Big 12 Spotlight: Winners and losers from the 2019 cycle

CLASS OF 2019 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position | Team

CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position

A pair of Big 12 teams finished with top-five classes in 2019, creating a new dynamic in the conference. We identify the biggest winners and losers from the cycle.

MORE WINNERS AND LOSERS: Big Ten | SEC | ACC | Pac-12

Texas and Oklahoma further cemented the fact that they are running the Big 12, not only on the field but in the recruiting ranks as well.

The Longhorns finished off the 2019 recruiting cycle by landing a transfer from five-star athlete Bru McCoy after he was on campus at Southern Cal. They managed to stay over in-state rival Texas A&M, Alabama and Georgia and sign four-star tackle Javonne Shepherd, the third linemen in their class all from the state of Texas.

It was quiet in Norman on National Signing Day, but on the evening before the Sooners grabbed an early pledge from Rivals250 junior athlete Davon Graham II. That’s an encouraging sign toward the future after the team revealed it signed wide receiver Jadon Haselwood out of Georgia, the third five-star wide receiver in the class and fourth in the class overall.

Overall, Texas and Oklahoma combined to sign five five-stars. The Big 12 rivals finished Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in conference rankings and Nos. 4 and 5 nationally. In contract, the other eight teams in the Big 12 signed 18 four-stars and not a single five-star. It’s absolutely clear who is currently running the show in this conference.

Les Miles is a highly regarded recruiter, and we’re beginning to see his stamp on the Kansas roster. During the Early Signing Period, The Hat managed 10 signees. He and his staff followed that up with eight more on National Signing Day, none bigger than Steven Parker the Monday prior.

Parker, a four-star defensive end out of Texas, picked the Jayhawks over Texas Tech -- a school he was at one point verbally committed to -- as well as TCU and Nebraska. The 6-foot-4, 225-pounder will go a long way in allowing Miles to reconstruct a Kansas defense in the same mold as the ones he had at LSU. He’s lean and will need to add some muscle to his frame, but Parker possesses great speed and quickness off the edge, not to mention a knack for stripping the football.

Parker finished as the highest-rated signee in Miles’ first class at Kansas and, ultimately, the most important as the team builds toward the future.

If Baylor is one thing under Matt Rhule, it’s consistent.

While in Waco, Rhule’s recruiting classes have finished Nos. 34, 32 and this year, at No. 33. It’s good for fourth in the Big 12 after making a pair of splashes on National Signing Day with highly coveted prospects.

Three-star Georgia tight end Garmon Randolph selected the Bears over LSU despite Rhule courting him at a different position. The No. 31 tight end in the country, Baylor projects Randolph as a defensive end in Waco. Baylor was able to outduel Ole Miss early in January and eventually stave off a late push from LSU to secure a signing day signature from the South Georgia product.

On the other end of the country, the Bears were also able to wrangle in California offensive lineman Paul Matavao-Poialii. Matavao-Poialii took official visits to local favorite Oregon State and conference rival Kansas -- the latter right before National Signing Day - but Baylor wound up on top for the three-star guard.

After signing 20 players during the Early Signing Period, Baylor finished out the class with two signing day commitments and a new placekicker to reach 25 total signees. The Bears were the biggest winners in the Big 12 on National Signing Day.

The Big 12 is ushering in a quartet of new coaches into the fray. Neal Brown, formerly of Troy, replaced Dana Holgorsen at West Virginia. The Mad Hatter is back, this time swapping out purple and gold trim for crimson and blue at Kansas. Former Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury is in the NFL and Matt Wells has taken over in Lubbock. And after two separate stints and 25 total years manning the sidelines of a stadium that was eventually named after himself, Bill Snyder hung up his cleats, opening the door for Chris Klieman to take over.

Despite the influx new faces, there was not much to boast over when National Signing Day was over.

Brown’s Mountaineers fared the best of the new coaching hires, cracking the top-50 nationally and finishing with the No. 6 signing class in the conference. His staff was able to repair the relationship with Georgia defensive back Tavion Mayo and bring him onboard, as well as Florida defensive lineman Jordan Jefferson. Still, an unfilled class closer inside the top-50 is a far cry from Holgorsen's last class in Morgantown that finished No. 33, especially one with only two four-stars.

Wells’ Red Raiders, Miles’ Jayhawks and Klieman’s Wildcats finished Nos. 8, 9 and 10, respectively, and all outside the top 60. Texas Tech added three-star athlete Alante Brown, and then some two-stars. Miles may have found his next Arden Key in Parker, which is colossal for the future of the Kansas defense, but the rest of the February signees are an array of athletes. There’s plenty to still be determined there. Kansas State managed three-star defensive tackle Matthew Pola-Mao out of Arizona and three-star running back Thomas Grayson. The rest were two-stars.

Overall, these four teams combined to sign just four four-stars. The Wildcats were unable to land even one, while Tech and Kansas managed just one.

Per usual, Gary Patterson did an excellent job of keeping talent in-state in 2019. That group begins with four-star signees Darwin Barlow and Colt Ellison. The Horned Frogs had to stave off a late push from Florida State for Barlow, who was one of 15 Texans out of a total 28 signees. TCU also dipped into Louisiana, Iowa, Ohio, Nevada, Oklahoma, Utah, Kansas and California for talent. That’s quite a spread for Patterson’s staff, which helped TCU finish right behind Texas and Oklahoma in conference recruiting rankings.

The issue: TCU’s highest-rated commitment did not sign with the team. Four-star wide receiver Tamauzia Brown is likely to go take the junior college route, which assures the Horned Frogs of nothing right now. At 6-foot-2 and 172 pounds, Brown would’ve been TCU’s most athletic playmaker in this class.

Another close-but-no-cigar finish goes to Oklahoma State. It finished fifth in the Big 12 with the No. 40 class. The team’s most important signee committed in January when four-star Texas running back Deondrick Glass chose the Cowboys over Alabama. A Rivals250 talent, Glass is the highest-rated member of Oklahoma State’s class and could be an immediate-impact contributor in Stillwater. He’s the program’s most decorated running back signee since Herschel Sims in 2011.

The Cowboys’ class ranks in the top half of the Big 12, but it lacks star power. The team finished with a pair of four-stars in 2019, including Glass, which is on par with most of Mike Gundy’s signing classes. Over the past eight years, the Cowboys have averaged between two and three four-star prospects per recruiting cycle, which could be improved given the fertile recruiting grounds in Texas and Oklahoma. Oklahoma State last signed four four-stars in 2014 and before that, five four-stars in 2009 and 2010. The last five-star signee came back in 2005.

Darnell Wright had been linked to the Vols for some time, but the Mountaineers made a renewed push for the five-star in-state tackle shortly after Brown took over the reins. West Virginia was able to secure an official visit from Wright, who still shunned the Mountaineers to sign with Tennessee on National Signing Day.

The Mountaineers signed a trio of intriguing three-star linemen overall, but naturally, the class lacks gusto without a highly ranked prospect up front. Of course, Brown is notorious for up-tempo offenses that can thrive without proper pass protection. He’ll make do with the talent at his disposal, but bringing Wright onboard would have done wonders for his passing game and, more importantly, the public perception of the first-year coach as he prepares for his first season in Morgantown.

Should Brown enjoy some on-the-field success at West Virginia in Year 1, it’s unlikely that misses like Wright will continue down the road.