Big 12 announces 2023-24 preseason men’s basketball poll
The Big 12 released its preseason men’s basketball poll Friday with an unsurprising team on top of the projection.
Kansas, first-place finishers in 17 of the last 19 seasons, slots in at No. 1 with 12 first-place votes. Big 12 newcomer Houston finished in second with two-first place votes.
After the Jayhawks, the teams projected to finish second through fifth are from the state of Texas.
Including the Cougars, three current Big 12 teams have made the Final Four over the past three tournaments. That includes Baylor winning the title in 2021 and the Jayhawks winning the title in 2022.
Outside of Houston, the three other newcomers to the conference are projected to finish in the bottom four in league play.
The Big 12 preseason projections come the same week the NCAA’s Independent Accountability Review Process ruled five Level I allegations against the program didn’t meant the threshold for that level of punishment.
Kansas head coach Bill Self explained his emotions of the case ending earlier this week.
“I’m very happy that it’s over,” Self said. “I’m certainly happy with the end result and at the same time, don’t feel like a celebration mode because this is exactly what we thought the end result would be years ago, and it’s taken such a long period of time to get here.”
The conference announced its preseason All-Big 12 team Thursday, headlined by Jayhawks center Hunter Dickinson. Dickinson, who transferred in during the offseason from Michigan, was named the Preseason Player of the Year and the Preseason Newcomer of the Year. He averaged 18.5 points and 9.0 rebounds for the Wolverines last season.
2023-24 Big 12 preseason men’s basketball poll
1. Kansas
2. Houston
3. Texas
4. Baylor
5. TCU
6. Kansas State
7. Iowa State
8. Texas Tech
9. West Virginia
10. Oklahoma State
11. Cincinnati
12. Oklahoma
13. BYU
14. UCF
Preseason All-Big 12 Team
G LJ Cryer, Houston
G Max Abmas, Texas
G Dajuan Harris Jr., Kansas
F Emanuel Miller, TCU
C Hunter Dickinson, Kansas
Honorable Mentions:
Jalen Bridges, Baylor
RayJ Dennis, Baylor
Ja’Kobe Walter, Baylor
Jamal Shead, Houston
Kevin McCullar Jr., Kansas
Arthur Kaluma, Kansas State
Tylor Perry, Kansas State
Dylan Disu, Texas
Tyrese Hunter, Texas
Dillon Mitchell, Texas
Jesse Edwards, West Virginia
Preseason Player of the Year: Hunter Dickinson, Kansas
Preseason Newcomer of the Year: Hunter Dickinson, Kansas
Preseason Freshman of the Year: Ja’Kobe Walter, Baylor