Although Houston had a slip up in March Madness and lost to Illinois, Arizona, who received a one-seed, made it all the way to the Final Four before losing badly to eventual National Champion Michigan by a score of 91-73.
Both teams are going to bring back talent and expect to have top two seeds in the tournament again in 2027. But what about the entire Big XII Conference.
Will Kansas return to form in what could be the final season of Bill Self? Who else can compete for the title?
16. Utah Utes
Rick Majarus and Kieth Van Horn are not walking through the door in Salt Lake City, which is a shame because this team needs talent to come aboard. Alex Jensen will do the best he can for a Utes team which has not made an NCAA Tournament since 2016 and is hoping to get back to respectability.Â
This does not look like it is the season where Utah makes any waves.
They always say after a bad football season that, at least there is basketball. In this case, the students and fans will need to reminisce about football to avoid the basketball season.Â
15. Kansas State Wildcats
Jerome Tang did some good things in Manhattan. But he left this team in a far worse place than when he got there. — especially with the buyout, the school will be required to pay him after the lawsuit filed against the school is adjudicated.
New coach Casey Alexander from Belmont is forced to clean up the mess and he is going to attempt to do so by bringing in transfers from 10 different schools.Â
14. Colorado Buffaloes
In 2023-24 Colorado, under Tad Boyle went to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and had five double-digit scorers. The future looked solid for the Buffaloes.
Since then, Colorado is 31-37 and things have continued to get worse.Â
The school has lost three of their best players, including leading scorer Isaiah Johnson. The only key returner will be 6-foot-1 guard Barrington Hargress who finished last season averaging 14.1 points per game and shooting 48 percent from the 3-point line.
This will be another tough season in Boulder for everyone involved.  Â
13. UCF Knights
UCF was able to make the NCAA Tournament in March, but this season looks far less positive for the Knights who lose their top four scorers from that team. Coach Johnny Dawkins will look to a massive influx of low and mid-major transfers to do everything possible to get to a .500 record this season.  Â
12. Cincinnati Bearcats
Cincinnati made it known before last season that nothing less than making the tournament would be satisfactory for the team. After not making it, despite a late season run, Wes Miller was released in favor of Utah State’s Jarrod Calhoun.
This move saw every key player on the roster depart, forcing a roster reset for Calhoun in his first season. How well his transfers perform will determine the success.
Myles Colvin, who scored 11.6 points per game at Wake Forest, is one of six players he was able to bring in who scored double-digits at their former school. He was also able to bring in MJ Collins Jr., his star player at Utah State. If he gets his fifth season of eligibility granted to him, he will make a massive difference in the direction of the Bearcats in 2026-27.  Â
11. Arizona State Sun Devils
It took a lot to get Randy Bennett to leave St. Mary’s after 25 years. After Gonzaga left for the Pac-12, Bennett decided it was time for a new challenge before he retired and taking over the Sun Devils program is that challenge.
He also brought with him All-Conference selection Paulius Murauskas, who helped St. Mary’s tie with Gonzaga at the top of the West Coast Conference with 27 wins and gave Bennett his fifth NCAA tournament in a row. In one of the most competitive conferences in the country, they will be forced to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to make it six in a row.
10. Oklahoma State Cowboys
The Cowboys will be looking to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2021. They will be counting on freshman and transfers to make this happen as Kanye Clary, who averaged 10.6 points per game, is the only member of last year’s team to return.
McDonald’s All-American Latrell Almond is one of three top 100 recruits to come to Stillwater this season. Their arrival will coincide with the arrivals of UCF transfer Jordan Burks and North Carolina transfer Luka Bogavac. If the entirely new team can learn their routines early, third-year coach Steve Lutz will look for another 20-win year for Oklahoma State.     Â
9. Baylor Bears
Scott Drew is still one of the best coaches in the country and has a national championship with Baylor — something unthinkable after the mishaps within the athletics department in both basketball and football in past seasons.
But last season was not a good one for the team as they failed to make the NCAA Tournament and did not finish over .500 in the conference. Drew’s teams have not been to the Sweet 16 since winning the title in 2021 and missing the tournament last season ended a streak of five straight.
If the Bears hope to get better, it is going to be difficult in the talented conference. Baylor has plenty of money to compete in NIL. It is time they used it to help Drew return the team to the highest level.
8. TCU Horned Frogs
Jamie Dixon has been at his alma Mater for a long time but the results haven't been there. The Horned Frogs have made it to the tournament four times in the past five seasons, and they will look to again this season even after losing two of their top four scorers.
Even though they have lost a lot, they still retain forward Xavier Edmonds, who scored 16 points, including the game-winning basket in TCU’s first round win in March.Â
Along with Edmonds, returnees Micha Robinson (10.9 points per game), Brock Harding (8.0 points per game), and Tanner Toolson (7.7 points per game) will also look to improve and get the Horned Frogs past the round of 32 in March.   Â
7. West Virginia Mountaineers
West Virginia has not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2023. If they want to make it back this season, the second under coach Ross Hodge, it will be due to the ability of five-star guard Miles Sadler and Butler transfer Finley Bizjack.
They are also another team which could be made or broken by the legal system, Boise State transfer Javan Buchanan (12.6 points per game), and Brenen Lorient (11.9 points and 1.3 blocks per game) are attempting to get a fifth season of eligibility and help the roster.
If this all comes together, West Virginia will finally be back in the tournament. If not, it might mean another trip to one of the other post season events.
6. BYU Cougars
AJ Dybantsa is gone, now with the Washington Wizards as the first overall pick in the NBA draft. But coach Kevin Young will have Bruce Branch III, a potential top-five selection in 2027 coming in as a freshman. Although he is not the same style of player as Dybantsa, he will add the talent needed with the addition of Michigan State star Jaxson Kohler and Robert Wright III returning, who decided not to transfer after entering the portal. Â
5. Texas Tech Red Raiders
Head coach Grant McCasland will be getting back on of the best players in the country this season.
After tearing his ACL in February, two-time All-American JT Toppin will return at some point for the Red Raiders. If he can return healthy, Texas Tech can land themselves in the Elite Eight or the Final Four. If he is unable to remain healthy, or if he cannot return, Texas Tech will find it difficult to make the Sweet 16.
Another major bump in the road will be the legal status surrounding fifth-year guard Donovan Atwell.
Atwell, who finished 2025-26 shooting 46 percent from the3-point line, is in limbo as his case to determine a fifth year of eligibility is still pending in the courts. This decision will be another key in the depth of Texas Tech and how far they can move up or down the power rankings in Big XII. Â
4. Iowa State Cyclones
Iowa State was another Big XII team to make it to the Sweet 16 in March. This season, the Cyclones will look at making it even further. Without Milan Momcilovic, Joshua Jefferson and Tamin Lipsey, T.J. Otzelberger will be forced to find a new player to revolve the Cyclones team around.Â
Otzelberger has won 83 games over the past three seasons in Ames. But with Killyan Toure, who finished with 25 points in the first round of the tournament having shoulder surgery and hoping to make it back by mid-season, it will be up to transfer Jaquan Johnson or 6-foot-10 forward Blake Buchanan to take that role for the first part of the season.     Â
3. Houston Cougars
The Houston Cougars were dominating teams in the NCAA Tournament before running up against the Illinois Fighting Illini in the Sweet 16.
If Kelvin Sampson wants to get Houston to their sixth straight 30-win season, he will be doing so with a new lineup as Joseph Tugler, a Big XII All-Conference Defensive selection is the only player returning who played more than 20 minutes in that Illinois game.
Houston has brought in Dedan Thomas Jr. from LSU, where he scored 15.3 points per game for the Tigers. His ability to bring his game to another level with Houston will be one of the determining factors in how far they can go.
After finishing first in the conference in their first two seasons, Houston took a slight step back as Arizona rose to the top. If Houston wants to return to the peak, it will be a challenging climb with a lot of new parts. Â
2. Kansas Jayhawks
Kansas had a disappointing season in 2025-26 with top prospect Darryn Peterson proving often injured and unreliable for the Jayhawks. It got to the point where not even Bill Self knew when he would play.
This season, Peterson is gone and Kansas comes in with two more five-star freshmen in Taylan Kinney and prize Tyran Stokes.
Stokes is expected to be the most talented of the two stars and can lead Kansas back to a Final Four berth before becoming the top pick in the 2027 NBA Draft. He is also hoping to prove to Self that not all five-star and No. 1 players in the country are the same and will fight to play.
There are fewer talented veterans on this team than Self would like. But if Stokes and Kinney can perform, it still might be enough for the Jayhawks to compete for the conference with Arizona and Houston.
1. Arizona Wildcats
After a great Final Four run in 2025-26, the Wildcats are still the favorite in the conference this season. Arizona was able to retain Tommy Lloyd despite overtures from North Carolina, and this will be a key factor in making sure the new players can meld with the returning players for the team.
With three of their main contributors gone, including Koa Peat, hyped five-star freshman Caleb Holt will lead the way and has the projection to be another great two-way guard for Arizona.Â
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