It's been a pretty wild offseason of movement in the NCAA Transfer Portal and Big 12 basketball roster-building since this past spring. Some of the most expensive transfers in college hoops early this offseason ended up landing with Big 12 programs ahead of the 2025-26 season.
Despite not being the top conference in college basketball for the first time in a few years, the Big 12 remained one of the most competitive and deepest conferences in the nation during the 2024-25 season. The Big 12 sent seven teams to the postseason in the NCAA Tournament, including a Final Four berth with the No. 1 seed Houston Cougars.
After winning the Big 12 crown this past season in 2024-25, Houston will have a tough road ahead to repeat as conference champions this upcoming campaign in 2025-26.
1. Houston
Longtime head coach Kelvin Sampson has built one of the most consistent and nationally competitive programs in college hoops with the Cougars in the Big 12. Houston was one possession away from winning its first national title in over a few decades this past season in the National Championship Game against the Florida Gators.
Returning three out of the five starters from last season's starting five, including standout guards Milos Uzan and Emanuel Sharp, will keep Houston nationally competitive again in the 2025-26 campaign and in the race for the Big 12 title crown.
2. Texas Tech
Despite falling just short of Florida in the Elite Eight this past spring in the Big Dance, head coach Grant McCasland and the Texas Tech Red Raiders are primed for a run at the Big 12 crown this upcoming season. Texas Tech returns one of the Big 12's best star players in the frontcourt, senior big man JT Toppin, for the final season of his eligibility in college in 2025-26.
New transfer portal wing/forward additions to the lineup, LeJuan Watts and Donovan Atwell, will bolster Texas Tech's starting five in the Big 12 in the 2025-26 campaign.
3. BYU
The BYU Cougars have some of the most talented players in the nation in all of college basketball, highlighting their key starting five, including freshman sensation AJ Dybantsa and returning star guard Richie Saunders. Dybantsa is a potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft lottery.
Saunders, the Big 12's Most Improved Player this past season in 2024-25, returns as the team's leading scorer going into the fall for 2025-26.
You could argue that BYU and head coach Kelvin Young boast the best and deepest roster among the top contenders in the Big 12 for this upcoming season.
4. Iowa State
Head coach TJ Otzelberger and the Iowa State Cyclones return many key and familiar faces for this upcoming season in the Big 12. Standout guard Tamin Lipsey and forward Milan Momcilovic have scored in double figures each in back-to-back seasons in Iowa State's starting five.
Watch out for Iowa State to remain in Big 12 title contention and to be competitive on the national landscape as a potential AP Top 10 ranked team in the upcoming 2025-26 season.
5. Kansas
This upcoming season is a very crucial one in Lawrence for longtime head coach Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks in the Big 12. An early NCAA Tournament exit in the first round after a close loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks put the pressure on Self and the Jayhawks to build out a deep and talented roster via high school recruiting and the transfer portal early this offseason.
Depth concerns and frontcourt questions in the starting five keeps Kansas outside of the overall top tier of Big 12 teams in the early summer power rankings here.
6. Arizona
Coming off a Sweet 16 appearance in the Big Dance this past postseason in the East Region, the Arizona Wildcats and head coach Tommy Lloyd lost a key star piece in First-Team All-Big 12 senior guard Caleb Love early this offseason.
Arizona will rely on returning starters like Jaden Bradley and highly touted incoming freshmen from the 2025 signing class, including five-star big man Koa Peat, to power the core part of the rotation this campaign in 2025-26.
7. Baylor
The Baylor Bears roster has a vastly different look to the starting five this offseason after adding five new projected starters via the transfer portal and high school recruiting this past spring. Baylor and head coach Scott Drew brought in key projected starters like Cincinnati transfer Daniel Skillings and Wyoming transfer Obi Agbim to lead the starting five in the backcourt.
With more size and proven starters in the backcourt and wing rotations compared to last season, can Baylor return to the heights of national prominence in the Big 12 in 2026?
One thing I've learned from watching Big 12 hoops for the past decade as a fan of this conference is to not underestimate Drew after a roster rebuild and overhaul.
8. West Virginia
Coaching staff turnover hasn't kept the West Virginia Mountaineers and first-year head coach Ross Hodge from assembling a deep and competitive roster in the Big 12 going into the 2025-26 season. West Virginia has brought in five immediate impact transfers from the spring portal window, including North Texas transfers Jasper Floyd and Brenen Lorient, to lead the starting five in Morgantown for the Mountaineers this season.
9. Cincinnati
Head coach Wes Miller and the Cincinnati Bearcats are looking for a big improvement in the Big 12 in the conference standings going into the 2025-26 season. After finishing 12th out of 16 teams in the Big 12 standings this past season in 2024-25, Cincinnati has revamped the offense and added more size on the defensive end in the core part of the rotation this offseason.
10. Kansas State
The projected starting five for the Kansas State Wildcats in the Big 12 got a gigantic boost this offseason by landing star transfer guard from Memphis, PJ Haggerty. The ability to spark this offense and spread the ball around to key guard teammates in the starting five, like international guard/wing signee Andrej Kostic, makes Kansas State's ceiling in this conference intriguing.
11. TCU
Led by a group of experienced transfers from the spring portal window early this offseason and a large group of returning rotation contributors, the TCU Horned Frogs are a sleeper team to watch in the Big 12 this upcoming season in 2025-26. TCU has a proven and experienced backcourt duo it brought in from the spring transfer portal, including Iowa's Brock Harding and Providence's Jayden Pierre.
12. Oklahoma State
There is a good chance that the Oklahoma State Cowboys are one of the Big 12's most improved teams in the conference standings in the 2025-26 season. Second-year head coach Steve Lutz has assembled a much more formidable roster in the Big 12 this offseason, including Seton Hall wing transfer Isaiah Coleman and Oregon State big man transfer Parsa Fallah.
13. Arizona State
Going into his 10th season as the Arizona State Sun Devils program head coach, Bobby Hurley had to essentially completely rebuild the roster in Tempe via the spring portal window early this offseason. Arizona State has a completely new starting five projected top-to-bottom, led by CSU-Northridge guard transfer Marcus Adams in the backcourt.
14. Utah
Under first-year head coach Alex Jensen, the Utah Utes have a very green roster of new additions from the transfer portal in the Big 12 for this upcoming season. Jensen and the Utes are relying on their lone returning starter, big man Keanu Dawes, along with a cast of new transfer additions to jolt the starting five in the Big 12.
15. UCF
Led by Milwaukee guard and forward transfers Jamichael Stillwell and Themus Fulks, the UCF Knights are looking for some movement in the Big 12 standings this upcoming season for 2025-26. UCF ranked as the bottom team in defensive rating, which the Knights hope will be improved with the additions of more length and proven two-way players in the wing and forward rotations this season.
16. Colorado
The Colorado Buffaloes rely on a couple of key returning starters, including big man Bangot Dak and wing Sebastian Rancik, to improve offensively and putting the ball in the basket in the Big 12. A lack of true depth and experience in the rotation beyond a handful of key starters is a prime issue for Colorado in the 2025-26 season.