Football season is still months away, but the preseason chatter is starting to grow as the NFL Draft looms and football fans start planning tailgating outings. Here is the Daily’s Big 12 power rankings heading into the summer:

1. Texas Christian (12-1, 8-1 Big 12 last season)

With 10 returning starters on an offense that was the second highest scoring team in the nation, the Horned Frogs are the Big 12’s best chance at getting to the College Football Playoff next season. With Trevone Boykin, an early Heisman hopeful, as quarterback, expect lots of points from the team in purple.

2. Baylor (12-1, 8-1 Big 12 last season)

There is no shortage of offense at the top of the Big 12, but Baylor has the benefit of a core group of defenders returning as well. Bryce Petty will no longer be throwing passes for the Bears, but with two elite receivers and a 1,000-plus yard running back returning, his replacement should have no problem leading the nation’s highest scoring offense from a year ago.

3. Oklahoma State (7-6, 4-5 Big 12 last season)

A young Cowboys team struggled mightily at times during the 2014 season, but started to find its rhythm at the end of the season. The Cowboys appear to have the firepower offensively to compete with the best in the Big 12 and field a much more experienced team heading into 2015.

4. Oklahoma (8-5, 5-4 Big 12 last season)

The Sooners will close the 2015 season with a brutal slate of away games at Baylor and Oklahoma State with a home game against TCU sandwiched in between. However, if Oklahoma can work out the kinks through the beginning of the schedule, it has a shot at redeeming its elite status in the Big 12.

5. Kansas State (9-4, 7-2 Big 12 last season)

The Wildcats are traditionally an underdog in the preseason and traditionally blow those expectations out of the water. Gone are Jake Waters and Tyler Lockett, but Bill Snyder is the constant in the equation, proving time and time again that whatever players he has to work with are enough to get him into the top half of the Big 12.

6. Texas (6-7, 5-4 Big 12 last season)

The start of the Charlie Strong era has been rocky, to say the least. After dismissing seemingly half of the team over the course of last season, the Longhorns still have a ways to go before recovering from the lost talent.

7. West Virginia (7-6, 5-4 Big 12 last season)

The Mountaineers couldn’t find ways to consistently win with one of the Big 12’s best quarterbacks, Clint Trickett, last season, but it will be even harder without him. With a soft non-conference schedule, West Virginia can get a little confidence heading into the tough Big 12 slate.

8. Texas Tech (4-8, 2-7 Big 12 last season)

Things seem to be going in the wrong direction for one of the Big 12’s newest coaches, Kliff Kingsbury. With an atrocious defense last season, the team fired its defensive coordinator, but the benefit of a new coordinator likely won’t yield immediate results. The end of the season showed some signs of encouragement as the team beat Iowa State and nearly knocked off No. 7 Baylor, but there is still much to improve in Lubbock.

9. Iowa State (2-10, 0-9 Big 12 last season)

It was a rough year for the Cyclones in 2014, but with the benefit of hosting a depleted Kansas team this season, Iowa State likely pulls itself out of the conference cellar. Last season’s performance against the Jayhawks certainly doesn’t foster much confidence in the team’s ability to compete in the Big 12, but with returning offensive firepower at quarterback and receiver with a year of experience in Mark Mangino’s offensive system, improving on the 2-10 campaign in 2014 seems all but inevitable.

10. Kansas (3-9, 1-8 Big 12 last season)

The Jayhawks picked up the team’s only Big 12 win against Iowa State under interim head coach Clint Bowen, who was carried off the field on the shoulders of his players. But a new coach, David Beaty will be leading a 2015 squad that will be one of the most inexperienced in the nation — a dangerous combination for an already struggling program.