Texas Tech is the preseason pick to win the Big 12, at least in the eyes of the league’s beat writers.
In a media poll released Monday morning and compiled by the Tulsa World, the Red Raiders landed 14 of the 16 first-place votes from writers representing each of the Big 12’s 16 schools. BYU picked up the other two votes and finished second in the voting.
Arizona and Houston were deadlocked for third, just ahead of Utah in fifth. TCU checked in sixth, followed by Arizona State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Baylor and Cincinnati.
Kansas was slotted 12th in the 16-team field, finishing ahead of West Virginia, UCF, Colorado and Iowa State.
The Big 12 no longer has an official preseason poll after abolishing it before the 2025 season, so this unofficial ranking offers an early look at how the conference is being sized up.
The poll used a 16-15-14-13-12-11 scoring system, and the full order went like this:
- Texas Tech, 254 (14)
- BYU, 239 (2)
T3. Arizona, 207
T3. Houston, 207
- Utah, 198
- TCU, 166
- Arizona State, 161
- Kansas State, 158
- Oklahoma State, 124
- Baylor, 88
- Cincinnati, 85
- Kansas, 79
- West Virginia, 76
- UCF, 68
- Colorado, 40
- Iowa State, 26
The voters were Eric Bailey of the Tulsa World; Jason Batacao of The Salt Lake Tribune; Mike Casazza of EerSports (247Sports); Jay Drew of the Deseret News; Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle; Michelle Gardner of The Arizona Republic; Henry Greenstein of the Lawrence Journal-World; Ben Hutchens of the Quad-City Times; Steven Johnson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram; Matt Murschel of the Orlando Sentinel; Leo Rivera of BuffStampede.com (On3); Kellis Robinett of The Kansas City Star/The Wichita Eagle; Jason Scheer of WildcatAuthority.com (247Sports); Zach Smith of the Waco Tribune-Herald; Scott Springer of The Cincinnati Enquirer; and Don Williams of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
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