Big 12 Team Capsules

Oklahoma Sooners

HEAD COACH: Bob Stoops (10th season, 97-22)

LAST SEASON: 11-3 (6-2 Big 12 South)

RETURNING STARTERS: Offense (6) -- QB Sam Bradford, C Jon Cooper, WR Juaquin Iglesias, T Phil Loadholt, G George Robinson, G Brandon Walker. Defense (5) -- DE Auston English, DT DeMarcus Granger, S Nic Harris, CB Lendy Holmes, DT Gerald McCoy. Specialists (0).

NOTING: Oklahoma won its second straight Big 12 championship last season, defeating Missouri 38-17 in the title game. The Sooners have been victorious in five of six Big 12 championship game appearances. … Redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Bradford set a NCAA freshman record for touchdown passes with 26. He also led the country in passing efficiency (176.5 rating). … OU leads the country in 10-win season with 30. Alabama is second with 28 10-win campaigns.

QUOTING: "There isn't any one good answer, and in the end, too, I think it's obvious you're playing another championship team and if you're not at your best, you're not going to fair too well. Overall, we've been in six Big 12 championships and we won five of them. We are doing something right. We know how to win those games and we'll manage these others the best we can and I think as much as anything it's the players staying invested and us as coaches as well doing the job we need to do to be at our best in those situations."  --  Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops on his team's BCS bowl losses the past two seasons.



Baylor Bears

HEAD COACH: Art Briles (First year at BU; Sixth year overall, 34-28)

LAST SEASON: 3-9 (0-8 Big 12 South)

RETURNING STARTERS: Offense (9) -- T Jason Smith, T Dan Gay, QB Blake Szymanski, TE Justin Akers, C J.D. Walton, G James Barnard, WR David Gettis, WR Ernest Smith, TE Brad Taylor. Defense (6) -- DT Vincent Rhodes, LB Joe Pawelek, CB Dwain Crawford, DE Jason Lamb, NT Trey Bryant, FS Jordan Lake. Specialists (2) -- PK Chad Smith, P Derek Epperson.

NOTING: Art Briles takes over the program as a coach with a proven track record of turning programs around. Briles was 34-28 at Houston with three bowl bids and a Conference USA championship, taking over the program two years after the Cougars had finished 0-11. … Junior quarterback Blake Szymanski set single-season program records for passing yards (2,844) and touchdown passes (22) in 10 starts this season, but is facing heavy competition for the starting job from Miami (Fla.) transfer Kirby Freeman and Robert Griffin. … The Bears return their top two tacklers from last season in free safety Jordan Lake (120 total tackles) and linebacker Joe Pawelek (99).

QUOTING: "The biggest challenge, without a doubt, is I feel like when people haven't had a lot of success, a lot of times they're scared of success. We can't be a university that's scared to be successful. Because you always view it as somebody else as being able to do something you can't do. That's not the case. You've got to get up on the same playing field. You've got to feel the benefits of a successful season and feeling good about yourself."  --  Baylor coach Art Briles on taking over the downtrodden Bears' program.



Iowa State

HEAD COACH: Gene Chizik (Second year, 3-9)

 LAST SEASON: 3-9 (2-6 Big 12 North)

RETURNING STARTERS: Offense (7) -- LT Doug Dedrick, LG Reggie Stephens, C Brandon Johnson, RT Ben Lamaak, RB Jason Scales, TE Derrick Catlett, WR R.J. Sumrall. Defense (7) -- DE Rashawn Parker, DE Kurtis Taylor, LB Jesse Smith, CB Allen Bell, CB Chris Singleton, SS Chris Brown, FS James Smith. Specialists (1) -- Mike Brandtner.

NOTING: Iowa State is in the first phase of a $19.5 million refurbishment of Jack Trice Stadium. … The Cyclones showed improvement as they climbed from 102nd nationally in total defense in 2006 to No. 65 a year ago. … While almost every other school in the Big 12 has a returning starter at quarterback, ISU will have to break in a new one after the graduation of four-year starter Bret Meyer.

QUOTING: "We feel like the foundation has been laid for what we're trying to do down the road. If you go back to 2007, we had a lot of ups and a lot of downs and I think we saw some improvement at the end of the year in our football team. But in a certain degree, that's a lot of window dressing  --  a lot of feel-good stuff  --  because at the end of the day, you have to look back and say you had a 3-9 season. Us as coaches, we're very aware of that. Us as players, we're very aware of that, and that is unacceptable."  --  Iowa State coach Gene Chizik on his first season with the Cylcones.



Texas Longhorns

HEAD COACH: Mack Brown (11th year at UT, 103-25; 24th year overall, 189-99-1)

LAST SEASON: 10-3 (5-3 Big 12 South)

RETURNING STARTERS: Offense (6) -- WR Quan Cosby, G Cedric Dockery, C Chris Hall, QB Colt McCoy, G Charlie Tanner, T Adam Ulatoski. Defense (4) -- LB Rashad Bobino, DT Lamarr Houston, DE Brian Orakpo, CB Ryan Palmer. Specialists (1) -- Ryan Bailey.

NOTING: Texas appeared in a bowl game last year for a school-record 10th consecutive season, winning for the sixth time in its last seven bowl appearances. … Mack Brown is the only active coach in the NCAA Bowl Division who has guided his team to nine or more victories in each of the past 12 seasons. … Quarterback Colt McCoy became the fourth Longhorn quarterback to surpass in the 3,000-yard mark in passing (3,303), which ranked second on the program's all-time single-season list. In his sophomore year, McCoy helped UT produce nine games with 400 yards or more of total offense.

QUOTING: "I think I would stay in coaching as long as I'm healthy and as long as we're doing the job that's best for the University of Texas. If we're not doing our job and Texas could do better, then we would not be one of those that would want to stand in the way. But as long as we're healthy, having fun and winning  --  and winning seems to e a pretty big key in this business  --  (I'll continue). Very honestly, after my knee (surgery), it's been a miracle for me. I feel so much better right than I've felt for 15 years."  --  Texas coach Mack Brown on how long he plans to continue coaching.



 -- Terry Douglass