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BIG 12 MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- Kansas
- Texas
- Baylor
- Texas Tech
- Oklahoma State
- West Virginia (tied 5th)
- Oklahoma
- TCU
- Kansas State
- Iowa State
COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
-With four starters back from a team that earned a #3 seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament, many believe Kansas to be a Final Four-caliber team this year. They have guys who can score, a ton of weapons in both the frontcourt and the backcourt, a lot of depth, and they could easily end up on one of the top-2 lines this year.
-Texas is right behind Kansas. Sometimes when a good team has an early exit in the NCAA Tournament people will forget how good they actually were. Texas was upset by Abilene Christian, but they still earned a #3 seed and have some key pieces coming back. One of the people who isn’t back is Shaka Smart, who may now hold the record for the coach with the highest seed in the NCAA Tournament who ended up getting fired. Chris Beard, who is a masterful bench coach, comes in to replace him so the Longhorns won’t miss a beat. They did lose three starters but added some high-caliber transfers and should be in solid contention for a protected seed this year.
-Baylor is the defending national champion! The bad news is that just one starter is back from last year’s team. The good news is that while they may not be Final Four-good this year the Bears are still pretty damn good. Some guys who came off the bench last year will be expected to step in to more key roles this year, but if they can do that then we should see this team solidly in the top 25 for most of the year.
-I like this Oklahoma State team: while they were picked to finish 5th I’m expecting them to finish somewhere in the top half of the standings and safely make the NCAA Tournament. Four starters are back from a team that made the second round last year and played really well down the stretch. While they did lose their top player in #1 overall pick Cade Cunningham, they have enough coming back that I think they’ll be really good this year.
-Texas Tech has three starters back, but the biggest change for them does not involved the players on the court, but rather the coaches on the bench. Chris Beard left for Texas and has been replaced by Mark Adams, who has big shoes to fill. Fortunately, he has some pretty good pieces both returning and transferring in, so this is a team that is capable of finishing in the top half of the league and landing safely inside the bubble.
-West Virginia earned a #3 seed a year ago, and while much of that team is gone they do have some good pieces coming back along with some pretty good additions. They’re always tough defensively, always well-coached, and should never be overlooked or counted out. I think they dance again this year.
-Oklahoma brings in Porter Moser as head coach, who had a fantastic run at Loyola Chicago. This is a team that went to the second round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago, but may be in a bit of a rebuilding mode this year. Just four players are back from a year ago, and while some of the newcomers can play a team with this many new pieces will always produce more questions than answers heading into the season.
-I like Jamie Dixon as a coach, and think that he can get TCU going on a regular basis eventually. Having said that, I think they’ll be closer to the bottom of the league than they are to the top this year. They do have a really solid player in Mike Miles and some really good players transferring in as well, so I don’t think they’ll necessarily be a doormat this year.
-It doesn’t seem like I’m ever big on Kansas State…and this year is no different. They could prove me wrong: they certainly have before, and with four starters back they should be improved just based on how experienced they are. However, they won just nine games a year ago and four games in league play (2 of which were against Iowa State). Speaking of Iowa State…
-The Cyclones are coming off their worst season in recent memory. They won just two games all season long, and were the winners of the HoopsHD Stallings Award. While I think they won’t be as bad as they were a year ago, I still think they have a long way to go before they’re back within reach of the NCAA Tournament.