We're just a couple weeks away from college basketball season getting underway. For people reading this site for WVU basketball coverage, it will be a complete over-haul of a coaching staff and roster, as head coach Ross Hodge and his team will take the floor to begin the regular season in less than two weeks.
But WVU fans will also be interested in the conference landscape as well. If you’ve kept up with Big 12 basketball over the last decade, you know it’s one of the top conferences in the country. With the release of the preseason poll (with Houston the favorite to win the league and WVU sitting 11th out of 16 teams) let’s take a quick glance at each team in the Big 12.
Quick Description to Describe Every Big 12 Team
1. Houston Cougars: Top Dog
If a combined record of 34-4 in conference play over the last two seasons doesn’t tell you all that you need to know, know that the preseason No. 1 in the Big 12 comes in at No. 2 in the country in the AP Poll as well. Milos Uzan, Emanuel Sharp, and 2024-25 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Joseph Tugler are back and have their sights set on another run at a National Title. Houston lost to Florida in a heartbreaking 65-63 game in the National Championship last season.
2. BYU Cougars: Star-Studded
BYU checks in at No. 2 in the Big 12 Preseason Poll and No. 8 in the AP Poll. This is due in large part to five-star freshman AJ Dybantsa. If the highly coveted recruit plays up to his potential, he very well could be the first overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. BYU also returns star player Richie Saunders, who averaged 16.5 points per game last season. Keep an eye on BYU this season as they compete for a Big 12 Title, and possibly more.
3. Texas Tech Red Raiders: Dominant
The reigning Big 12 Player of the Year is back for another season with the Red Raiders. JT Toppin figures to be a dominant force yet again and has his sights set on a deep NCAA Tournament run and putting his name in consideration for National Player of the Year this year. Grant McCasland did a terrific job (on paper) retooling the roster around Toppin via the transfer portal. The Red Raiders nearly knocked off the eventual National Champion Florida Gators in the Elite 8. A late second-half collapse by the Red Raiders has Toppin and the team hungry to go even deeper this March.
4. Arizona Wildcats: Sweet (16)
Tommy Lloyd’s Wildcats have made the Sweet 16 in three of the last four seasons. Jaden Bradley averaged 12.1 points, 3.7 assists, and 3.4 rebounds last season, will be paired with a pair of talented 5-star freshmen, Brayden Burries and Koa Peat.
5. Iowa State Cyclones: Tough
TJ Otzelberger looks like he could be a wrestling coach, and it is that kind of toughness that he brings with his Iowa State Cyclone team each year. Guard Tamin Lipsey returns and is sure to bring his high-level defense with him into the new season. Though they will miss the scoring of Curtis Jones and Keshon Gilbert, this could be another really strong season in Ames.
6. Kansas Jayhawks: New Territory
Bill Self and the Jayhawks struggled immensely last season, for their program’s standards. The preseason No. 1 team in the nation lost 13 games and was a first-round exit in the NCAA Tournament last season. Incoming freshman Darryn Peterson is likely to be a lottery pick in 2026. Though this still figures to be a high-quality basketball team, entering the season ranked sixth in the league in the preseason poll is new territory for this program.
7. Baylor Bears: Gutted
In the era of the transfer portal, here at seventh in the preseason poll, we see our first Big 12 team with a massive overhaul on the roster. With that said, Scott Drew and his staff bring in one of the top transfer portal classes in the country and five-star freshman Tounde Yessoufou.
8. Cincinnati Bearcats: Now Or Never
Wes Miller is entering his 5th season as head coach of the Bearcats. Cincinnati has not made an NCAA Tournament since 2019, but they have re-tooled their roster with a top-20 portal class, which includes the likes of two former WVU guards Kerr Kriisa and Sencire Harris.
9. Kansas State Wildcats: Transfer Portal Pick-Me Up
Arguably, the top transfer portal addition in the Big 12 is found in Manhattan, Kansas. Jerome Tang and his staff picked up PJ Haggerty, a consensus second-team All-American at Memphis last season. The standout guard averaged 21.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists. Kansas State bolsters a top-five transfer portal class in hopes of getting back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2023.
10. TCU Horned Frogs: Offensive Fixes
TCU’s offense struggled under Jamie Dixon in the 2024-25 season. This off-season, the Horned Frogs notably added a pair of guards via the transfer portal. Jayden Pierre is a guard who averaged 12.3 points last season at Providence. Iowa transfer Brock Harding averaged 8.8 points at while shooting 39.8% from 3.
11. West Virginia Mountaineers: Mid-Major to Major Success?
Ross Hodge comes over from North Texas, bringing a pair of talented players with him. Jasper Floyd and Brenen Lorient are hoping to take their games to the next level as they compete in the Big 12. Much like Baylor, this is an entirely new roster in Morgantown. Hodge and his staff believe they did a good job assembling a roster of mid-major transfers via the transfer portal that includes gifted scorers like Honor Huff and Treysen Eagelstaff. Will the strategy pay off and lead WVU to an NCAA Tournament bid?
12. Oklahoma State Cowboys: Added Offensive Firepower
The Cowboys bring in seven transfers for the 2025-26 season. Green Bay transfer Anthony Roy was averaging 25.7 points per game last season before his year ended in December with an injury. Oklahoma State also added Isaiah Coleman, who averaged 15.6 points per game at Seton Hall last season.
13 Utah Utes: New Coach Returns Home For Portal Rebuild
New Utah head coach Alex Jensen spent the past 12 seasons as an NBA assistant with the Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks. He returns to his alma mater and will be coaching at the collegiate level for the first time since 2011 as an assistant with Saint Louis. A lot has changed in the college basketball world since 2011. We’ll see how successful this new-look roster can be in year one under Jensen.
14. UCF Knights: Hot Seat
Johnny Dawkins is entering his 10th season as the head coach at UCF. The Knights have made the NCAA Tournament just one time (2019) under Dawkins. If they desire to be competitive in the Big 12 this season, they will have to hope for impressive campaigns from a pair of Milwaukee transfers. Themus Folks and Jamichael Stillwell combined to average 27.6 points, 13.7 rebounds, and 7.3 assists last season for a Panthers team that finished second in the Horizon League.
15. Colorado Buffaloes: Praying The Portal Hits
Colorado finished last in the Big 12 last season with a 3-17 record in conference play. They lost their two leading scorers and will be hoping that a combination of returning role players and mid-major transfers can get them out of the Big 12 cellar in 2025-26.
16. Arizona State Sun Devils: Fresh Start
In what will be his 11th year as head coach at Arizona State, Bobby Hurley is hoping to get his Sun Devil team back to national relevance. After a 4-16 conference record last year and losing all of its key contributors, Hurley will be counting on Moe Odum, a transfer point guard from Pepperdine who averaged 13.1 points and 7.5 assists per game. If Arizona State struggles mightily again, Hurley’s future with the program could be in question.