Arizona football built to contend in Big 12 | Greg Hansen

Is Arizona too young to compete for the Big 12 title? Or is its roster full of veterans from all corners of the football map?

Thanks to analytics introduced to football the last few years, it's now possible to gauge a team's exact experience level. In today's game, every team knows exactly how many snaps everyone on the roster has played. Those numbers reflect well on Arizona's standing with other "old” Big 12 clubs.

Arizona is ranked No. 20 nationally in the number of career snaps, 40,153, its athletes have played in Division I football. Examining the numbers shows that the Big 12 is probably the most experienced league in Power 4 football. Here's a look at returning Big 12 players with their career snap totals and career starts, and how they rank nationally according to The Athletic and Pro Football Focus, who track those numbers:

2. Oklahoma State, 53,040 career snaps, 650 career starts

3. Texas Tech, 51,165 career snaps, 614 career starts

5. Colorado, 45,940 career snaps, 542 career starts

6. Houston, 45,806 career snaps, 564 career starts

11. UCF, 42,877 career snaps, 538 career starts

17. Cincinnati, 41,037 career snaps, 558 career starts

20. Arizona, 40,153 career snaps, 461 career starts

29. ASU, 38,534 career snaps, 427 career starts

That's the top half of the Big 12. It reflects that those eight clubs, most of them predicted to finish in the second division of the conference this year, might be better than expected.

Utah, a football power for 20 years, has the least experience in the Big 12 with 30,537 career snaps and just 291 career starts.

If there's anything I pull from these numbers, it's that Texas Tech, which has five players ranked in The Athletic's list of top 100 players, is, on paper, the league favorite.

The Athletic picks Arizona as the nation's No. 28 team, which almost matches its snaps/starts numbers.