This season's Big 12 is a powerhouse, one that will never be seen again in college basketball – NCAA.com

🏆 Clemson wins DI men's soccer national championship
🏀 Tennessee, OU soar in new Power 36 men's rankings
🐻 Baylor joins women's hoops power rankings
So here we have a true one-and-done — the Big 12 conference. At least this Big 12 conference. BYU and Cincinnati and Houston and UCF have arrived while Oklahoma and Texas haven’t left yet, and the Pac-12 wave is not due until next year. The current league lineup will pass this way but once.
And are they ever making the most of it. Is there a beefier league out there? The race should be as raucous as a game day in Lawrence, so behold the one, the only, the here-today-and-gone-tomorrow 2023-24 Big 12:
Six of this week’s Associated Press top-19 are members, including Nos. 2 Kansas, 4 Houston and 6 Baylor. Six of the top 15 of the current NCAA NET rankings carry the Big 12 label — the above three plus BYU, Oklahoma and Iowa State.
👉 Take a look at which teams landed in new AP poll
Only seven unbeatens remain. Three call the Big 12 home — Houston, Baylor and Oklahoma, with a combined record of 28-0.
Texas, at 7-2, is ranked No. 19 in this week’s AP poll, but that’s only the 10th-best record at the moment in the Big 12.
Big 12 members have played 127 games so far against the outside world. They have won 102 of them, for an 80.3 percentage — the best in the land. Name a team, any team, and there is something extraordinary — or at least unusual — to say.
Houston . . .
Has brought its suffocating ways to the Big 12 table. The Cougars are No. 1 in the nation in scoring defense and turnover margin, have held eight of 10 opponents to 55 points or under, and in 20 halves of play, have allowed more than 30 points only four times. They have outscored teams 234-80 in points off turnovers. If the Big 12 wanted a new face against whom nothing is ever easy, it has one.
Kansas . . .
Leads the country with 22.1 assists a game, setting up 74 percent of the Jayhawks field goals. No wonder they’re shooting 52.7 percent, second best in Division I. Hunter Dickinson is No. 1 in the country with 12.6 rebounds a game. Here is why that area is important: Kansas has won 58 games in a row when outrebounding its opponent. Kevin McCullar Jr. is the only Division I men’s player in America with two triple-doubles, becoming the seventh player in NCAA history to do it back-to-back.
Baylor . . .
Is a close second in the nation in 3-point shooting, and is outscoring opponents by 84 points from beyond the arc. This from the Omen Dept: The Bears led the nation in 3-point shooting in 2020-21. They also won the national championship. They’re now 27-11 against ranked teams in the past four seasons, including 16-5 away from home, and are in the AP top 10 for the fifth consecutive year. Duke and Kansas are the only other schools who can say that.
🔄 RECAP: Nobody’s safe after an upset-filled weekend in men’s basketball
BYU . . .
The Big 12 welcomed the Cougars aboard, then voted them to finish 13th in the league. But at last count, BYU was No. 3 in the NET rankings, second in the nation in average scoring margin and 3-pointers a game and third in rebound margin. The Cougars are also No. 2 in the nation with 40 points a night coming from the bench, and the team’s leading scorer, Jaxson Robinson at 16.9, hasn’t started a game. BYU could stand for Boy, You’re Up (there in age). Four players are married and starting guards Spencer Johnson and Trevin Knell are 26 and 25. That’s older than the backcourt of the Orlando Magic or Oklahoma City Thunder, who are currently second in the NBA Eastern and Western conferences.
Oklahoma . . .
Was voted 12th in the preseason conference poll but hasn’t lost yet. When the Sooners beat Arkansas last weekend, it made them 13-2 vs. the SEC since 2018-19. Remember where they’ll be moving next season.
Texas . . .
Is now serving a Texas-sized slab of Max Abmas. In the past three seasons, the transfer guard was first, fifth and ninth in the nation in scoring at Oral Roberts. His burden is lighter with the Longhorns, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be electric. He’s 102nd nationally at 17.6 points a game. He’s also the leading active career scorer in Division I, which is pretty good for a 6-foot college graduate with a math major.
Iowa State . . .
The Cyclones play highly annoying defense. Ask the Iowa Hawkeyes, who just endured their worst beating ever by their in-state cousins, 90-65. Iowa State is third in the nation in both steals and turnovers forced. Then there’s hometown sophomore phenom Tamin Lipsey and his 15 points, 6.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 3.6 steals a game. He went to high school two miles from Iowa State’s Hilton Coliseum.
3️⃣5️⃣ fun numbers and nuggets from the first month of the men’s college basketball season
Cincinnati . . .
Scored at least 85 points in six consecutive games. The last time the Bearcats did that was the 1959-60 season, led by a senior named Oscar Robertson.
Kansas State . . .
Is 8-2 with four of its wins coming in overtime, including three consecutively, the first time the Wildcats had done that since 1964. You beat Jerome Tang in the first 40 minutes or you don’t beat him at all. In his second season as coach, he’s 9-0 in overtime games, and 25-12 in regulation.
TCU . . .
Who knew Horned Frogs could move so quickly? They lead the nation by a bunch in fast break scoring with 27.5 points a game. Second place is 21.2. TCU also tops Division I with nine players who have scored at least 20 points in a game in their career.
West Virginia . . .
If the 4-5 Mountaineers could only find some depth. The bench has produced but 8.78 points a game. That’s 351st and last on the NCAA stat list.
Oklahoma State . . .
Four of the Cowboys’ five defeats have come by a total of 11 points. That’s how they can be 4-5 and still have the same average scoring margin — plus-6.7 — as 9-0 Ole Miss.
📲 New Power 36 rankings feature Oklahoma, Tennessee
UCF . . .
Might have been picked last for its inaugural Big 12 run but at the moment it has the leading scorer in the conference, Ball State transfer Jaylen Sellers. He puts up 19.6 points a game.
Texas Tech . . .
Is 84-2 in home non-conference games since 2013, with the only losses by two points each to LSU and Kentucky. Welcome to Lubbock.
Now just think what will happen soon when these teams actually start playing each other. “We have been tested,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said, “but we have not been tested like we’re going to be.”
Intriguing questions will abound once this loaded league hits the start line.
📊 SCOREBOARD: Take a look at upcoming matchups
Since 2017, Houston owns the second-highest winning percentage in the nation, behind only Gonzaga. But how’s that going to hold up against a Big 12 schedule that was not exactly a welcoming gift? Houston must go to Kansas, Baylor, BYU, Iowa State and Oklahoma, but only get Kansas and Iowa State at home. Call it an initiation. The road fun starts Jan. 9 when the Cougars get a taste of Hilton Magic at Iowa State.
How high will the rankings be and how loud will the roars be on Feb. 3 when Houston visits Kansas and looks down the business end of Allen Fieldhouse for the first time in 40 years? Or a month later when the Jayhawks go to Houston for the first time since 1983?
Can Baylor take advantage of its scheduling break — no Houston, Iowa State or Oklahoma on the road.
How will the Big 12 establishment from the farmlands do on its BYU swings through the mountains in Provo? First up: Cincinnati.
How will the point machine Max Abmas stand up to the nightly pounding he’s going to get on behalf of Texas in the Big 12?
What kind of farewells do Texas and Oklahoma make on their way out the door?
Who’s next to face that monster — Kansas State in overtime?
Ought to be quite a ride with these 14 teams. The first of its kind, and the last.
Mike Lopresti is a member of the US Basketball Writers Hall of Fame, Ball State journalism Hall of Fame and Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Hall of Fame. He has covered college basketball for 43 years, including 39 Final Fours. He is so old he covered Bob Knight when he had dark hair and basketball shorts were actually short.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NCAA or its member institutions.

source