Big 12 men's basketball poll: Arizona State not expected to do well
It's safe to say preseason expectations are not sky high for Bobby Hurley's program.
The Big 12 released its preseason men's basketball poll on Thursday, and the Arizona State Sun Devils are near the bottom.
Not surprisingly, Kansas and Houston sit atop the poll, followed by Iowa State, Baylor and Arizona.
The Sun Devils are No. 12, ahead of only West Virginia, Oklahoma State, Colorado and Utah.
After going 14-18 in their final season in the Pac-12 in 2023-24, the Sun Devils enter the Big 12 with a revamped roster. Among the biggest offseason additions are 5-star freshman center Jayden Quaintance, 6-foot-9 Ball State transfer Basheer Jihad and 6-foot-8 USC transfer Brandon Gardner.
Here's the full preseason coaches poll, with first-place votes in parentheses.
Preseason Big 12 Men's Basketball Coaches Poll
1. Kansas (9) – 215
2. Houston (5) – 211
3. Iowa State (1) – 194
4. Baylor – 185
5. Arizona (1) – 179
6. Cincinnati – 140
7. Texas Tech – 135
8. Kansas State – 133
9. BYU – 116
10. TCU – 90
11. UCF – 83
12. Arizona State – 64
13. West Virginia – 62
14. Oklahoma State – 46
15. Colorado – 37
16. Utah – 30
Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. One of his favorite memories was covering the 1999 Fiesta Bowl - the first BCS National Championship Game - at Sun Devil Stadium.