By Kenneth Cross
The Big 12 could once again be a race among several teams as Baylor, Kansas, Texas look like they will vie for first while West Virginia, TCU, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech can all have a shot at the upper division of the league and that pushes them into position to threaten for a Big 12 championship.
Last season six Big 12 teams made it to the NCAA Tournament and Kansas cut the nets and won the national championship with a 72-69 decision over North Carolina. Texas Tech and Iowa State joined the Jayhawks in the Sweet 16 where they lost to Duke and Miami (Fla), respectively.
Interestingly, Baylor seemed to have throttled UNC in regulation as the Bears led by as many as 25, but Carolina turned up its game and forced overtime where they toppled the Bears, 93-86.
A new season begins and several Big 12 teams could be playing deep into March. The following ranking comes from 247 Sports:
1) Baylor – The Bears fought through their tough injury situations as Jeremy Sochan, LJ Cryer and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchouwa were shelved at different points last season and it caused the Bears not to be able to build as solid of a rhythm as they did when they won the national championship in ’20-21. Coach Scott Drew welcomes back Tchamwa 
Tchatchouwa and Flo Thamba into the middle and then he added a major recruit in Keyonte George to the backcourt with Adam Flagler and Cryer. Flagler shot 43.3 percent from three last season while Cryer had a foot inssue that caused him to miss the end of the season.
2) Kansas – The Jayhawks lost Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun to the NBA, but Kansas returns point guard DeJuan Harris and adds a two-guard in freshman Grady Dick. Harris is more noted as a defender while Dick is a three-point marksman who can also make a living for KU inside the arc. It will be interesting to see what types of rotations coach Bill Self has in mind. KJ Adams will be an interesting player as a sophomore because he also has been touted for his play on the defensive end of the floor.
3) Texas – The Longhorns lose six players from a year ago when they were able to win their first NCAA Tournament game since 2014. Coach Chris Beard will have a different rotation this season, but he returns his two leading scor
ers in Timmy Allen and Marcus Carr. Texas brings in a solid Iowa State transfer in point guard Tyrese Hunter as well as a pair of McDonald’s All-Americans in Arterio Morris and Dillon Mitchell. Beard is teaching his patented defense as the ‘Horns held the opposition to 60.6 points per game (10th/CBB), but they will look to move their three-point game forward as they only made 6.6 per game (259th/CBB).
4) West Virginia – WVU absorbed a tough season in 2021-22, but now coach Bob Huggins has reset a different roster and the Mountaineers are going to be in line to move back up into the Big 12 standings and play in the NCAA Tournament. Last year was uncharacteristically a tough year on the boards as the Mountaineers were outrebounded by 3.9 per game and they only picked up 32.9 boards per game (312th/CBB). Tre Mitchell transfers inside the Big 12 where his average dropped from 18.8 ppg and 7.2 rpg in ’20-21 to 8.7 points and 4.0 boards last season. Mitchell is a proven talent and he can step into his role of two seasons ago. Erik Stevenson and Emmitt Mathews, Jr., will be contributors as Matthews makes his second appearance at WVU as he transferred back from Washington.
5) TCU – The Horned Frogs made it back into the NCAA Tournament last season and picked up a win over Seton Hall as they hadn’t tasted NCAAT victory in 24 years. This came before an 85-80 loss to Arizona which was a near miss by coach Jamie Dixon and his Frogs. TCU returns it’s starting five from last season which is led by Mike Miles (15.5 ppg, 3.8 apg) and Damion Baugh (10.6 ppg, 4.5 apg), who became a better overall ballhandler. Defensively, the Horned Frogs will once again be strong as they held opponents to 42 percent from the floor and only 64.9 points per game (47th/CBB).
6) Texas Tech – The Red Raiders made it to the Sweet 16 last season and now Kevin Obanor (10.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg) returns as Texas Tech’s leading returning scorer after the Red Raiders lost eight of their nine top scorers. Watch De’Vion Harmon, who played his first two seasons at Oklahoma before playing one year with the Oregon Ducks. He played with confidence, focus and intensity at Oklahoma and now Coach Mark Adams is excited that he is back in the Big 12. Watch big man Fardaws Aimaq (18.9 ppg, 13.6 rpg) who comes over from Utah Valley State where he was the WAC Player of the Year last season.
7) Oklahoma State – The Cowboys were inauspiciously and unnecessarily banned from the NCAA Tournament last season for activities that happened with an assistant coach who was immediately fired as the situation occured when none of the players were around. OSU now doesn’t have to worry about this unfair NCAA action and can work
to challenge in the Big 12 once again. Avery Anderson and Bryce Thompson were the Cowboys’ top two leading scorers again as they return to work to solidify the offense. Seven-foot center Moussa Cisse (7.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg) was known as a defensive player, but he has improved his overall game in becoming a major threat on the offensive end of the floor.
8) Oklahoma – Coach Porter Moser’s first year in Norman was memorable as the Sooners won four in a row at the end of the season as they upset Baylor in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. The Sooners finished 19-16 when they made it to the second round of the NIT before a tough 70-68 loss to St. Bonaventure. Tanner Groves (11.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and Jalen Hill (9.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg) are returnees from the Oklahoma starting lineup as talented sophomores in Jacob Groves and C.J. Noland will play key roles. Moser added some solid transfers in Grant Sherfield (Nevada), Joe Bamisile (George Washington), and Yaya Keita (Missouri).
9 ) Iowa State – Coach T.J. Otzelberger’s first season with the Cyclones bestowed a Sweet 16 appearance after Iowa State defeated LSU and Wisconsin on the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. This was a defensive oriented team that held opponents to 62.5 points (10th/CFB) while just outscoring them with 65.6 points (308th/CBB). Guards Gabe Kalscheur and Caleb Grill return to the backcourt where Grill is known for his three-pointer prowess. Otzelberger brought in four transfers who can contribute right away, especially St. Bonaventure’s Osun Osunniyi, who shot 61.3 percent last season and had 7.5 rebounds per outing. He was the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year for the last two seasons.
10) Kansas State – Jerome Tang leaves Baylor’s bench as a Scott Drew assistant and now at Kansas State, he returns point guard Markquis Nowell (12.2 ppg, 5.7 apg) who is their only leading scorer in double figures. Tang has several transfers who can contribute right away. Ismael Massoud transferred to K-State from Wake Forest a couple of years ago and will look to regain his shooting percentage as the 6-8 forward has shown in the past that he can nail the three.