Preseason Big 12 basketball poll: Coaches pick Kansas to win conference, Arizona gets 1 vote

Nine Big 12 men’s basketball coaches picked the Kansas Jayhawks to win the conference in a preseason poll revealed Thursday.

The Arizona Wildcats got the fifth-most points and a single vote by a coach picking them to win the league. Houston, Iowa State and Baylor were picked ahead of the former Pac-12 team and behind the Jayhawks.

It’s the 20th time in 28 seasons that KU has been atop the preseason poll.

The Arizona State Sun Devils were picked to finish 12th in the expanded 16-team league, while fellow former Pac-12 clubs Colorado and Utah were picked 15th and 16th, respectively.

Arizona senior guard Caleb Love was the only Wildcat or Sun Devil to make an All-Big 12 team, joining projected Big 12 Player of the Year Hunter Dickinson of Kansas on the First Team.

Baylor’s Jeremy Roach, a Duke transfer, and Kansas State’s Coleman Hawkins, who previously played at Illinois, earned the Preseason Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Year honor.

Baylor freshman V.J. Edgecombe, a potential NBA lottery pick, was named Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the year.

Preseason Big 12 men’s basketball poll

1. Kansas (9 first-place votes) – 215 points
2. Houston (5) – 211
3. Iowa State (1) – 194
4. Baylor – 185
5. Arizona (1) – 179
6. Cincinnati – 140
7. Texas Tech – 135
8. Kansas State – 133
9. BYU – 116
10. TCU – 90
11. UCF – 83
12. Arizona State – 64
13. West Virginia – 62
14. Oklahoma State – 46
15. Colorado – 37
16. Utah – 30

Preseason All-Big 12 First Team

Caleb Love, Arizona
LJ Cryer, Houston
J’Wan Roberts, Houston
Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State
Hunter Dickinson, Kansas*
*- unanimous selection

Preseason All-Big 12 Second Team

Norchad Omier, Baylor
Jeremy Roach, Baylor
Keshon Gilbert, Iowa State
Dajuan Harris Jr., Kansas
Coleman Hawkins, K-State

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