Big 12 basketball power rankings: Will Arizona repeat as conference champs, and where do BYU and Utah fit in?

The Big 12 loves its basketball.

According to conference commissioner Brett Yormark, the only better league for the sport is the NBA.

Eight Big 12 teams reached the NCAA Tournament last March, with six winning at least one game in the Big Dance and Arizona reaching the Final Four.

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With the start of the 2026-27 regular season quickly approaching, the conference has released its preseason media poll. It will serve as our first installment of this year’s Big 12 basketball power rankings, which will be updated weekly upon the start of league play in January.

Here’s where media members covering the Big 12, including myself, picked the conference’s 16 teams to finish this season.

Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd cuts down the net after winning an NCAA college championship basketball game at the Big 12 Conference tournament Saturday, March 14, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. | Charlie Riedel

1. Arizona Wildcats (Last season: 36-3, 16-2 Big 12)

Rated No. 5 nationally by KenPom

Fresh off last year’s Final Four run, the Wildcats are once again the Big 12’s team to beat. Motiejus Krivas, a 7-foot-2 big man and preseason All-American, will anchor Arizona’s operation, alongside ascending forward Ivan Kharchenkov, five-star freshman guard Caleb Holt and a number of key transfer additions.

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2. Houston Cougars (Last season: 30-7, 14-4 Big 12)

Rated No. 3 nationally by KenPom

Kelvin Sampson may have lost four starters to the NBA, but senior power forward Jojo Tugler will set Houston’s traditional tone of elite defense and rabid rebounding. The Cougars have also added promising transfers from the mid-major ranks as well as former standout LSU point guard Dedan Thomas Jr.

3. Kansas Jayhawks (Last season: 24-11, 12-6 Big 12)

Rated No. 8 nationally by KenPom

Two words: Tyran Stokes. The nation’s No. 1 prospect joins Bill Self in Lawrence as an immediate Player of the Year candidate at both the Big 12 and national level. The courts have been kind to Kansas, with fifth-year stars Tre White,…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/big-12-basketball-power-rankings-223000153.html

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Publish date : 2026-10-29 22:30:00

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