Big 12 Media Days Taking Place This Week in Las Vegas
July 08, 2024 03:18 PM | Football
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By: John Antonik
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A new presenting sponsor, some new teams and a new venue are on tap for this year's Big 12 media days beginning Tuesday morning and concluding Wednesday afternoon in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders, is the site of this year's annual summer football event, to be presented by Totino's.
The conference is welcoming four new teams – Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah – to this year's extravaganza, which will be broken down into two eight-team sessions over two days.
On Tuesday, Arizona State, Cincinnati, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech and Utah will be showcased and then on Wednesday, it will be Arizona, Baylor, BYU, Colorado, Houston, Kansas, UCF and West Virginia.
Commissioner Brett Yormark is scheduled to make opening remarks on Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. local time, which is 1 p.m. ET.
Rich Clark, College Football Playoff Executive Director, is slated to kick things off on Wednesday, followed by remarks from Matthew Sign, National Football Foundation chief operating officer, and John Saccenti, executive director of the Las Vegas Bowl.
ESPNU and ESPN+ will have live coverage on both days with Kris Budden, Brock Osweiler, Andre Ware and Hannah Wing handling the telecast.
All coaches' press conferences conducted on the field will be televised live.
West Virginia coach Neal Brown's remarks on Wednesday will take place at 11:40 a.m. local time, or 2:40 p.m. ET. Coach Neal Brown, coming off a 9-4 season and a Dukes Mayo Bowl victory over North Carolina, will be welcoming the return of 37 lettermen in 2024 (All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo).
Mountaineer quarterback Garrett Greene will be interviewed live on ESPNU right after Brown, who is scheduled to be on the set at noon local time, or 3 p.m. ET.
Other West Virginia players slated to be in Las Vegas on Wednesday are senior defensive back Aubrey Burks, senior defensive lineman Sean Martin and senior offensive tackle Wyatt Milum, who was recently named to the 30-player 2024 Preseason All-Big 12 Football Team chosen by media representatives who cover the league.
WVU vice president and director of athletics Wren Baker is also scheduled to be with the team out in Las Vegas.
Big 12 newcomer Utah edged Kansas State in the preseason media poll, garnering 20 first-place votes and 906 poll points to the Wildcats' 19 first-place votes and 889 poll points.
Oklahoma State, one of the most experienced teams in the country, according to college football expert Phil Steele, captured 14 first-place votes and 829 poll points to place third.
Kansas garnered five first-place votes and Arizona grabbed three to round out the preseason top five.
The second five includes Iowa State, West Virginia, UCF, Texas Tech and TCU.
The media's choice as the conference's bottom six are Colorado, Baylor, BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and Arizona State.
Steele's Big 12 picks are somewhat different after Utah, Kansas State and Oklahoma State.
He has Iowa State fourth in a tie with Arizona, followed by West Virginia, TCU, Kansas, UCF and Texas Tech to round out his top 10.
Steele's remaining picks are Baylor, Cincinnati, Colorado, BYU, Arizona State and Houston.
New coaches in the league this year include Arizona's Brent Brennan, who moves over from San Jose State, and Houston's Willie Fritz, who recently resurrected Tulane's program.
Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy is the elder statesman of the conference, beginning his 20th season in Stillwater. Kyle Whittingham is also in year 20 at Utah, while Iowa State's Matt Campbell and BYU's Kalani Sitake are in their ninth seasons guiding their respective programs.
K-State's Chris Klieman and West Virginia's Neal Brown are next up on the experience chart at six years each with their programs.
Baylor's Dave Aranda is in his fifth season there, while Kansas' Lance Leipold and UCF's Gus Malzahn are starting their fourth seasons.
Three-year coaches include Texas Tech's Joey McGuire and TCU's Sonny Dykes, while Cincinnati's Scott Satterfield, Colorado's Deion Sanders and Arizona State's Kenny Dillingham are starting year two at their respective schools.
West Virginia's 2024 season begins on Saturday, Aug. 31, at Milan Puskar Stadium against Penn State in a noon game that will be televised nationally on FOX.
The Mountaineers' nonconference slate concludes with a home game against Albany on Saturday, Sept. 7, and a Sept.14 road date at Pitt in the 107th renewal of the Backyard Brawl, college football's 14th oldest rivalry.
WVU's league foes this year include preseason No. 4 choice Kansas in Morgantown on Sept. 21, at No. 3 Oklahoma State on Oct. 5, at home against No. 6 Iowa State on Oct. 12, at home against No. 2 Kansas State on Oct. 19, at No. 5 Arizona on Oct. 26, at No. 14 Cincinnati on Nov. 9, at home against No. 12 Baylor on Nov. 16 and against No. 8 UCF on Nov. 23 before wrapping up the regular season on the road at No. 9 Texas Tech on Nov. 30.
League members not on West Virginia's 2024 grid schedule include preseason No. 1 Utah, No. 10 TCU, No. 11 Colorado, No. 13 BYU, No. 15 Houston and No. 16 Arizona State.
Season tickets for the 2024 campaign are now on sale through the Mountaineer Ticket Office and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
Mini ticket packages are slated to go on sale later this week.
