Busting Brackets
Fansided

Big 12 Basketball: Ranking the new-look league after 4-team expansion

By Tristan Freeman

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - APRIL 03: The Houston Cougars huddle in the second half against the Baylor Bears during the 2021 NCAA Final Four semifinal at Lucas Oil Stadium on April 03, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - APRIL 03: The Houston Cougars huddle in the second half against the Baylor Bears during the 2021 NCAA Final Four semifinal at Lucas Oil Stadium on April 03, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
6 of 7
Next
Oklahoma State Cowboys Big 12 Basketball Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Oklahoma State Cowboys Big 12 Basketball Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /

4. Oklahoma State Cowboys

After a successful overall season with No. 1 NBA Draft Cade Cunningham, the Cowboys are hoping to build on it for the future, now with even more competition to go against. They won’t have rival Oklahoma to deal with in league play but they’ll still be an enemy on the recruiting trail for local targets.

What matters with Oklahoma State is whether or not head coach Mike Boynton can recruit at a top-25 level going forward. They did land a pair of former five-star prospects in Bryce Thompson and Moussa Cisse but do need to do it as well straight out of high school. They’re in the mix for several currently in the 2022 class and if they can land a couple and in the 2023 group, this team could be a perennial top-25 program for years to come.

3. Houston Cougars

By far the biggest winners on the basketball side of realignment, the Cougars are going from a 2-3 bid league to 6-8 in the Big 12. Coming off a Final Four appearance, this program now can recruit even better than they were and start landing Big 12 talent out of high school instead of getting them via the transfer portal, such as last year’s leading scorer and former Kansas Jayhawk Quentin Grimes.

Head coach Kelvin Sampson may have been a candidate for a better job but now Houston is in a prime position to compete as an annual top-10 program in the country. And their core is all underclassmen, as Marcus Sasser and Tramon Marks will have them as Final Four contenders going forward. If it wasn’t for one program coming off a national title win and another having not missed the NCAA Tournament since the pre-2000, the Cougars would’ve been No. 1.

Home/Big 12