The non-conference college basketball season is, for all intents and purposes, at its end. So, the preliminaries are out of the way and the more meaningful basketball is set to begin. Every power conference team, no matter how bad their non-conference record, can play their way into the Big Dance with a strong conference showing. And those clubs that have already counted a few coups can make their case for a No. 1 seed by winning their conference crown.
The Big XII, after a slightly down campaign in 2025, looks ready to return to the top of college basketball's pecking order in 2026. The league boasts six bona fide powerhouses, and a couple of other outfits that could make runs in March.
With this four-part series we will look, in reverse order, at the conference's presumptive tiers and the teams that comprise them. These will not be predictions of where the clubs will finish but rather are an estimation of how good they are right here, right now. Things can change over the course of a few months. And change they undoubtedly will.
No. 12, Baylor (10-2): It's almost impossible to respect any franchise that plays Norfolk State, Alcorn State, Southern, and Arlington Baptist consecutively, but these are the Bears' quartet of opponents going into Big XII play. That is shameful. Even Mark Adams didn't have the chutzpah to string together a band of patsies that awful. Regardless, Baylor hasn't been impressive to this point. Their best wins are over Washington and a weak Creighton team, and they lost by 15 to a St. John's club that hasn't lived up to billing and a Memphis team that may be bad enough to get Anfernee Hardaway fired. But this looks to be a typical Scott Drew club--lots of firepower, a one-and-done freshman swingman (Tounde Yessoufou), and not a lot of defense. This team may well crumple under the pressures of the Big XII.
No. 11, Kansas State (9-4): Following a rather impressive 21-point win over Mississippi State, the Wildcats lost four in a row to Nebraska by a point, Indiana by 17, Bowling Green by 16 in Manhattan, and Seton Hall by 11 in Manhattan. They got off the schneide by defeating Creighton, but that isn't going to convince anybody of anything. We shall see what we shall see when K-State opens Big XII play against BYU in Manhattan. If the Wildcats are to be competitive in that one they'll have to guard far better than they have to this point in the season.
No. 10, Oklahoma State (12-1): The Cowboys may be the most improved team in the Big XII. That is not to say that they'll likely make the NCAA tournament, but neither do they look like the gutter club many pegged them as prior to the season. OSU has two strong victories to their credit. They whipped Texas A&M by 24 points (Hooray!), and beat Northwestern in Chicago. Oklahoma State's only loss is to Oklahoma by nine points in Oklahoma City. The Cowboys are doing it with size, depth and one of the best finds of the transfer market--guard Anthony Roy (Green Bay) who is averaging 17 points per game.
No. 9, Arizona State (9-4): The Sun Devils are a difficult team to figure. They own three impressive wins--over Washington State, Texas and Oklahoma (by 16)--but in their last game lost to Oregon State. The other losses were to Gonzaga, USC and UCLA by an average of 13 points. ASU is clearly a team with the potential to go either direction in conference play, but right now they're simply inconsistent. The Sun Devils have played good defense but have been weak on the glass. It is a collection of no-name players, but overall is giving a decent account of itself. ASU will be one of the more interesting teams in the Big XII to watch the next few months.