Men’s College Hoops Preview: The Big 12 Gets a New Look

BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF join a stacked conference led by the Jayhawks.

As part of its 2023–24 men’s basketball preseason coverage, Sports Illustrated is rolling out previews for each of the six high-major conferences. Next up is the Big 12.

Consider this an ode to the 10-team Big 12. The league’s expansion begins this year, with four new teams joining the fray (three from the AAC, one from the WCC). Four more from the Pac-12 join in 2024–25, though by then Texas and Oklahoma will have departed for the SEC. The end of the double round-robin scheduling format is a blow to a league that has been historically good in recent years, including producing two of the past three national champions. In the short term, the bottom of the league gets watered down by some of these additions, but Houston’s arrival adds another potential elite team to the mix for ’23–24. Here’s how the league projects to shake out this season.

SI’s picks for …

Player of the Year: Hunter Dickinson, Kansas

Newcomer of the Year: LJ Cryer, Houston

Dark-Horse Team: Iowa State

First-Team All-Conference:

• Tylor Perry, Kansas State
• LJ Cryer, Houston
• Ja’Kobe Walter, Baylor
• Jesse Edwards, West Virginia
• Hunter Dickinson, Kansas

SI’s predicted order of finish:

1. Kansas

• PG Dajuan Harris Jr.
• SG Nick Timberlake
• SF Kevin McCullar Jr.
• PF KJ Adams Jr.
• C Hunter Dickinson

Kansas earned a No. 1 seed last year and set a record for Quad 1 wins, but it lacked the interior scoring threat it has typically had on its title-contending teams. That hole has been filled in a big way by Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson, a former All-American and one of the most highly touted transfers ever. With an elite passing PG in Dajuan Harris Jr. setting him up, Dickinson should be among the nation’s best players. If freshman Elmarko Jackson provides the scoring punch this backcourt needs, this will be the best team in college basketball.

Hunter Dickinson’s arrival makes Kansas an early title favorite :: Junfu Han/USA TODAY NETWORK

2. Houston

• PG Jamal Shead
• SG LJ Cryer
• SF Damian Dunn
• PF Terrance Arceneaux
• C J’Wan Roberts

A pair of huge pieces from 2022–23 in Marcus Sasser and Jarace Walker depart for the pro ranks, but it’s still a safe bet that the Cougars will be among the nation’s elite. In recent years under Kelvin Sampson, Houston has been a hallmark of consistency, and a big portal haul headlined by LJ Cryer (15.0 ppg at Baylor) and Damian Dunn (15.3 ppg at Temple) should help. Plus, UH has one of the best point guards in the nation in Jamal Shead, who was outstanding as Sasser’s second fiddle in the backcourt the last two seasons.

3. Baylor

• PG RayJ Dennis
• SG Jayden Nunn
• SF Ja’Kobe Walter
• PF Jalen Bridges
• C Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua

The backcourt firepower with the Bears stands out. Transfers RayJ Dennis (Toledo), Jayden Nunn (VCU) and a freshman in Ja’Kobe Walter have big shoes to fill from a departing guard trio that averaged more than 45 ppg combined a season ago, but the newcomers have the talent to avoid much of a drop-off. The key to reasserting Baylor as a Big 12 title contender is mending a defense that struggled last year, particularly on the interior. A healthy Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua should help there.

4. Texas

• PG Max Abmas
• SG Tyrese Hunter
• SF Dillon Mitchell
• PF Dylan Disu
• C Kadin Shedrick

The Longhorns had a busy offseason after Rodney Terry landed the head coaching title, having to replace five of their top seven scorers and returning just five total players from last year’s Big 12 tournament winners. Terry stuck the landing, though, with a strong newcomer class headlined by former March Madness star Max Abmas (Oral Roberts). The undersized Abmas will certainly take a beating during the grind of the Big 12 schedule, but he’s a dynamic enough playmaker that it may not slow him down. Get a bounce-back year from sophomore Dillon Mitchell, and the Horns are in business.

5. Texas Tech

• PG Joe Toussaint
• SG Pop Isaacs
• SF Darrion Williams
• PF Devan Cambridge
• C Warren Washington

The hire of North Texas coach Grant McCasland may go down as one of the best of the cycle when all is said and done. The former Scott Drew assistant had remarkable success at UNT and had a great first offseason in Lubbock, flipping this roster after a last-place finish and making some savvy staff hires. This team is built to defend and grind out games, with impressive athleticism across the board. If shooting guard Pop Isaacs makes the leap into one of the Big 12’s best scorers, this team has second-weekend NCAA tournament potential.

6. TCU

• PG Jameer Nelson Jr.
• SG Avery Anderson III
• SF Chuck O’Bannon Jr.
• PF Emanuel Miller
• C Ernest Udeh Jr.

The Horned Frogs will miss star PG Mike Miles Jr., but the DNA of this program under Jamie Dixon remains unchanged. This is a roster built to out-tough you, winning at the free throw line, the rim and on the offensive glass. Veteran guards Jameer Nelson Jr. (Delaware) and Avery Anderson III (Oklahoma State) serve as plug-and-play starters from the portal, but the most intriguing newcomer is center Ernest Udeh Jr. The former McDonald’s All-American is a different level of talent than the Horned Frogs often get, so this is an interesting buy-low opportunity for TCU after Udeh struggled as a freshman at Kansas.

Ernest Udeh Jr. averaged 2.6 points and 1.8 rebounds in 8.3 minutes per game last season.  :: Evert Nelson/The Capital-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

7. Iowa State

• PG Tamin Lipsey
• SG Keshon Gilbert
• SF Curtis Jones
• PF Omaha Biliew
• C Robert Jones

Iowa State’s two NCAA tournament appearances in two seasons under T.J. Otzelberger can be attributed almost entirely to defense. The Cyclones have won despite ranking outside the top 100 in KenPom’s offensive efficiency metric, mostly by forcing turnovers at some of the highest rates in the country. There’s optimism the offense could improve this year, thanks to stability at the PG spot with breakout candidate sophomore Tamin Lipsey and a trio of incoming transfers. With a better offense, this is the league’s dark-horse team.

8. Kansas State

• PG Tylor Perry
• SG Cam Carter
• SF Arthur Kaluma
• PF David N’Guessan
• C Nae’Qwan Tomlin

You couldn’t have scripted a better first season for Jerome Tang at Kansas State. And while it will be incredibly difficult to replicate last year’s Elite Eight run with Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson off to the pros, Tang is building a program with staying power. North Texas transfer Tylor Perry takes over for Nowell running the offense; he’s not the playmaker that Nowell was, but he should be among the nation’s best shooters. And the frontcourt should be a strength, with Arthur Kaluma joining the fray from Creighton and elite defender Nae’Qwan Tomlin returning alongside David N’Guessan.

9. Oklahoma

• PG Javian McCollum
• SG Milos Uzan
• SF Le’Tre Darthard
• PF Rivaldo Soares
• C John Hugley

Year 3 for Porter Moser is a key one after missing the NCAA tournament in his first two seasons. There are reasons for optimism though with a flipped roster. I’m bullish on this backcourt duo of Siena transfer Javian McCollum and breakout sophomore Milos Uzan. Both could wind up in the NBA draft conversation with big seasons in 2023–24. And athletically, this group looks more like what will be necessary to win in the Big 12 than the teams Moser built earlier in his tenure.

Oklahoma coach Porter Moser is under pressure after missing the NCAA tournament in his first two seasons :: Alonzo Adams/USA TODAY Sports

10. Cincinnati

• PG Jizzle James
• SG Rayvon Griffith
• SF Simas Lukosius
• PF Viktor Lakhin
• C Aziz Bandaogo (needs NCAA waiver)

Recruiting has really picked up for Cincinnati, a necessity as the program moves up to the Big 12. This team has terrific size, especially if Utah Valley rim-running big Aziz Bandaogo has his waiver for immediate eligibility approved by the NCAA. It seems like the recipe here will rely heavily on defense and rebounding, though young guards Jizzle James and Rayvon Griffith will be essential in keeping the offense flowing.

11. Oklahoma State

• PG John-Michael Wright
• SG Javon Small
• SF Bryce Thompson
• PF Eric Dailey
• C Brandon Garrison

Pressure is starting to mount on OSU’s Mike Boynton, whose only NCAA tournament appearance came with future No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham in tow. Freshmen Eric Dailey and Brandon Garrison will have the difficult task of holding up in the frontcourt against Big 12 bigs from Day 1, but the backcourt is talented. East Carolina transfer Javon Small is an x-factor and one of the more undervalued transfers nationally.

12. West Virginia

• PG Kerr Kriisa
• SG Seth Wilson
• SF RaeQuan Battle (needs NCAA waiver)
• PF Akok Akok
• C Jesse Edwards

The award for most chaotic offseason goes to the Mountaineers. From building a loaded transfer class early to Bob Huggins’s late dismissal after a DUI to filling out the back half of the roster late in the summer, interim coach Josh Eilert has been busy. This group figures to start five transfers, the best of which is former Syracuse big Jesse Edwards. But Eilert is unproven as a head man and now is tasked with meshing a completely new team in the sport’s toughest conference.

13. BYU

• PG Dallin Hall
• SG Dawson Baker
• SF Jaxson Robinson
• PF Fousseyni Traore
• C Aly Khalifa

Building talented-enough rosters at BYU to win in the Big 12 is a major challenge on Mark Pope’s plate. The conference move doesn’t come at an ideal time, with the program coming off its worst season of the Pope era. Fousseyni Traore should stack double doubles in 2023–24, but lots of pressure is on PG Dallin Hall as a full-time ballhandler after a solid freshman year.

14. UCF

• PG Darius Johnson
• SG Shemarri Allen
• SF Jaylin Sellers
• PF C.J. Walker
• C Ibrahima Diallo

If this group were still in the American, it’d probably be on track for a top-third finish in the league. But the Big 12 is a different beast, and there aren’t any true needle-movers on this roster. Shemarri Allen (UMKC) and Jaylin Sellers (Ball State) step into big wing scoring roles, but neither led their mid-major squad in scoring a year ago. Johnny Dawkins has a lot of work ahead of him to keep this group out of the cellar.