Big 12 Basketball: Kansas to earn 13th straight conference title?

By Doug Winkey | Oct 5, 2016

Mar 26, 2016; Louisville, KY, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Devonte' Graham (4) celebrates with teammates after a play against the Villanova Wildcats during the second half of the south regional final of the NCAA Tournament at KFC YUM!. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /

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Mar 10, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of the logo center court before the game between the Baylor Bears and Texas Longhorns during the Big 12 Conference tournament at Sprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /

Over the next few weeks, we will preview the best conferences heading into the 2016-17 season. Let’s start with Big 12 basketball.

The Big 12 sent a larger proportion of their teams to the NCAA Tournament than any other conference last year. Seven teams in all represented the Big 12 in March. That group combined for a Sweet 16, an Elite Eight, and one Final Four.

The ten-team league looks to do it again this season.

It’s no secret that massive star power graduated this past spring. Iowa State’s Georges Niang, Kansas’ Perry Ellis, and Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield all exhausted their college careers and were All-Americans by the end of it.

Almost nobody was immune to the departures: not Baylor (Rico Gathers, Taurean Prince), not Texas (Isaiah Taylor), not West Virginia (Devin Williams). New blood is needed to keep the Big 12 at the center of the national conversation.

The biggest question this season is still who can challenge Kansas as the Jayhawks seek to claim their 13th straight regular season title. Despite the loss of six guys, KU still has the talent between incumbents and newcomers to be the prohibitive favorite. Iowa State, Texas and West Virginia all have the pieces necessary to make a legitimate run at the Jayhawks though.

Three new coaches also make their power conference debut this year in Chris Beard (Texas Tech), Brad Underwood (Oklahoma State) and Jamie Dixon (TCU). All have big projects ahead of them to get their programs to challenge the current Big 12 titans.

With those three implementing new systems, I don’t expect any game to be an easy call at this point.

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