It’s no surprise that Kansas headlines a majority of the preseason Top 25 media polls, including Blue Ribbon, ESPN and Lindy’s. Bill Self is a coaching wizard with lots of experience in reloading. He brings back three starters from a 28-win team and adds 7-foot-2 Hunter Dickinson, the top player in the transfer portal. While the Jayhawks are not ranked No. 1 in all of the polls, and by all of the oddsmakers and respected analytics websites, they are close to it. Still, a team full of Self-confidence has plenty of competition at the top of its own conference. Kansas (12-1 odds), Houston (20-1) and Texas (22-1) are among the top 12 teams on the NCAA championship odds board at DraftKings, and Baylor (30-1) is not far behind.
The best conference in college basketball is getting better. Two of the past three NCAA champions came from the Big 12 — Kansas in 2022 and Baylor in 2021. The Jayhawks were set to be the NCAA’s No. 1 overall seed in 2020, when the tournament was canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Texas Tech reached the title game in 2019. Ken Pomeroy’s analytics website (KenPom.com) rated the Big 12 as the nation’s top league last season and it has ranked in the top two for five consecutive years. The conference has expanded to 14 teams (Houston, BYU, Cincinnati and UCF join the crowd this season) and is flexing its strength at the top with no weaklings at the bottom.
Dickinson, a transfer from Michigan, is a preseason All-American and one of many high-profile newcomers. Houston lured senior guard LJ Cryer from Baylor, Texas hooked senior guard Max Abmas from Oral Roberts, and Baylor replaced Cryer by adding senior guard RayJ Dennis, a former Toledo star who was voted the Mid-American Conference’s top player. The Bears could have the league’s top NBA prospect in freshman guard Ja’Kobe Walter, a McDonald’s All-American who turned down Kansas and Texas.
Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech are potential surprise teams on the rise. West Virginia’s stock has fallen after the resignation of coaching legend Bob Huggins.