Kansas State safety Kobe Savage, left, at 2023 Big 12 Football Media Days Thursday in Arlington.

ARLINGTON — When Texas Tech plays in Austin on the day after Thanksgiving, it will be the final regular season game in the Big 12 for the Texas Longhorns before they head to the SEC.

With Texas picked No. 1 in the preseason Big 12 Media Poll and Texas Tech picked No. 4, it’s likely that game will play a pivotal role in who is playing in the Big 12 Championship Game at AT&T Stadium — the site of Big 12 Media Days on Wednesday and Thursday.

“I definitely think we will be playing for something,” Texas Tech head football coach Joey McGuire said. “When I say we, that’s us and Texas. I sent Sark (Texas head football coach Steve Sarkisian) a text yesterday, and he did a phenomenal job. I don’t know if y’all know this, but I watch this non-stop. I watched everybody that came through yesterday.

“They’re going to be a really good football team. They’re going to be really, really good on offense. They’ve got some great talent, and he’s one of the best offensive coaches in the country. So I think it’s going to be for something. I’m really hoping and expecting for it to be for something. I think it’s two good football teams. And you could see they were on the verge of breaking through last year, and I felt like we were the same way. We will see. That’s a long season. We both have to stay healthy, and good things have to happen, but that’s going to be a fun game.”

In McGuire’s first season at Texas Tech, the Red Raiders went 8-5, won their final four games, defeated both Texas and Oklahoma in overtime and won their bowl game.

“I think Sonny had the better start,” McGuire said referencing TCU’s trip to the College Football Playoff National Championship game in head coach Sonny Dykes’ first season. “We had such great buy-in from our players. When your best players are the first ones to buy in, and you have that, then you have the opportunity to really build your culture. I think we have an opportunity to be a better football team this year. We’re excited to go into camp and start building what that team is going to look like.”

After defeating both the Longhorns and Sooners in 2022, the Red Raiders would love to have the opportunity to that again in both teams’ final season in the Big 12.

“I would tell you that means we play Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship, because OU is not on the schedule,” McGuire said. “I actually saw Coach (Brent) Venables earlier, and I’ve known Coach Venables forever. I told him I hope we get to play you this year, because that means we’re right back here.”

NO MORE ROUND ROBIN

With 14 teams in the Big 12 this season, everyone won’t get to play each other.

“It’s a strange year,” Kansas State head coach Chirs Klieman said. “For Kansas State and Oklahoma not to play, that’s kind of crazy. West Virginia, Neal (Brown) and I are good friends, and I think it’s a really good rivalry, and we’re not playing those guys either That’s the strange stuff.”

With Kansas State and Oklahoma not playing, that eliminates the chance of former Tyler Junior College teammates Kobe Savage and General Booty facing off. Savage is a safety at Kansas State, and Booty is a quarterback at Oklahoma.

“We won’t be playing OU and some schools,” Savage said. “It’s going to be really exciting to see how they do the conference championship and how the pool play works.”

One of the new teams in the conference, Cincinnati, avoided some of the projected top teams on its schedule.

“We don’t play Texas, Texas Tech, TCU or Kansas State. We got a pretty good draw,” Cincinnati head coach Scott Satterfield said during a radio interview on Thursday.

Texas, Kansas State, Texas Tech and TCU are all picked in the top five of the preseason media poll.

MEDIA POLL

Speaking of the media poll, most coaches don’t pay much attention to it.

“I don’t pay attention to it, honestly,” Klieman said. “What were we picked last year? What were we picked my first year? I think it’s all great things to talk about, but it doesn’t mean anything until you put pads on and start getting into competition.”

West Virginia head coach Neal Brown took a different approach.

“Glad to be here, and I’ll say this at the front,” Brown said. “Appreciate what you all do as far as covering college football and making it one of the top really sports that’s out there. So I appreciate that. I’ll start with this because I’m sure I’m going to get asked about it. Upset about the media poll. Definitely do not agree with that. The good thing, the positive is that the media has not been, as far as predicting the Big 12 has not been successful in recent years, so I think that bodes well for us.

“But I’ll say this on a more serious note. I was sitting on the beach last week, whenever Mike Montoro, who’s the best in the business who’s our sports information director for football, he sent me a text and I made the mistake of looking at it. From that point on, my vacation was over. I went into football mode. This is why I disagree, and this is why, first of all, it starts with belief in our staff and belief in our players, and then how we finish will be the next thing. We beat Oklahoma, beat Oklahoma State on the road, winning two of our last three games.”

After talking about his roster, Brown said, “Looking forward to proving everybody wrong on that front. We won’t finish there.”

West Virginia was picked to finish last in the 14-team conference. The Mountaineers were 5-7 overall and 3-6 in Big 12 play last year and finished in a three-way tie for seventh in the 10-team league.

FORMER TYLER LEGACY RUNNING BACK’S GROWTH

Bryson Donnell is coming off his first season at Texas Tech, where he carried the ball 16 times for 72 yards with a long of 38 yards.

McGuire said he expects even more from Donnell this season.

“He’s very physical,” McGuire said. “He weighs 215 pounds right now. I think he’s going to have a great year. And he’s had a great spring and summer, so we’re excited about him.”

Fellow Texas Tech running back Tahj Brooks said he and Donnell have a great connection and also touched on Donnell’s growth.

“It’s going to be amazing,” Brooks said. “Bryson, it’s crazy, because I actually brought him in when he was getting recruited. I was his host. Just a wild story. Him and me, we kind of connected. We are alike, similar kids, both from small towns, country. I’ve got a little country in me, and he’s big country from Tyler.

“He’s going to do great things this year. He’s getting in our playbook, learning everything. He’s gotten bigger, he’s gotten faster, he’s gotten stronger. He’s about the same size as me, and that tells you a lot because he’s only a redshirt freshman. That tells you a lot. He’s going to do great things here. I can’t wait to see what he does.”

HARD-HITTING FORMER APACHE

Savage, who was a standout at Tyler Junior College by way of Paris High School, made an impact in his first year at Kansas State.

He had 58 tackles in 10 starts before an injury cut his season short, earning All-Big 12 honors in the process.

“I’m excited,” Klieman said. “Kobe was an All-Big 12 player and got his season cut short by a handful of games. He’s fully healthy now. He’s a tremendous leader and a tremendous hitter. That guy will come in and rock you. He’s going to have to be a catalyst back there because we lost three guys that are playing in the NFL in the secondary and two of them were drafted. Kobe is going to have a lot on his plate this year, and we’re excited for him.”