It is the last season of its kind in the Big 12. A conference that came into being in 1996 and formed two divisions will look very different in 2011 with only 10 teams. This 2010 campaign is the last one in which a six-team North and a six-team South will decide division champions and then meet on the first Saturday of December in the Big 12 Championship Game. Next year, there won’t be a Big 12 title tilt, as Nebraska (Big Ten) and Colorado (Pac-10) move to other conferences. In effect, this is the last season of Big 12 South Division football. Who will make history as the last South Division champion?

First, let’s safely establish who won’t be winning the South.

Big 12 South Division Preview

Baylor will get Robert Griffin back at quarterback, but the Bears – lacking depth and power across the board – are just not ready to become an upper-division team. Coach Art Briles is immensely creative and has BU headed in the right direction, but that hardly means Baylor is primed for a major ascendancy in the college football world.

Texas Tech is another team that can be counted out of the South sweepstakes before the season even begins. After a solid decade of Mike Leach on the sidelines, the Red Raiders hired Tommy Tuberville to lead them into the next decade. No coach is exactly like the one-of-a-kind Leach, but there are several people in the football industry who possess at least a portion of Leach’s supremely aggressive pass-happy offensive philosophy. Tuberville isn’t one of those guys, and that’s an indication that Texas Tech is in the midst of a substantial culture shift. It will likely take multiple years for the Red Raiders to recruit and coach a different kind of player with a skill set tailored to a Tuberville-friendly offense. In 2010, Tech will be transitioning to a new identity, and that’s no way to win a championship… not at a school which is left with the players Texas and Oklahoma don’t want.

Oklahoma State also won’t be found pushing the big boys for the South championship. Coach Mike Gundy loses nine starters on defense, and he’ll also go into battle without some of the offensive studs who have powered his team in recent years. Offensive tackle Russell Okung is gone, as is receiver Dez Bryant. Zac Robinson is no longer the quarterback, but Brandon Weeden filled in well at certain points of the 2009 season and should be fine. Nevertheless, it will be hard to expect OSU to be as formidable on offense as it was last season. Given the immense losses on defense, it’s impossible to think this team can stay in the South race long enough to be a factor.

If an upset winner of the South is to emerge, Texas A&M could be the surprise team in the division. Coach Mike Sherman doesn’t have a defense that’s worth writing about, but if dynamic quarterback Jerrod Johnson maxes out in every game he plays, the Aggies will be rolling up 40-plus points against many opponents and will not need much defense to begin with. Johnson is a very fast open-field runner with agility and pocket presence. He made Texas’s defense look silly on Thanksgiving Night last season, and if that’s the Johnson who will regularly appear in 2010, the rest of the Big 12 is going to get torched. A&M can’t be considered a division favorite, but it can certainly make a push for the South title with Johnson under center.

As always, the battle for bragging rights in the South will come down to Texas and Oklahoma. Last year, the starting quarterbacks for each team were legends Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford. This year, Garrett Gilbert and Landry Jones. Gilbert gained valuable experience in the 2010 BCS National Championship Game against Alabama, but Jones acquired even more live-action reps when Bradford got hurt on opening night against BYU. Jones is the more seasoned signal caller, and if Oklahoma can avoid the many injuries which proved lethal last season, the feeling here is that the Sooners are better positioned to win the annual two-team tussle with Texas.

To Win the Big 12 South – Take the Oklahoma Sooners +140