Perhaps Kansas coach Bill Self said it best, when analyzing the Big 12 men’s basketball race this season earlier this week.
“It is going to be a monster,” Self told The Kansas City Star.
Conference play begins Friday, as No. 3 Iowa State (13-0) plays host to West Virginia in Ames. The league’s other 14 teams begin conference play on Saturday.
“For me, every Big 12 game feels like a tournament game,” BYU coach Kevin Young said at the Big 12 basketball media day in October. “You gotta bring it every night. It ups my game and it makes our players’ sense of urgency have to raise every time we have to play against somebody on this stage. It is great.”
With every team in the league except 11-1 UCF and 10-2 Baylor having played 13 games, nothing has changed in regards to predictions of how strong the Big 12 would be in 2025-26. In the Associated Press Top 25, Arizona is No. 1, Iowa State is No. 3, Houston is No. 8, BYU is No. 10, Texas Tech is No. 15, Kansas is No. 17 and Arizona State and UCF, Baylor and Oklahoma State are receiving votes.
The six Big 12 teams not mentioned in the poll all have winning records, as Colorado and TCU are 10-3, West Virginia and Kansas are 9-4 and Utah and Cincinnati are 8-5.
The league has cut its schedule from 20 to 18 games this season, but the cannibalization begins this weekend. Every team will play three other teams twice and 12 teams once.
BYU will play Utah, Arizona and Texas Tech twice.
Utah will play BYU, Colorado and Arizona State twice.
“Any win is going to be a good win, regardless of where it is,” Self said. “… They are all going to be hard games. During the years that we won the league, I always thought, ‘If you’re good enough to win the Big 12, you’re one of the best teams in the country.’ Now I think, ‘If you’re good enough to finish in the top four or five in the Big 12, you’re one of the best teams in the country.’”
The state of Utah’s two teams in the Big 12 face very difficult openers. BYU (12-1) begins conference play Saturday at Kansas State (9-4), while Utah plays host to Arizona (13-0) at the Huntsman Center.
“BYU … they are going to be in the game to play for a national championship, and Texas Tech hasn’t been healthy yet,” Self told The Kansas City Star. “….They’ve got probably the two best offensive players on the same team, hands down, in (JT) Toppin and (Christian) Anderson. Maybe (AJ) Dybantsa and (Richie) Saunders at BYU would probably be the only other pair to compete with that.”
Tipoff for the BYU-KSU game is at 11:30 a.m. MST in Manhattan and the contest will be televised nationally by CBS; tipoff for the Utah-Arizona game is at 2 p.m. MST in Salt Lake City and the contest pitting former Pac-12 foes will be streamed on Peacock.
Here’s a closer look at each Big 12 team, ranked by the Deseret News in predicted order of finish:
1. Arizona (13-0)
The Wildcats have emerged as the team to beat this year after walloping South Dakota State 99-71 Monday to complete a perfect nonconference season. Coach Tommy Lloyd’s squad is off to its best start since opening 21-0 in 2013-14 and finished the month winning eight straight games by 20 points or more. Freshman Koa Peat has been sensational. With a fairly light early league schedule, Arizona could be 20-0 when it arrives in Provo on Jan. 26 for a huge matchup with BYU after the Wildcats and Cougars split games last year, each winning on the other’s home floor.
2. Iowa State (13-0)
Wins over then-No. 1 Purdue, No. 18 Iowa and No. 20 St. John’s have shown that the Cyclones are for real and will challenge Arizona and everybody else for the conference championship. The win over Purdue, now No. 5, came by 23 points on the Boilermakers’ home floor and was arguably the most impressive win of any team in non-conference play. They are No. 4 in the NET rankings and No. 3 in KenPom.com and enter league play undefeated for the first time since 2021-22.
3. Houston (12-1)
A three-point loss to Tennessee in Las Vegas unveiled a few weaknesses, but for the most part Kelvin Sampson’s crew looks just as formidable as last year, when it played for the national championship. Houston’s scoring has picked up lately — it is averaging 88 points per game in its last four games — but that might be troublesome against the top teams in the league. The Cougars’ defense, however, remains as good as ever. Houston is No. 16 in the NET rankings and No. 12 in KenPom.com.
4. BYU (12-1)
A two-point loss to No. 4 UConn in Boston when starter Kennard Davis was serving a two-game suspension is the only thing that separated Kevin Young’s squad from an undefeated non-conference season. However, early-game struggles have exposed some issues — BYU trailed Clemson by 21 points at halftime before point guard Rob Wright’s game-winning 3-pointer at Madison Square Garden — and injuries have caused some depth problems.
Possible No. 1 NBA draft pick AJ Dybantsa has been spectacular at times, and BYU’s NET ranking is No. 9. The Cougars are No. 10 in KenPom. Rust could be a factor early, as BYU will have gone 12 days without a game when it meets Kansas State at Bramlage Coliseum on Saturday.
5. Texas Tech (10-3)
Battling injuries throughout its non-conference slate, Texas Tech was blown out by the same Purdue team that Iowa State demolished in Indiana by 30 in the Bahamas in November. Returning Big 12 Player of the Year JT Toppin has been great, but there are some depth issues in Lubbock. The Red Raiders host BYU on Jan. 17 in what could be a huge early showdown. Grant McCasland’s team has a NET ranking of 19 and a KenPom rating of 21.
6. Kansas (10-3)
Sitting at No. 17 in the NET rankings and KenPom, the Jayhawks have only been at full strength for a few games in November and December. Star freshman Darryn Peterson logged only four games, due to injury, so we probably haven’t seen the real KU squad just yet. Guard Melvin Council has been a pleasant surprise in Lawrence. Self’s club hosts BYU on Jan. 31 at Phog Allen looking for revenge after the Cougars knocked them off there two years ago and then routed them last year in Provo.
7. Baylor (10-2)
Wins over Creighton, Washington and San Diego State were impressive for coach Scott Drew’s squad in the non-conference, while a 78-71 loss to Memphis at FedEx Forum in Tennessee was forgivable. The Bears were pounded 96-81 by No. 15 St. John’s in Las Vegas, exposing a few weaknesses. They routed an outfit called Arlington Baptist 124-61 last Monday to tune up for Saturday’s visit to always-tough TCU. The Bears host BYU on Feb. 10 in Waco in what should be an intriguing test for Drew’s crew.
8. Oklahoma State (12-1)
Things didn’t go well in coach Steve Lutz’s first season in Stillwater, as the Cowboys didn’t get to 11 wins until February. They have already surpassed that total, albeit against a cupcake-laden slate outside of Texas A&M, Northwestern and South Florida. That will change soon, as OSU has to play at Texas Tech and at Iowa State in the first eight days of conference play.
9. UCF (11-1)
We will find out if coach Johnny Dawkins’ Knights are for real early, as they play host to Kansas on Saturday in Orlando. Their only loss was to No. 11 Vanderbilt, while a win over Texas A&M was noteworthy considering UCF trailed by 14 in the second half. Forward Jordan Burks has been an early pleasant surprising, averaging 13.8 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.
10. Arizona State (9-4)
The Sun Devils served notice that they will be more of a factor in the Big 12 race this year after going 2-1 in the Maui Classic. However, a home loss to Oregon State (No. 165 in the NET rankings) was troublesome for coach Bobby Hurley’s team. They also lost to USC and UCLA. Perhaps no Big 12 team has a tougher early conference schedule, as ASU visits BYU, Arizona and Houston in the first 18 days of the month of January.
11. Kansas State (9-4)
Just when the Wildcats were looking like a possible Big 12 contender in 2026, they dropped an 82-66 decision to Bowling Green on Dec. 1 in Manhattan and followed that with a 78-67 setback to Seton Hall at Bramlage Coliseum. A win at Creighton on Dec. 13 seemingly righted the ship, and thoughts of a big upset of No. 10 BYU will be dancing through their heads when the Cougars visit on Saturday.
12. TCU (10-3)
The Horned Frogs had a wild non-conference run, highlighted by wins over Florida and Wisconsin and a 78-74 loss at Schollmaier Arena to New Orleans, which had a NET ranking of No. 219 at the time. In its 69-65 win over Incarnate Word on Dec. 15, TCU trailed by 14 points at one point.
13. West Virginia (9-4)
The Mountaineers played the easiest non-conference schedule of any Big 12 team, so gauging their strength in new coach Ross Hodge’s first year is difficult. They beat rival Pittsburgh for their best win, and played a Clemson team that gave BYU fits close, falling 70-67 to the Tigers. They will host No. 10 BYU on Feb. 28 in Morgantown, a clash that will be televised nationally on Fox.
14. Colorado (10-3)
Coach Tad Boyle could be on the hot seat if the Buffaloes don’t turn it around in 2025-26, after struggling last year in its first season in the Big 12. An 86-81 loss to neighboring Northern Colorado on Sunday won’t help matters, making Saturday’s opener at Arizona State a bit tricky for the Buffs.
15. Utah (8-5)
Alex Jensen’s head coaching debut on the Hill has been good and bad — the good being a nice win over Ole Miss in Palm Desert, California, and the bad being a home loss to Cal Poly, which is No. 237 in the NET rankings at the current time. The Utes have a tough start to their second season in the Big 12, starting with Saturday’s matinee against No. 1 Arizona at the Huntsman Center. Then No. 10 BYU visits on Jan. 10 before Utah travels to Texas Tech on Jan. 14.
16. Cincinnati (8-5)
Getting star guard Jizzle James back on the roster at Cincinnati could be huge for Wes Miller’s Bearcats, after the son of former NFL star Edgerrin James was booted off the team in August. Cincinnati does have plenty of talent, evidenced when the Bearcats defeated a really good Dayton team; however, a loss to Eastern Michigan showed there’s a long way to go. Miller could be on the hot seat when BYU visits on March 3 for a penultimate regular-season game.
