College Basketball: Iowa State picked 7th in Big 12 pre-season poll

KANSAS CITY – A familiar name is at the top of the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll as Kansas was chosen to win the 2023-24 regular season title in a vote of the Conference’s head coaches.

In 28 seasons, KU has been picked outright or tied for first in 20 preseason ledgers and won or shared the regular season championship in 21 years. A coaches’ preseason poll was not conducted in the Big 12’s first season of 1996-97.

This season marks the first for the Conference to compete with 14 teams. The Jayhawks were the top pick on 12 ballots and totaled 168 points. New Conference member Houston received the other two first-place votes and compiled 153 points. Texas (third), Baylor (fourth) and TCU (fifth) rounded out the top five. The remaining spots were Kansas State (sixth), Iowa State (seventh), Texas Tech (eighth), West Virginia (ninth), Oklahoma State (10th), Cincinnati (11th), Oklahoma (12th), BYU (13th) and UCF (14th).

The Big 12 placed seven of 10 teams in the 2023 NCAA Tournament and captured consecutive national championships in 2021 (Baylor) and 2022 (Kansas). Conference teams played in four consecutive Final Fours from 2018-2022, including three straight national championship games (2019, 2021, 2022).

Head coaches and student-athletes from each team will appear at the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tipoff, presented by Old Trapper in Kansas City, Missouri on Wednesday, October 18. Interviews with Kris Budden, Fran Fraschilla and Hannah Wing will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ from 11:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. CT. A feed of head coaches’ press conferences will be available on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ from 9:10 – 10:50 a.m. CT and 1:30-3:25 p.m. CT. The regular season will start on Monday, November 6 with a full slate of non-conference games.

2023-24 Big 12 Preseason Poll

Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own team.