IRVING, Texas – The Monster Energy Big 12 Men’s Basketball Media Preseason Poll was released Thursday with Arizona being selected as the favorite to repeat as Conference champion in 2026-27.
The Wildcats swept the Big 12 regular season and tournament championships a year ago en route to their first Final Four appearance in 25 years.
Members of the media picked Houston to finish as league runner-up and Kansas, Texas Tech and Iowa State to round out the Conference’s top five. BYU was also projected to finish sixth. The top six teams in the media poll all appeared in the AP Top 25 preseason rankings (No. 5 Arizona, No. 10 Houston, No. 17 Kansas, No. 18 Iowa State, No. 19 Texas Tech, No. 25 BYU). The full media poll is below.
Monster Energy Big 12 Men’s Basketball Media Preseason Poll
- Arizona
- Houston
- Kansas
- Texas Tech
- Iowa State
- BYU
- Baylor
- TCU
- Cincinnati
- West Virginia
- Oklahoma State
- Arizona State
- UCF
- K-State
- Colorado
- Utah
Arizona was also picked as the favorite to win the Conference in the
Monster Energy Big 12 Men’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The league’s coaches picked Arizona’s Motiejus Krivas as Preseason Player of the Year, Arizona State’s Paulius Murauskas as Preseason Newcomer of the Year and Kansas’ Tyran Stokes as Preseason Freshman of the Year.
The Monster Energy Big 12 Men’s Basketball season will tip off on Monday, Nov. 2, with 15 of the league’s 16 teams in action.