By Aidan Joly
For most of recent years, the Big 12 has laid claim to being the best conference top to bottom in college basketball.
In the 2024-25 season it was different, with the SEC overtaking the league in terms of top to bottom talent. A question this year is if the league can take back over that spot.
Now, let’s take a look at each of the 16 teams in the league to see if it has a shot.
Houston Cougars
2024-25: 35-5 (19-1 Big 12), lost in national championship game
The Cougars suffered a heartbreaking loss in the national championship game to Florida, but will have another chance to make it back there this year.
The losses of LJ Cryer and J’Wan Roberts are certainly tough, but a strong returning core led by Emaunuel Sharp and Milos Uzan, who could have been an NBA Draft pick, will give them a very real shot. Joseph Tugler has a shot at having a much bigger role.
A great recruiting class comes in, led by five-star Chris Cenac Jr., Isiah Harwell and Kingston Flemings, all of whom will have a chance to be great.
The reigning Big 12 champions should be the favorites to repeat.
Texas Tech Red Raiders
2024-25: 28-9 (15-5 Big 12), lost in Elite Eight
The Red Raiders had a good season in the second year under Grant McCasland and should be right back at the top of the league again.
And for good reason. The Red Raiders bring back the conference player of the year in J.T. Toppin, who will have a shot to repeat and win it again. Christian Anderson, who was an all-conference pick as a freshman, also returns.
McCasland brought in a nice set of transfers, led by LeJuan Watts, who had 13.7 PPG at Washington State. Donovan Atwell (UNC Greensboro) and Tyeree Byran (Santa Clara) each averaged in double figures last season.
All of this should keep Texas Tech squarely in the hunt for another deep March run.
Arizona Wildcats
2024-25: 24-13 (14-6 Big 12), lost in Sweet 16
Arizona’s first year in the Big 12 went pretty well, finishing in the top three in the league and getting to the second weekend of the tournament.
The Wildcats had some work to do in the portal following the losses of Caleb Love, KJ Lewis, Henri Veesaar and Trey Townsend, but coach Tommy Lloyd filled those holes nicely with a great freshman class led by Koa Peat and Brayden Burries. Dwayne Aristode, a top-40 prospect, is here, as well as four-star Bryce James, younger son of Lebron.
Lloyd will also have returners Jaden Bradley, Tobe Awaka, Motiejus Krivas and Anthony Dell’Orso to help form a deep team. Evan Nelson, who had 9.1 PPG at Harvard, comes in from the portal.
BYU Cougars
2024-25: 26-10 (14-6 Big 12), lost in Sweet 16
BYU had a breakout season in 2024-25 in the first year with Kevin Young at the helm, and will have a chance to possibly be the second-best team in the league this year.
That is because Young was able to bring in the top recruit in the class of 2025, AJ Dybantsa. He is an elite player who will have an immediate and large impact.
BYU returns all-conference pick Richie Saunders as well as Dawson Baker and Keba Keita, who will all have big roles this season.
BYU brings in Kennard Davis Jr., who had 16.3 PPG at Southern Illinois, but the impact add here is Robert Wright III, who had 11.5 PPG at Baylor and was always one of the better players on the floor.
It wouldn’t be surprising if BYU is in the top 10 in the country at the beginning of the year. It should be.
Iowa State Cyclones
2024-25: 25-10 (13-7 Big 12), lost in NCAA second round
Coach TJ Otzelberger has a great ability to retain talent and he did it again this off-season, retaining three double digit scorers from last year’s team in Joshua Jefferson, Milan Momcilovic and Tamin Lipsey. The Cyclones also bring back Nate Heise.
As for adds, Dominick Nelson (Utah Valley) and Mason Williams (Eastern Washington) both averaged at least 13 PPG last season. Blake Buchanan was a role player at Virginia who should have a similar role in Ames this season.
Two top-100 prospects headline the freshman class, Jamarion Batemon and Xzavion Mitchell.
This is a good roster on paper. We will see how it looks on the floor. If all goes well, Iowa State will be in the mix to win the conference regular season title.
Kansas Jayhawks
2024-25: 21-13 (11-9 Big 12), lost in NCAA first round
Last season was certainly a down year by Kansas standards, struggling to get over .500 in league play, only getting to the quarterfinals in the league tournament and then failing to win a game in the NCAA tournament.
Kansas sees a significant talent exodus with the departures of Hunter Dickinson, Zeke Mayo, KJ Adams and Dajuan Harris.
The returning production is limited. Flory Bidunga was the biggest contributor from last year who is back after he averaged 5.9 PPG. Elmarko Jackson missed all of last season hurt, but had 4.3 PPG last season.
The arrival of Darryn Peterson, the No. 2 player in the freshman class, is significant. The Jayhawks will also have two other top-100 guys in Kohl Rosario and Samis Calderon.
Transfers Melvin Council (St. Bonaventure) and Jayden Dawson (Loyola Chicago) were two of the better players in the Atlantic 10, while Tre White had 10.5 PPG at Illinois.
Either way, Kansas will remain in the national conversation. It always does, no matter what happens.
Baylor Bears
2024-25: 20-15 (10-10 Big 12), lost in NCAA second round
There are a ton of questions around this team. Baylor does not return a single player from last year’s team, and there is no clear star among the roster as it stands.
The top candidates among the transfer adds are Obi Agbim, who had 17.6 PPG at Wyoming, Michael Rataj, who had 16.9 PPG at Oregon State, and Dan Skillings Jr., who had 9.2 PPG at Cincinnati.
Other adds include JJ White (Omaha), Isaac Williams (Texas A&M Corpus Christi), Caden Powell (Rice) and Cameron Carr (Tennessee).
Top prospect Tounde Yessoufou should have a role from the jump as a freshman.
Coach Scott Drew has one of the biggest coaching challenges in recent memory this year. There are reasons for concern, and it will be interesting to see what he can do with this team.
West Virginia Mountaineers
2024-25: 19-13 (10-10 Big 12), no postseason
After a stunning omission from the NCAA tournament last March, West Virginia completely turns the page with a new coach and an entirely new roster.
After Darian DeVries left for the Indiana job, former North Texas coach Ross Hodge is West Virginia’s fourth coach in as many years as the program looks for stability more than anything else.
The new team is led by North Dakota transfer Treysen Eaglestaff, who was one of the top scorers in the country last season. Honor Huff (Chattanooga) and Chance Moore (St. Bonaventure) each have a shot to have a big role for WVU. Two players followed Hodge from North Texas, Brenen Lorient (11.7 PPG) and Jasper Floyd (9 PPG). Morris Ugusuk was a solid role player at South Carolina.
There is some intriguing talent here, but the question remains as to how it will end up looking on the court.
TCU Horned Frogs
2024-25: 16-16 (9-11 Big 12), no postseason
Coach Jamie Dixon did a nice job of mixing returning talent and adds from the portal.
The best additions here are Jayden Pierre, who had 12.3 PPG at Providence and Brock Harding, who had 8.8 PPG at Iowa. Tanner Toolson (Utah Valley), Vianney Salatchoum (Florida International) each scored in double figures, and Liutauras Lelevicius had 8.7 PPG at Oregon State.
TCU brings back rotational pieces in David Punch, Micah Robinson, Jace Posey and Malick Diallo, all of whom will have a role in Fort Worth.
This is an under-the-radar group that will have a chance to make some noise in the league and go dancing. We will see what they have.
Kansas State Wildcats
2024-25: 16-17 (9-11 Big 12), no postseason
The third season with Jerome Tang at the helm was a disappointing one, with a great group of players and high expectations coming in, only to be inconsistent all year and never truly be in the tournament conversation.
It’ll be another nearly new team for Tang. PJ Haggerty was one of the best adds of any team this off-season after he averaged 21.7 PPG at Memphis. Abdi Bashir Jr. was a 20 PPG scorer at Monmouth and will be relied on to provide scoring.
In addition, Marcus Johnson had 16.2 PPG at Bowling Green and Nate Johnson had 14 PPG at Akron.
CJ Jones is the best returner after he averaged 5.7 PPG.
A near completely new-look squad is interesting. Tang is certainly hoping for a bounce-back season after a disappointing 2024-25.
Utah Utes
2024-25: 16-17 (8-12 Big 12), lost in Crown first round
Utah is undergoing a major roster overhaul under first year coach Alex Jensen, an alumni of the program and a longtime NBA assistant.
The top names on the roster are undoubtedly Elijah Moore, who had 5.2 PPG at Syracuse, Seydou Traore who had 5.9 PPG at Iowa and Jakhi Howard, who averaged just over 4 PPG at Auburn. As for mid-major players, Terrence Brown (Fairleigh Dickinson), Don McHenry (Western Kentucky) and Babacar Faye (Western Kentucky) each averaged more than 15 PPG at their last stops.
The only important returner is Keanu Dawes, who had 8.3 PPG last season for the Utes under Craig Smith.
It’s a strong league, and it’s tough to see Utah being able to hang towards the top of the league.
Oklahoma State Cowboys
2024-25: 17-18 (7-13 Big 12), lost in NIT quarterfinals
Year one under Steve Lutz was a bit disappointing, but year two comes with a major roster overhaul.
Leading the charge under a new-look roster is Anthony Roy, who averaged 25.7 PPG at Green Bay and was one of the best scorers in the country in 2024-25. Isaiah Coleman is a big add after he averaged more than 15 PPG at Seton Hall. Jaylen Curry had 13.3 PPG at UMass, Parsa Fallah had 12.8 PPG at Oregon State and Christian Coleman had 11.6 PPG at UAB. As for more productive high-major players, Vyctorius Miller (LSU) and Kayne Clary (Mississippi State) are both good adds coming from the SEC.
Robert Jennings II is the only returner after he averaged 5.4 PPG.
Four-stars Ryan Crotty and Ben Ahmed have a chance to see some playing time.
Overall, Oklahoma State should take a bit of a step towards becoming competitive in this league.
Cincinnati Bearcats
2024-25: 19-16 (7-13 Big 12), lost in Crown quarterfinals
It was a tale of the first and second half of the season last year. The Bearcats started 10-1 and were ranked as high as No. 16 in the country, but went 9-15 the rest of the way and played themselves off the bubble as the year went on.
Bad news came for the program recently with the dismissal of Jizzle James, who was set to be an impact player and one of the best point guards in the league. That means Day Day Thomas will have to be relied on more after he averaged 10.2 PPG for the Bearcats last season.
Coach Wes Miller did a nice job in the portal, picking up Jalen Haynes, who had 14.1 PPG at George Mason, Baba Miller, who had 11.3 PPG at Florida Atlantic, and Moustapha Thaim, who had 10.4 PPG at UCF. Jalen Celestine (Baylor), Sencire Harris (West Virginia) and Kerr Kriisa (Kentucky) all played solid roles at their past schools.
As for freshmen, Shon Abaev is a top-30 prospect and Keyshaun Tillery is a borderline top-50 guy. Both should have roles.
This a roster with plenty of potential. We will see how it all looks together.
UCF Knights
2024-25: 20-17 (7-13 Big 12), lost in Crown finals
The Knights head into the season with an entirely new roster under coach Johnny Dawkins.
The charge is led by former Milwaukee teammates Themus Fulks and Jamichael Stillwell, who had 14.6 and 13 PPG respectively. Riley Kugel is the other nice add after he had 9.3 PPG on a Mississippi State team that played in the NCAA tournament.
Arturo Dean (7.6 PPG at Oklahoma State), Jordan Burks (5.7 PPG at Georgetown) and Devan Cambridge (5.5 PPG at Texas Tech) are also now here.
UCF has not had a winning conference campaign since 2018-19, back when it was still in the AAC. There’s some pieces here, but the Knights will have their work cut out for them.
Arizona State Sun Devils
2024-25: 13-20 (4-16 Big 12), lost in Crown first round
Coach Bobby Hurley is somehow keeping his job for another season despite another bad season for ASU.
Only one player on the roster, returner Trevor Best, played at the high-major level last season.
Some productive mid-major players are here now. Adante’ Holiman had 16.9 PPG at Georgia Southern, Marcus Adams Jr. had 16.1 PPG at Cal State Northridge, Allen Mekuba had 14.6 PPG at Oakland and Moe Odum had 13.1 PPG at Pepperdine. There are six freshmen on the roster.
Despite these additions, it’s hard to see the Sun Devils having a lot of success this season. Is it finally time for a coaching change?
Colorado Buffaloes
2024-25: 14-21 (3-17 Big 12), lost in Crown first round
The roster has a nice core of returners headlined by Bangot Dak, Elijah Malone and Sebastian Rancik, but the problem is that this core finished last in the Big 12.
The only notable transfer is Barrington Hargress, who averaged 20.2 PPG at UC Riverside. There are seven freshmen on the team.
Coach Tad Boyle needs to do a lot player development-wise to get Colorado out of the bottom of the league. We’ll see if the Buffs are able to do it.
AJ Hoops 