We’ve officially crossed into November, which means college basketball season is just around the corner.
Non-conference games have commenced and we’ll be eating, sleeping and breathing college basketball for the next handful of months, But first, we’ve got to preview what to expect from the Power 5 conferences as well as take a look at the mid-major landscape.
The Big 12 conference was highly respected coming into the 2022-23 college basketball season. With two teams in the AP’s Top 5 and five altogether in the Top 25, the conference has a lot of expectations to live up to.
Let’s break down the Big 12 men’s basketball conference and highlight which players to watch and which team you shouldn’t sleep on before predicting which school will be crowned the conference’s regular-season champion.
Players to Watch
Adam Flagler (guard) – Baylor Bears
Since arriving in Waco, Adam Flager has seen his role and responsibility rise with each passing season. He was a contributing role player off of the bench during Baylor’s national championship-winning season (2020-21), averaging 9.1 points in 22.8 minutes per game. Last season, he moved into the starting lineup and became the team’s leading scorer (13.8 ppg). And now, he’s primed to become a Big 12 Player of the Year candidate in his senior season. Make sure to tune in to see how he fills it up from three and perhaps how he develops as a playmaker in what should be another deep NCAA Tournament run for the Bears.
Grant Sherfield (guard) – Oklahoma Sooners
Grant Sherfield has been one of the better and more fun point guards to watch in college basketball. He really hit college basketball’s national scene during the 2020-21 season with Nevada, but the Wolf Pack underachieved drastically last season, which took Sherfield out of the spotlight. But, now he’s at Oklahoma and in the Big 12 where plenty of eyes will be on him. Yours should certainly be as well.
Gradey Dick (guard) – Kansas Jayhawks
So, Kansas wins a national championship and then brings in one of the top recruits of the 2022 high school class. Must be nice.
Gradey Dick’s transition to the college game is already going well. He’s as smooth as they come and has some variety in how he puts the ball in the basket — the jumper is effective, there are no wasted movements when attacking off the bounce, and he will always find his way to the rim in transition. Just another talented kid entering Lawrence that Bill Self will groom and have playing winning basketball.
Timmy Allen (forward) – Texas Longhorns
Texas failed to meet expectations last season, and if they’re going to rebound in 2022-23, Timmy Allen’s play will be critical. In his second year at Texas, Allen has got to show his all-around game that made him one of the top transfers in the nation following his three seasons at Utah. I think we get that version of Allen as the season rolls on.
Sleeper Team
TCU Horned Frogs
When searching for a sleeper, the only correct answer in the Big 12 is TCU. How could you not get excited about this group when looking back on how its season ended back in March? The Horned Frogs only made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament but hammered higher-seeded Seton Hall by nearly 30 points before falling in overtime to the region’s No. 1 seed, Arizona. That TCU team’s top-six leaders in points and minutes per game are all on the 2022-23 roster, giving Jamie Dixon one of the more cohesive squads in college basketball.
Expectations are high in Fort Worth.
Conference Champion
Kansas Jayhawks
Kansas doesn’t have the most cohesive unit in the conference — that title probably belongs to TCU — and the Jayhawks don’t have a projected NBA lottery pick as Baylor does with Keyonte George. However, KU does have Bill Self, which may be as important as anything else in the Big 12.
Self has proven for years to be one of the best coaches in the sport and he will surely continue to put each of his players in the best positions that allow for team success. That’s with Kevin McCullar Jr. transferring in from Texas Tech, the insertion of high school standout Gradey Dick and guys like Jalen Wilson and Dejuan Harris junior stepping into more vital roles. Whatever buttons require pushing, Self will do so to put KU in a position to finish atop the standings.
