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

8. Cincinnati Bearcats

Last season: 23-13, 11-7 in the AAC

The Cincinnati Bearcats made the jump from AAC to the Big 12 after finishing fourth in their respective conference standings this past season. Head coach Wes Miller will look to prove he can compete in a power conference with six returners back from last year’s squad and seven new faces including four players out of the transfer portal.

Viktor Lakhin (11.6 ppg) is their leading returning name as he enters his senior season. He’s a 6-foot-11 Russian native who also racked up 7.1 rpg, 1.4 bpg and 1.2 spg on 61.7 percent shooting from the field as a junior. John Newman III will look to play a role as well as he returns from injury. He’s a glue-guy type player who averaged 6.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.7 apg and 1.0 spg in 2021-22 as a full-time starter.

Jamille Reynolds (Temple), C.J. Fredrick (Kentucky), Simas Loksius (Butler) and Aziz Bandaogo (Utah Valley) will be the transfer portal additions looking to make an impact. Reynolds put up 10.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg and 1.1 bpg in the AAC this past season with Temple. He’ll look to be a force in the painted area alongside Lakhin. Frederick joins the backcourt after finishing with 6.1 ppg and 1.5 apg on 31.8 percent shooting from behind the arc in 2022-23 in the SEC. He also brings with him experience in the Big Ten.

Look for the Bearcats to be a competitive bunch with a lot of graduate transfers in 2023-24. They should be another surprise under Wes Miller in their first year in the Big 12.