Mountaineers from not showing up on the field on Saturday against Penn State. "The frustrating thing is you work to get to a point where you play a game that’s on a national stage and we just didn’t produce.”, head coach Neal Brown told the media.

Though West Virginia had an identical game to their loss to the Nittany Lions last year, the offense looked completely lost. Quarterback Garrett Greene continued his struggle against top programs in the nation, averaging 2.85 yards per carry in those competitions. His three lowest QBR ratings have also come against top programs.

West Virginia could still salvage a solid season and make a bowl game, but anything more than that like the Mountaineer faithful were claiming before the season does not seem realistic.

Buy: If Cam Rising can stay healthy, Utah will be the easy favorite to win the Big 12

Gone are the days of Utah playing little brother to Oregon, USC and Washington. The Utes made their Big 12 debut on Saturday and did not disappoint, beating Southern Utah 49-0.

Cam Rising came back from injury and looked just as sharp as ever. In one half, Rising threw for 254 yards and 5 touchdowns before getting pulled in the second half.

If the star QB/TE duo of Rising and Brant Kuithe can stay healthy for an entire season, there should be no question as to who will win the Big 12 this year.

Sell: Travis Hunter winning the Heisman

The Shedeur Sanders to Travis Hunter connection didn’t skip a beat in Colorado’s Week 1 win over North Dakota State. Hunter had two spectacular grabs in the second half that resulted in touchdowns, giving Heisman voters another reason to give him the award.

Hunter and the offense showed up, but there are still some massive questions regarding this Colorado team. The Buffalo's defense continued their struggles from last year and could not get off the field. NDSU had control of the ball for 36:44 minutes compared to Colorado’s 23:16.

While NDSU is a very good team that makes powerful FBS schools tremble, at the end of the day they are still an FCS team. Colorado plays five teams currently ranked inside the AP Top 25 later in the season, and if their defense plays the way it did Saturday, they could tank Colorado’s season and Hunter’s Heisman chances.

Brennan Kirkpatrick is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email blk5545@psu.edu.