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

By Terrence Jordan

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - MARCH 11: Texas Longhorns celebrate after defeating the Kansas Jayhawks in the Big 12 Tournament Championship game at T-Mobile Center on March 11, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - MARCH 11: Texas Longhorns celebrate after defeating the Kansas Jayhawks in the Big 12 Tournament Championship game at T-Mobile Center on March 11, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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Big 12 Basketball Grant McCasland of the North Texas Mean Green (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Big 12 Basketball Grant McCasland of the North Texas Mean Green (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

12. Texas Tech Red Raiders

All talk of Texas Tech has to begin with its coaching change. Head coach Mark Adams resigned in early March after being suspended for racially insensitive comments, and the Red Raiders limped to a 5-13 mark in the Big 12 that included eight straight defeats to open conference play, then four straight to end the season, missing the NCAA Tournament. For a team that reached the national championship game just four years ago, the university needed to make a splash with its new hire.

Fresh off winning the NIT with North Texas, Grant McCasland seems to be just that. The up-and-coming coach molded the Mean Green into one of the best defensive teams in the country, and he has the kind of local ties that can help Texas Tech in what is always a difficult in-state recruiting battle with Texas, Baylor, TCU, and Texas A&M.

The Red Raiders lose former Oral Roberts transfer Kevin Obanor, but will add four-star freshman shooting guard Jason Jackson and Georgia transfer KyeRon Lindsay to a core that largely remains intact. De’Vion Harmon is the team’s top returning scorer and assist man, while rising sophomore Pop Isaacs showed an ability to be a high-volume three-point shooter as a freshman.

McCasland figures to reinvigorate a team that didn’t play up to its talent level last year. What will that mean in a conference as difficult as the Big 12? That remains to be seen. If the Red Raiders get immediate contributions from Jackson and Lindsay, that, combined with the projected bump in defensive efficiency, could be enough to lift Texas Tech to the top half of the conference.

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