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

10. Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma was the “Box of Chocolates” team of 2022-23, because you never knew what you were gonna get. They followed a 27-point loss at TCU with a 24-point drubbing of #2 Alabama. They had wins over tournament teams Kansas State, Iowa State, and West Virginia, but ended the year sub-.500 in head coach Porter Moser’s second year at the helm.

The Sooners’ quest for more consistency next season will rely on fresh faces, as point guard Grant Sherfield and center Tanner Groves have both used up their eligibility. The Sooners have also been hit hard by the transfer portal, with senior Jalen Hill headlining the departures.

Rising sophomore Milos Uzan earned the starting job as a freshman, but he’ll need to take on an even bigger role. The Sooners are also hoping that highly touted wings Kaden Cooper and Jacolb Cole can provide an instant impact.

It’s only Porter Moser’s second season in Norman, but the heat is already on to duplicate the success he had at Loyola-Chicago, where he led the Ramblers to a Final Four and a Sweet Sixteen. With plenty of scholarships available, Moser will need to be very active in the transfer portal to fill the Sooners’ needs.

To make a run at the tournament, Oklahoma will need to be better in the turnover department, where they ranked among the worst teams in the country this past season. The team was also mediocre at rebounding, which, combined with the turnover disparity, led to Oklahoma’s opponents getting far more chances to score than the Sooners did.