If you thought the previous and most recent iteration of the Big 12 we saw in the 2023-24 season was a gauntlet -- with Houston and BYU among the teams joining the conference last season -- then you'll be thrilled about the competitive chaos that lies ahead for the conference this season.
While Texas and Oklahoma have moved to the SEC, the Big 12 has added former Pac-12 members Arizona, Colorado, Arizona State and Utah, and in the process remade itself into a 16-team conference that should carry on its standing as the most formidable league in college basketball. From top to bottom, it has rated first in KenPom.com's conference ratings of all 32 leagues three years running -- and that isn't likely to change this season.
That reputation as the king of conferences has been bolstered by its depth, but the top end of the league has more than carried its weight, too. And this year figures to be no different.
Here's how our experts see the season shaking out in the Big 12 -- with our preseason predictions for order of finish and Player of the Year all in the space below.
Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year
Hunter Dickinson | Kansas | C | Gr.
Entering his fifth and final season, Dickinson is the face of a Kansas team that could start the season ranked No. 1 and will be the favorite to win the Big 12. The 7-foot-2 super senior is the leading returning scorer and rebounder in the Big 12, and he is in rarefied air as the first Big 12 player in a decade to return after averaging a double-double in points and rebounds -- last done by Rico Gathers. Dickinson averaged 17.9 points and 10.9 rebounds per game last season for the Jayhawks and had his best rebounding season of his college career with a career-best 27.5% defensive rebounding rate that ranked 15th in college basketball.
Four more players to watch
Tamin Lipsey | PG | Iowa State: Keshon Gilbert is Iowa State's leading returning scorer, but Tamin Lipsey is the true heart and soul of this formidable -- and dare I say, fearsome -- Cyclones team. Lipsey is a bulldog at the point of ISU's defensive attack and a proponent of the "sharing is caring" mantra. He averaged a team-high 4.9 assists and 2.7 steals per game last season and has room to grow to build off a breakout All-Big 12 campaign from last season.
Zeke Mayo | PG | Kansas: Mayo is a Lawrence, Kansas, native who spent the last three seasons at South Dakota State before returning home to play for his hometown Jayhawks. Mayo was the Summit League Player of the Year last season and averaged 18.8 points and 3.5 assists per game for SDSU, and now he joins a KU team in need of stability in the backcourt. We'll see how this team's backcourt shakes out, but Mayo will be a condiment -- er, a compliment -- to the most talented team in the Big 12.
LJ Cryer | SG | Houston: The keys to the Houston kingdom are Cryer's this season with Jamal Shead off the NBA. Cryer led the Cougars in scoring at 15.5 points per game last season but should be entrusted with an even bigger role this year.
Jeremy Roach | PG | Baylor: Roach transferred from Duke to Baylor this offseason and in the process gave Scott Drew's Bears one of the most versatile and experienced guards to run the show in all of college hoops land. He's been somewhere between a point guard and shooting guard in college but told Field of 68's Jeff Goodman that he'll return to his roots as a true point this season in Waco, Texas.
Big 12 Preseason Freshman of the Year
V.J. Edgecombe | G | Baylor
Edgecombe ranked as the No. 5 overall recruit in 247Sports' final recruiting rankings for the cycle. But in my unofficial rankings of the most electric prospects of the class -- accounting for athleticism and pure watchability -- Edgecombe ranks No. 1. He's a twitchy athlete who can finish above the rim and get his own bucket with shades of Zach LaVine weaved in his game and playing style. Baylor does a great job of sharing the ball and facilitating a balanced offensive ecosystem, which should help Edgecombe -- a natural aggressor on the offensive end -- flourish as a freshman.
Predicted order of finish
| 1 | |
| Kansas is coming off its worst Big 12 finish -- fifth -- under Bill Self last season. But that's likely to change this season. The return of Dickinson and surehanded Dajuan Harris Jr., combined with the transfer additions of AJ Storr, Zeke Mayo and Rylan Griffin, should guarantee that guard depth will morph from a weakness last season to a strength this season. That should help KU return to form as the big dog of the league. | |
| 2 | |
| If any team can recover after losing a player of Jamal Shead's ilk it's Kelvin and Kellen Sampson's Houston Cougars. They're primed to reload with LJ Cryer, J'Wan Roberts and Emanuel Sharp returning, and the addition of plug-and-play transfer Milos Uzan should ease the loss of Shead a smidge. This team will once again be a terror to deal with defensively given its length, speed and sheer grit. A repeat as Big 12 champs is a realistic outcome -- which no team aside from Kansas has accomplished since Iowa State in 2001. | |
| 3 | |
| Four Baylor starters are gone from last season's 24-win team, including first-round picks JaKobe Walter and Yves Missi, and yet the Bears sit firmly in the top four of our preseason projections. That's a testament to what Baylor has built but also a credit to how well the staff has restocked its roster while simultaneously developing from within. From the in-house development side, Langston Love and Josh Ojianwuna are both primed for bigger roles in the backcourt and frontcourt, respectively, with two first-round picks at their respective positions gone. And from the roster restocking side, transfers Jeremy Roach and Norchad Omier join five-star recruit VJ Edgecombe to make up a roster that should have a mix of experience, depth and top-end talent. | |
| 4 | |
| Iowa State at No. 4 might, in hindsight, be our biggest miss of the preseason; there's a non-zero chance the Cyclones are just the best team in the Big 12. Period. Keshon Gilbert, Tamin Lipsey and Milan Momcilovic form a trio that talent-for-talent stacks up as well as any in the league. This team had the No. 1 defense last season in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency rankings and was top-two nationally in forcing turnovers via steals to create extra offensive opportunities. If the shot-making on offense improves, which is to be expected, then it's going to be a nightmare to try and keep pace with this team. | |
| 5 | |
| Arizona enters its first season in the Big 12 with potential of being a serious factor to win the league in its first season. Coach Tommy Lloyd returns Pac-12 Player of the Year Caleb Love and reserve guard Jaden Bradley as core pieces, but it's the transfer class that should inject real optimism about the Wildcats' prospects. With Oakland's Trey Townsend, Tennessee's Tobe Awaka and Campbell's Anthony Dell'Orso in the fold, they have the makings on paper to be competitive *and* deep in their first season away from the Pac-12. | |
| 6 | |
| Grant McCasland enters his second season at the helm in Lubbock, Texas, coaching a Red Raiders team that has some good pieces returning but has to rebound from some big losses as well. With leading scorer Pop Isaacs off to Creighton, McCasland will likely charge returning backcourt pieces Darrion Williams, Chance McMillian and Devan Cambridge with more responsibilities. New Mexico transfer JT Toppin -- one of four transfers -- should also be a significant factor for Tech as it builds off a season that ended in a one-and-done NCAA Tournament showing. | |
| 7 | |
| Cincy coach Wes Miller has hit big on in-house developments with Dan Skillings Jr. and Day Day Thomas and has a roster full of continuity on which to build that is a true rarity in today's college basketball. The Bearcats were fiesty at times in their first season in the Big 12 last year with wins at BYU and Texas Tech and an impressive Big 12 tourney win over Kansas, but more is expected after a 7-11 conference finish given all it returns. They have plenty of size with Aziz Bandaogo down low and scorers aplenty, including rising sophomore Jizzle James. | |
| 8 | |
| A magical run to finish off the 2022-23 season led to a disappointing and injury-riddled 2023-24 season for K-State and coach Jerome Tang in Manhattan, where they missed the NCAA Tournament and finished 8-10 in league play. Tang and Co. invested big in the offseason -- quite literally -- to assemble a team that should have the depth to make a run at the NCAAs. With just three returning players, the Wildcats have eight transfers -- led by Coleman Hawkins, Dug McDaniel, Ugonna Onyenso and Achor Achor -- on which they'll rely on heavily. There's a lot of pieces that need to fall into place in Manhattan in what figures to be almost a brand-new team. | |
| 9 | |
| Mark Pope is off to coach his alma mater Kentucky, but BYU hired Kevin Young -- a rising star in the coaching ranks -- to take over a Cougars team that is an X-factor this season in the Big 12. They will be young -- no pun intended, but ... it fits -- but will no doubt be fun. Freshmen Egor Demin and Kanon Catchings are top-50 recruits from a top-15 recruiting class who will likely have big roles for a team that may be full of skilled shooters capable of running a modernized system. | |
| 10 | |
| TCU is not unique in its challenge ahead of replacing a large chunk of its roster from last season. but the Horned Frogs are in a particularly precarious spot with nine scholarship players gone and 10 players (!) -- be it transfers or signees -- on their way in. Coach Jamie Dixon has his work cut out for him. Experienced transfers in Frankie Collins and Trazarian White at guard should complement returning big man Ernest Udeh Jr., giving TCU some experience -- even if it hasn't been together. | |
| 11 | |
| ASU leading scorer and assist man Frankie Collins transferred out to Big 12 foe TCU, but ASU has an exciting influx of young talent on the way to try and turn things around coming off a 14-18 season. Bobby Hurley secured the No. 7 overall recruiting class in the country led by five-star center and former Kentucky commit Jayden Quaintance, and he has a transfer class led by BJ Freeman and Alston Mason, who are in line to help the move from the Pac-12 to the Big 12 as they move from mid-major to high-major level. | |
| 12 | |
| UCF made its presence in the Big 12 known last season as the destination where good teams went to suffer in Orlando. The Knights defeated three ranked teams in front of their home crowd but still stumbled to a 17-16 record where they missed the NCAAs. The new-look Big 12 might be just as brutal, but the return of both double-digit scorers -- Jaylin Sellers and Darius Johnson -- could help this team climb higher up the food chain. | |
| 13 | |
| Arguably one of the most consequential coaching hires of the offseason took place in Morgantown, West Virginia, where the Mountaineers nabbed coach Darian DeVries from Drake. DeVries made three NCAA Tournaments in his final four seasons with Drake and went 150-55 in six seasons. He brings with him his Bulldogs star (and son!) Tucker DeVries to help kickstart the rebuild. Though, like many others in the Big 12, he has 11 total newcomers in his fresh slate from places ranging from Illinois to Detroit Mercy and Oklahoma State, among others. If DeVries hits on a few complementary pieces to surround son Tucker with, they could be in business. | |
| 14 | |
| Utah and coach Craig Smith have a tough road ahead in their first year in the Big 12 with five of the top six scorers from last season's team now gone. Fifth-year senior Gabe Madsen is back as a stabilizer, though, and transfer Mason Madsen -- his twin brother -- is among the many new faces in the fold. After a 22-win campaign last year and a run to the NIT semis, they're essentially starting from scratch in a new league with a team full of almost entirely new bodies. | |
| 15 | |
| Former Big 12 member Colorado is back to being a current Big 12 member this season, and Coach Tad Boyle -- who started as Colorado coach when it was in the Big 12 -- is against all odds back to his roots. Boyle has quite a challenge ahead, though, after losing Tristan da Silva, KJ Simpson and Cody Williams. The team's five leading scorers from last year are gone and CU has added incoming pieces from unusual portal spots like Division II (for Trevor Baskin) and NAIA (for Elijah Malone) to pick up some slack. While there could be some bright spots for this team transitioning back to the Big 12, there's going to be struggles in a deep league trying to replace so many key producers. | |
| 16 | |
| After seven seasons and only one NCAA Tournament appearance, Oklahoma State fired coach Mike Boynton and tabbed Western Kentucky's Steve Lutz as its next head coach in Stillwater. That change triggered major moves for the Cowboys on the roster front with seven transfer additions on the way and only a handful of returning players -- among them Bryce Thompson and Jamyron Keller -- to build around. This is a brand-new team, essentially, and a brand-new coach, so some growing pains are expected. | |