CBB Review previews Big 12 basketball heading into the 2025-26 season.
The best conference in college basketball took a step back last year, but it looks the part again this year. The Big 12 features six of the Top 18 teams in KenPom, including the #1 spot. The newer additions have provided some of the best teams in the conference, but have also brought it down significantly.
From a tournament perspective, there are four teams with a legitimate championship threat. Behind them, two more with deep tournament potential. Behind them, six more teams that have rosters and coaching capable of making a tournament appearance. The bottom is definitely weak, but every night, as the Big 12 has shown, will be a battle.
There are plenty of names to watch. JT Toppin and PJ Haggerty were both second-team All-Americans last year. Anthony Roy led the entire country in scoring. From an analytics perspective, Jojo Tugler was the best defender in the country last year. However, the names that are going to draw an audience every night are Darryn Peterson and AJ Dybantsa. Both are the potential #1 and #2 picks in the NBA Drafts, and potential superstars in the NBA.
Can Houston continue its dominance? Can Kansas turn it around after two down years? How will the new coaches fare in year one? There’s no shortage of storylines in the Big 12, so let’s dive in.
Big 12 Basketball Preview: Projected Standings
1. Houston Cougars
Since joining the Big 12 two years ago, Houston has won two regular-season titles, going 34-4 and only losing one home game. This year, don’t expect anything different. Every analytical model had them #1 last year in the preseason, and they were a minor collapse against Florida away from that coming true. They’re number 1 again, and for good reason.
They bring back three starters from last year’s team: Milos Uzan, Emanuel Sharp, and Jojo Tugler. Sharp and Uzan are both great two-way players and have extremely high basketball IQs. As mentioned, Tugler was analytically the best defender last year and is the favorite to win that award this year.
Then, you bring in three top 20 recruits, including #7 overall Chris Cenac. Pair that with Kelvin Sampson, who is maybe the best coach in the country. Houston won the conference by four games last year, and it wouldn’t be crazy to say they do so again.
2. Arizona Wildcats
You can argue that 2-4 in this Big 12 basketball preview will be a toss-up, but Arizona gets a slight leg up. Caleb Love is finally out of college basketball, and he will definitely be missed. They do a great job replacing him and some other guys who hit the portal, starting with two top 11 recruits in Koa Peat and Brayden Burries. Look up Koa Peat’s high school accolades; they are some of the most impressive you’ll ever see.
They bring back Jaden Bradley, a do-it-all guard, and Anthony Dell’Orso and Tobe Awaka, two big pieces off the bench. They also lucked out with their schedule, getting Houston, Texas Tech, and Iowa State just once. If the freshmen are as good as advertised, this team can also be a championship contender this season.
3. Texas Tech Red Raiders
JT Toppin. That’s all you need to know about Texas Tech. The reigning Big 12 POY is back and ready to defend his title. Not to do a victory lap, but I was one of the only previews who had Toppin as a first-team All-Big 12 pick last year. They lose Chance McMillian and Darrion Williams, but getting Toppin and Christian Anderson, who had a terrific freshman season, will make up for that loss.
Grant McCasland is also one of the biggest winners in the country and brought in pieces that will suit exactly what he’s looking for. The homecourt will be no joke as well, as long as they’re not throwing tortillas at the opponents.
4. BYU Cougars
Kevin Young set a trend of bringing in a high-level NBA assistant to take over the program, as we saw Utah and Florida State follow suit this offseason. It worked out year one, with BYU winning 14 Big 12 games and making it to the Sweet 16 before Alabama made a million threes on them.
The pockets are deep with this team, and they went out and grabbed Rob Wright from Baylor to be the team’s lead guard. They also picked up AJ Dybantsa, the #2-ranked recruit in the country, who has the potential to be the best player in the country. If that wasn’t enough, they also bring back Richie Saunders, who averaged 16.5 a game last year.
If the defense can keep up with the offensive talent, this team is the biggest threat to Houston’s Big 12 crown. My only worry is AJ playing a little too much hero ball, especially late in games.
5. Kansas Jayhawks
If ten years ago, I ventured to Lawrence, Kansas, and said that a Bill Self-led Kansas team would finish 5th or worse in the Big 12 in back-to-back years, they would laugh in my face and ship me to Manhattan. However, that was the case, and hopefully that’s all in the past, even though that’s where they fall in this preview.
Hunter Dickinson, Dajuan Harris, and KJ Adams are all gone. All the portal misses are gone, too. The key is the only guy ranked above AJ Storr, Darryn Peterson. He’s another guy who could be the best player in the country. However far he goes is how far the team will go. They brought in a lot of pieces to surround him with as well, which will help.
Bill Self is still an elite coach, but with his recent health concerns, his coaching career might be nearing an end. Let’s enjoy this season and hope that he can pull out a few more tricks.
6. Iowa State Cyclones
Iowa State was considered a top 5 team preseason, and while they still finished the season #17 overall, it was not up to standard, especially with a round of 32 exit. However, they return the big 3 of Tamin Lipsey, Joshua Jefferson, and Milan Momcilovic. They also add Dominick Nelson, the WAC conference POY.
Defensively, they’ll be elite. Besides Houston, they might be the best defensive team in the country. The question will be the scoring and Lipsey’s health. Losing Curtis Jones and Keshon Gilbert will be tough to replace. Lipsey suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain to his right knee during a practice on September 23, and while he’ll be good to go for the regular season, that’s definitely something to monitor this season.
As long as the Hilton Magic stays alive, this team will be just fine, and TJ Otzelberger is an awesome coach.
7. Cincinnati Bearcats
Seven and eight can be chosen, whether you trust talent or coaching more. Cincinnati definitely has the edge from a talent standpoint. Yes, they lost Jizzle James, but they brought back Day Day Thomas. Then, they add in a boatload of defense guys in Baba Miller, Sincere Harris, and Moustapha Thiam. They also added Kerr Kriisa, remember him?
The problem is, Cincinnati was supposed to be this good last year and completely crumbled. Wes Miller hasn’t made a tournament at Cincinnati, and talent isn’t the issue. If he can’t make a tournament appearance with this team, maybe it’s time to bring back Mic Cronin or Bob Huggins (just kidding).
8. Baylor Bears
If you trust coaching more than talent, Baylor is your 7th team. Scott Drew lost every single player from last year’s team. That’s not crazy in this day and age, but for a Hall of Fame coach coming off a decent season, it’s definitely a surprise.
Death. Taxes. Baylor is bringing in a five star recruit. It seems like that’s the case every year, and it continues with Tounde Yessoufou. Peterson and Dybantsa get all the love, but don’t be surprised if Yessoufou sneaks into the top five of the draft. Overall, the depth is good, and they should still be a tournament team, but it’ll be tough to compete with the teams ahead of them, especially the top four.
9. West Virginia Mountaineers
This next tier of four teams will probably find themselves on the bubble throughout the year, but will probably pull off an upset or two late in the season. West Virginia knows that feeling, going from a team on the right side of the bubble to being the first team left out of the tournament last year.
Darian Devries is gone after one year, but they bring in Ross Hodge, who had a ton of success replacing Grant McCasland at North Texas. He brings with him two of his guys in Jasper Floyd and Brenen Lorient. They also add Honor Huff, who was the best player on the NIT Champion Chattanooga last year, and Treyson Eaglestaff, who scored 51 points in a conference tournament game last year.
This is definitely a mid-major all-star team, but it could be a really solid team on both ends of the floor. I’m higher on this team than most, and they’ll need those guys to take that leap if they want to end up in the top 10.
10. Kansas State Wildcats
The song Low Down by Lil Baby hasn’t been played in quite some time, as Kansas State hasn’t been able to recreate that magic from a few seasons ago. The recruiting strategy of getting an elite guard and wing, then surrounding them with role players, hasn’t worked, and Jerome Tang scrapped that this year.
If Kansas State is going to be great, it’s because they have a superstar in PJ Haggarty. He wasn’t cheap, but when you average 20 a game at Memphis, he’s worth every dollar. He’s definitely the newcomer of the year in the conference and could lead the country in scoring. The question is, everyone else. Nate Johnson was the MAC POY, and Abdi Bashir can make 8 threes before the U16 timeout.
This team hasn’t shown they can be better than 10th the past few years, but Haggarty is definitely capable of getting them there.
11. TCU Horned Frogs
The glory days of Jamie Dixon seem to be over. Whether it’s NIL or not, this roster doesn’t have the Mike Miles or Desmond Bane type player that can lead them to a comfortable tournament appearance. The good news is this team has a lot of potential. They have three freshmen from last year with breakout potential, most notably David Punch. They also added two veteran guards in Brock Harding and Jayden Pierre, to add that maturity.
Xavier Edmonds will be an interesting piece. He was the #1 JUCO recruit in the country. This team’s floor is good enough that there’s no chance they finish in that bottom three, but the ceiling is the question. At best, they probably finish 8th in the Big 12.
12. Oklahoma State Cowboys
After winning at Texas A&M CC and Western Kentucky, Steve Lutz got a welcome to the Big 12 moment last year when they went 7-13 in conference play. This roster is probably the biggest boom or bust roster in the whole conference. Anthony Roy led the country in scoring last year for Green Bay before a season-ending injury. Kanye Cleary averaged 17 a game for Penn State before an early injury sidelined him at Mississippi State last year.
Even Isaiah Coleman, who averaged 15 a game for Seton Hall, is a what-if of whether he is that good or he was just putting up numbers for a bad team. If these guys pan out, as well as some other pieces, this team could go as high as 6th in the Big 12. If it doesn’t, they’ll get a warm welcome from Arizona State and Colorado back to the bottom of the conference.
13. UCF Golden Knights
The bottom four are pretty clear, and while three of the top four teams in the Big 12 are newer additions, so are three of the bottom four teams. At the top of the bottom is UCF. Johnny Dawkins is somehow still here despite one tournament appearance in nine years, and he doesn’t have his guy, Darius Johnson, anymore.
This team definitely has some interesting pieces like Riley Kugel and John Bol. They also bring in two transfers from Milwaukee in Themus Fulks and Jamichael Stillwell. This team won’t beat any of the top 8, but they should be able to squeak out 6-8 conference wins with this roster.
14. Utah Utes
Utah took a page out of its rival’s book, bringing in former Ute basketball player and Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Alex Jensen. Jensen looks to bring that modern NBA style to this team, which is what Young did so well. Now, his roster is far from an NBA one. Keanu Dawes is probably the best player, and he started just 2 games for Utah last year.
Don McHenry and Jakhi Howard are both good additions, and could be the difference between falling in this bottom four and climbing out of it. It might not be a smooth year one, but the program is heading in the right direction.
15. Arizona State Wildcats
I will say this now, and you can hold me to it: I will not watch an Arizona State game until Bobby Hurley is let go. I’ll never root for anyone to lose their job, but Hurley doesn’t coach winning basketball and seems disinterested in doing so. This program can’t move forward until they get rid of the guy who’s holding them back.
With all that out of the way, they do have decent pieces in Mo Odom and Adante Hollman as their guards. They also add Marcus Adams, who had a big season at CSUN. However, they’ve done worse with better, and there’s little confidence that talent will be maximized in the upcoming season.
16. Colorado Buffaloes
It’s pretty apparent that Colorado made the move to the Big 12 solely for football, and couldn’t care less about basketball. Maybe they should, cause the football team is 3-5 as I write this.
Colorado started Big 12 play 0-13 last year, and while they finished the season strong, this team doesn’t have Big 12-level talent. Barrington Hargress is the exception, but unfortunately, another season at the bottom of the Big 12 might be enough for Tad Boyle to call it quits after 19 coaching seasons.
CBB Review Preseason Big 12 Basketball Player of the Year
Darryn Peterson, Kansas
There are so many options for the award, but Peterson is a special talent. He’s shown already that he’s an elite scorer and plays with so much poise and composure. Kansas is going to play through him and allow him to do what he does best at all times. He might not lead Kansas to a Big 12 title, but he’ll prove he’s the most valuable player in the conference.
CBB Review Preseason Big 12 Basketball Coach of the Year
Kelvin Sampson, Houston
It’s the obvious choice, but unless a team can beat them for the title or one of those teams in the 7-12 range ends in the top four, it’s his to lose. He’s arguably the best coach in the country and has instilled a culture that makes his players want to win and brings the best out of them.
CBB Review Preseason Big 12 Basketball Freshman of the Year
Darryn Peterson, Kansas
For all the reasons listed above, Peterson wins this award as well. It won’t be easy with this conference boasting eight of the top 20 freshmen in last year’s class. AJ Dybantsa will make it close, and don’t count out Yessoufou for Baylor as well.
CBB Review Preseason Big 12 Basketball Transfer of the Year
PJ Haggerty, Kansas State
As difficult as the freshman award is, the transfer of the year is possibly the easiest award to do in preseason. Haggerty was a top ten player in the country last year, and the third-best transfer in the country per On3. The next highest in the Big 12? Rob Wright at 9 for BYU. As long as Kansas State isn’t a dumpster fire, Haggarty wins this award with ease.
CBB Review Preseason Big 12 Basketball First Team
- G: Darryn Peterson, Kansas
- G: Milos Uzan, Houston
- F: JT Toppin, Texas Tech
- F: AJ Dybantsa, BYU
- F: Joshua Jefferson, Iowa State
CBB Review Preseason Big 12 Basketball Second Team
- G: Jaden Bradley, Arizona
- G: Emanuel Sharp, Houston
- G: PJ Haggerty, Kansas State
- F: Richie Saunders: BYU
- F: Joseph Tugler, Houston
CBB Review Preseason Big 12 Basketball Third Team
- G: Christian Anderson, Texas Tech
- G: Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State
- G: Tounde Yessoufou, Baylor
- G: Day Day Thomas, Cincinnati
- F: Koa Peat, Arizona
CBB Review Preseason Big 12 Basketball All-Freshmen Team
- G: Darryn Peterson, Kansas
- G: Tounde Yessoufou, Baylor
- F: Koa Peat: Arizona
- F: Shon Abev: Cincinnati
- F: AJ Dybantsa, BYU
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