"Five of the nation’s top 10 in the Associated Press preseason poll call the Big 12 home, including three in top five with the No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks, No. 4 Houston and No. 5 Iowa State Cyclones. In the more than 60-year history of the poll, that’s the first time that has happened. In KenPom’s rankings, eight of the league’s 16 teams rank 21st or higher. And the depth beyond that top tier is astounding, too.

The preseason No. 9 pick BYU Cougars feature a pair of projected first-round picks in the 2025 NBA draft (Egor Demin and Kanon Catchings), the No. 11 UCF Knights return two 15-point-per-game scorers (Jaylin Sellers and Darius Johnson) and add two more in the portal (Jordan Ivy-Curry and Keyshawn Hall), while the No. 12 Arizona State Sun Devils signed two five-star freshmen out of high school (Jayden Quaintance and Joson Sanon) this spring. Every conference’s coaches can wax poetic about how there are no easy nights in their respective leagues, but no conference embodies that quite like the Big 12 right now."