Big 12 Basketball: Way-too-early power rankings for 2023-24 season

1. Kansas Jayhawks

Any fan of The Princess Bride would tell you that you should never get involved in a land war in Asia, but any fan of college basketball would counter that you should never pick against Kansas to win the Big 12. In 17 of his 20 seasons with the Jayhawks, Bill Self has led the team to at least a tie for first in the conference.

Though Self missed the end of Kansas’ season due to a health scare, the recent press conference in which he stated that he plans to continue coaching should strike fear into the rest of the Big 12.

Kansas is one of those schools that doesn’t rebuild, it reloads. Even though the Jayhawks are losing conference Player of the Year Jalen Wilson, freshman sensation Gradey Dick, and All-Big 12 Third Team forward Kevin McCullar, Jr. to the NBA draft, talent will not be a problem in Lawrence.

Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Da’Juan Harris, Jr. will again pilot a team that now welcomes a fantastic recruiting class made up of five-star prospect Elmarko Jackson and four-star recruits Chris Johnson, Jamari McDowell, and Marcus Adams, Jr.

KJ Adams will also return, and for all the accolades Wilson and Dick received, Adams actually had a higher offensive rating than either of them last year. He shot over 70% around the basket, and if his usage goes up as expected, he could make the All-Big 12 First Team.

Jackson is one of the top point guards in the class, an athletic two-way player that will certainly learn on the fly from Harris. Marcus Adams, Jr. reclassified to be able to play this coming season, while Johnson and McDowell are the kind of big, tough guards that Bill Self has continually found success with.

With four new teams and a huge injection of young talent, the best conference in the country will be deeper and even better next year. Kansas is still the team to beat, but there could be ten teams or more that make noise in the conference and the NCAA Tournament.