Big 12 Basketball: Preseason conference power rankings for 2023-24 season

4. Baylor Bears

Last season: 23-11, 11-7 in the Big 12

The Baylor Bears are still in the thick of things in the Big 12 as they check in at No. 4 in the preseason conference power rankings. Jalen Bridges, Langston Love, Jonathan Tchatchoua, Caleb Lohner and Josh Ojianwuna are all back from last year’s squad. RayJ Dennis (Toledo) and Jayden Nunn (VCU) will join the backcourt out of the transfer portal while Ja’Kobe Walter and Yves Missi are members of the 2023 recruiting class who should contribute right away.

Walter is a highly-rated prospect who’s projected as a lottery pick and has already shown he’s ready to contribute following the team’s exhibition tour overseas this past August. Missi is a 7-footer out of Prolific Prep who’s shown he’s ready to make an impact in the frontcourt with his size and abilities.

6-foot-9 forward Bridges will have plenty to work with as another leading returner. He put up 10.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.0 apg and 1.0 bpg in the Bears’ frontcourt as they look to be a power in the conference once again.

The additions of Dennis and Nunn to the backcourt give the Bears plenty of depth to work with as they look to compete as well. Dennis was the 2022-23 MAC Player of the Year after finishing with 19.5 ppg, 5.8 apg, 4.3 rpg and 1.5 spg on 36.6 percent shooting from deep and 48.4 percent shooting from the field. Nunn won an A-10 regular season crown and conference tournament championship with the VCU Rams this past season. He’ll bring his winning pedigree to a backcourt in need.