Big 12 Basketball: Way-too-early power rankings for 2020-21 season

9. TCU Horned Frogs

2019-20 Finish: 7th

Who’s Back?

The Horned Frogs will return a premier one-two punch in 2020-21, as Kevin Samuel and R.J. Nembhard are back in Fort Worth for their junior seasons. Samuel has been one of the best centers in the conference and one of the better big men in the country for two seasons and will be the star of the team. Nembhard showed serious flashes in his first season starting with a pair of clutch shots, averaging a little over 12 points per game. Jaedon LeDee and P.J. Fuller, two former 4-star recruits, are back as well and will look to step into larger roles.

Who’s Gone?

No team in the Big 12 is losing a player more valuable to their program than Desmond Bane. Bane did it all for TCU, a routine 20-point scorer last season, one of the top players in TCU history, and arguably their best player of the decade. Bane is the only notable departure from the Horned Frogs, but no team will feel a bigger void from a single player than the Horned Frogs will without Bane.

Who’s Back?

TCU has just one notable recruit, a fringe top-100 recruit in Mike Miles. However, the Horned Frogs will bring in one of the most intriguing players in the conference in USC transfer Charles O’Bannon Jr. O’Bannon is a former five-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American who rarely found the court for the Trojans. If O’Bannon, who has two seasons of eligibility remaining, can regain his high school form, then the Horned Frogs have themselves a bonafide star.

The Bottom Line

No team has a lower floor than TCU. At the same time, if everything clicks, this Horned Frogs’ squad could very well make the tournament. TCU is the hardest team to spot in these rankings as if every player lives up to their potential, this is a really good team. If not, and if the void left by Bane is too great, this team won’t reach ten wins.