big 12 conference best college basketball team

#BIG 12 CONFERENCE BEST COLLEGE BASKETBALL TEAM UPGRADE#

LJ Cryer and Adam Flagler return to give the Bears one of the best backcourts in the country, which five-star freshman Keyonte George will only elevate.

1. Baylor: The 2021 national champions expect to be in that mix again. Expect Jalen Wilson and Texas Tech transfer Kevin McCullar to step into large roles, too. Yes, conference player of the year and Final Four MOP Ochai Agbaji is gone, but in comes a top-5 recruiting class with three top-30 prospects, headlined by five-star wing Gradey Dick. Kansas: The reigning national champions are reloading in true Kansas fashion. This veteran team should boast one of the nation’s toughest defenses again but its key to success will be cutting down on turnovers. They nearly upset Arizona in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and return a major portion of that team, headlined by star point guard Mike Miles Jr.

TCU: The Horned Frogs are one of the coming season’s trendy breakout picks, and rightfully so. De’Vion Harmon (Oregon) and Fardaws Aimaq (Utah Valley) project to have major roles, though the Red Raiders’ best player might be Kevin Obanor, who really settled into his role during the second half of last season. Texas Tech: Texas Tech has been an oasis for transfers over the past several years, and head coach Mark Adams has kept that going. Add in an impact transfer (Tyrese Hunter) and two five-star prospects (Dillon Mitchell, Arterio Morris) and you have a program that can compete for a conference title. A number of last season’s star transfers - namely Timmy Allen and Marcus Carr - unexpectedly returned for another season. Oklahoma will go as far as Sherfield takes it. Both Tanner and Jacob Groves return along with Jalen Hill, but the arrival of Nevada transfer Grant Sherfield gives the Sooners a legit star and one of the better players in the Big 12. Oklahoma: Porter Moser narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament in his first season in Norman, but it doesn’t look like he’ll miss it again.

#BIG 12 CONFERENCE BEST COLLEGE BASKETBALL TEAM UPGRADE#

This rotation projects to be almost entirely full of newcomers, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing given the talent upgrade that came along with it. West Virginia: West Virginia hit the transfer portal hard and came away with some impact players, namely former Texas and UMass big man Tre Mitchell. If it comes, it’ll be because Avery Anderson III or Bryce Thompson (or both) become reliable go-to scoring options. With no restrictions on their ambitions this year, Oklahoma State fans are hoping for that breakthrough. Oklahoma State: The Cowboys fell short of expectations last year, though it’s fair to wonder how much their postseason ban played a role.

Bonaventure transfer, Jaren Holmes, to step up in a huge way. That said, Iowa State’s offensive struggles might get worse after losing Izaiah Brockington (pros) and Tyrese Hunter (transfer). Bonaventure transfer and shot-blocking extraordinaire Osun Osunniyi. Iowa State: The Cyclones are coming off a surprise Sweet 16 appearance and should have an elite defense, especially after landing St. Expect everything to go through 5-foot-8 senior Markquis Nowell. The Wildcats are replacing three starters from a team that finished 9th in the league last season and will be relying on youth to prove depth. Kansas State: New head coach Jerome Tang has an uphill battle ahead of him in Year 1. Way-too-early Top 25 rankings - Projecting most impactful freshmen from 2022 class -Predicting the next wave of star CBB head coaches Projected order of finishġ0. How does the league project to shake out for the 2022-23 season? Here’s an early preview: No other conference matches the Big 12’s quality depth and the upcoming season might be a banner year in that department. Five teams - half of the conference - currently rank in the top 16 in our Way-too-early Top 25 rankings, and another four have legitimate NCAA Tournament aspirations going into the new year. The 2022-23 season projects to be no different. It has ranked as a top-2 conference in the nation by KenPom every year since the 2013-14 season, taking the top spot in seven of those nine years. The conference has sent a team to the national championship game in each of the last three NCAA Tournaments with Kansas and Baylor winning the last two.

Big 12 basketball has been the best conference in the sport over the past decade, and that dominance won’t stop in 2022-23.īig 12 basketball has been the sport’s gold standard over the last decade.

Big 12 conference best college basketball team