10. Baylor Bears
12. Auburn Tigers
16. Texas A&M Aggies
19. Indiana Hoosiers
22. Texas Longhorns
25. Miami Hurricanes
28. BYU Cougars
29. Maryland Terps
31. UCLA Bruins
32. Oregon Ducks
34. Florida Gators
35. Ole Miss
36. USC Trojans
39. Mississippi State Bulldogs
41. Memphis Tigers
42. McNeese Cowboys
45. VCU Rams
46. Dayton Flyers
47. St Mary’s Gaels
49. UCF Knights
52. Clemson Tigers
53. New Mexico Lobos
58. SMU Mustangs
60. Nevada Wolfpack
61. TCU Horned Frogs
63. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
65. Syracuse Orange
68. Iowa Hawkeyes
70. Butler Bulldogs
71. Princeton Tigers
74. Oklahoma Sooners
75. West Virginia Mountaineers
76. Georgia Bulldogs
77. UAB Blazers
80. Missouri Tigers
Here’s where our TCH analysts have the Huskies ranked:
| Steven | Maxwell | Kam | Cody |
| 2 | 6 | 4 | 4 |
Kansas, the preseason #1 team, is on a quest to make their 35th straight trip to the NCAA tournament. Despite going 23-11, Bill Self would probably consider last season a failure. Kansas is coming off a Round of 32 appearance where they were blown out by Gonzaga and the 4th seed they received was tied for the lowest seed they were in March Madness since 2000. Needless to say, Bill Self’s 10-8 Big 12 record is the worst he’s ever finished as Kansas’ head coach. That’s a testament to the depth of the Big 12 over the last few seasons, and this year is no different. If there’s anything that this 82 in 72 exercise has illustrated, it’s that there’s a a lot of REALLY good teams in the Big 12. In the preseason AP Poll alone, three of the top five ranked teams are in the Big 12, and five of the top ten.
It can’t be emphasized the success of Bill Self at Kansas. After winning the national championship in 2008 and 2022, this could be Self’s best team yet. Back for his fifth season is point guard, Dajuan Harris. Harris is a three time All Big 12 selection and three time Big 12 Defensive team selection. Harris also won Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2023. The other graduate student alongside Harris is big man, Hunter Dickinson. Dickinson, who played his first three years at Michigan before transferring to Kansas last season, averaged nearly 18 points and 11 rebounds last season on his way to be a Second Team All-American for a second time. Dickinson is the second player in NCAA history to be an All-American at two different schools, as he earned the honor in 2021 as a freshman at Michigan. The duo of Harris and Dickinson is one of the Big 12’s elite duos. Additionally, there’s also KJ Adams, a two-time All-Big 12 honorable mentions. Adams is the third returning player to this Kansas squad. Every other rotation player is a transfer or incoming freshman.
The first of many impact transfers is Wisconsin’s AJ Storr. Storr averaged nearly 17 points per game and was Wisconsin’s leading scorer last season. There’s also Rylan Griffen, a 39% three point shooter from Alabama. The sixth man will be Zeke Mayo who averaged 19/6/4 for South Dakota State last season. Mayo is a Kansas native. In fact, Mayo went to Lawrence High School. The final impactful transfer is Shakeel Moore from Mississippi State. Moore transferred to Kansas after sophomore guard, Elmarko Jackson, went down for the season with an injury. Finally, there’s 5 star freshman Flory Bidunga and 4 star freshman Rakease Passmore. Bidunga was the #17 recruit in the 2024 class while Passmore is #42, according to On3.
As already stated, the Big 12 is deep. But this roster is deep enough to sustain the rigorous of playing in the Big 12. Aside from their Big 12 conference schedule, there’s also a home game against UNC, a neutral against Michigan State and Duke, and an away game at Creighton. While Dickinson will be the focal point of the offense, it’ll be a rotating cast of characters that will be the biggest contributors behind him. Any of these players are capable of catching fire at any point, and that’s partially what makes this team so dangerous.
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