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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL
- Baylor
- Kansas
- West Virginia
- Texas
- Texas Tech
- Oklahoma
- Oklahoma State
- Iowa State
- TCU
- Kansas State
MEDIA DAY ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Jared Butler – G – Baylor
Marcus Garrett – G – Kansas
Austin Reaves – G – Oklahoma
Cade Cunningham – G – Oklahoma State
Matt Coleman II – G – Texas
Oscar Tshiebwe – F – West Virginia
NOTES FROM DAVID
-Baylor was an amazing story from a year ago that, among other things, won at Kansas, contended for a #1 seed, and finished second in the conference standings. With four starters back from that team and one of the best backcourts in the country led by Jared Butler, the Bears could once again be a Final Four-caliber team/national title contender this year.
-Kansas finished last season with a 28-3 record and appeared to be the #1 team headed into Championship Week. Off-court issues have rocked the program, but on the court they still consistently look like a Final Four team, and this year should not be any different. Devon Dotson is gone, but three other starters are back including Marcus Garrett and Tyon Grant-Foster (who make up one of the best backcourts in the country), and some big time recruits like Bryce Thompson will make big contributions as well.
-Texas Tech is 5th in the polls but I like them a little more than that. Chris Beard is one of the best coaches in the country: he always outperforms whatever the preseason expectations are (like two years ago when they started off unranked and damn near won it all). Although they only have two starters back, they have several others returning who saw significant minutes and should be big contributors this year.
-West Virginia had their ups and downs last year, but their ups were high enough to where they looked like a solid NCAA Tournament team, and with four starters back they should once again spend most of the season in the top-25. Look for them to again be tough on defense and have a deep bench.
-It always feels like Texas is in the midst of a pivotal year and this year is no different. With five starters back Texas should be positioned to have a really big year. Coach Shaka Smart has won 19+ games in four of his last five seasons in Austin…but it still feels like he is on the hot seat.
-Oklahoma may be a bit of a dark horse this year. They played pretty well down the stretch a year ago, have three starters back, and have pretty good depth and balance this year.
-Oklahoma State had a mostly frustrating season a year ago, and with just one starter back I think there are more questions than answers. I am not expecting huge things this year but who knows?
-Iowa State had a miserable year last year and could be in for another long year this year. They appear to have a little more experience despite only returning two starters, but it could still end up being another long year.
-TCU has at least six new players and Kansas State has a lot of newcomers as well. I am not making any great predictions for either team but we shall see.
NOTE FROM CHAD
– TCU may be worth paying more attention to than the media or David give them credit for. While the NCAA Tournament may be a longshot especially in such a tough league, the inside-outside combo of Kevin Samuel and RJ Nembhard may be good enough alone to keep them in most games. They key will be how well some talented newcomers gel with the returning players, especially USC transfer Charles O’Bannon Jr and freshman Mike Miles.