With the Cougar’s Alamo Bowl victory on Saturday, the BYU 2024 football season has officially come to a close. While we wait until next September, we can now shift most of our BYU attention to basketball season, where head coach Kevin Young looks to build a new foundation in his first year at the helm.
But it certainly won’t be easy, and especially not in the Big 12. With the conference schedule set to kick off this week, let’s take a look at how each Big 12 team stacks up after almost two months of non-conference play.
1. Iowa State (10-1)
Expectations were sky-high for this Cyclones team after a couple of really good years, and so far, they have delivered. They were two points away from beating arguably the best team in the country in Auburn, but still have good wins over Marquette, Dayton, and Iowa. Keshon Gilbert, Curtis Jones, and Milan Momilovic have all made significant improvements, while Tamin Lipsey continues to run the show at point guard.
Iowa State remains just as tough defensively as they were last year while being able to score much better. Ames should have its eyes set on cutting down some nets in April.
2. Kansas (9-2)
It hasn’t been the prettiest start for the Jayhawks, with losses to Creighton and rival Missouri as evidence that they could be lower on this list. But Kansas put together a pretty tough non-conference slate and has some good wins to show for it, including victories over Duke, Michigan State, North Carolina, and NC State.
Hunter Dickinson will continue to be the main offensive focus, but they added quite a few shooters through the transfer portal to bolster their attack. If it all comes together, they could be as dangerous as anyone. But until that happens, there could be some head-scratching performances in Lawrence.
3. Cincinnati (10-1)
While KU loaded up their schedule but has looked a little iffy, Cincinnati has cruised through a much easier set of games. Their lone loss came to a poor Villanova team, but the Bearcats quickly got back on track with wins over Xavier and Dayton. Simas Lukosius has led Cincinnati so far, shooting 42% from deep, but All-Name Team player Jizzle James has also been incredible at the point, dishing out over five assists per game.
4. Houston (8-3)
While longtime Cougar Jamal Shead may be in the NBA now, Houston’s brutal defense has gone nowhere. The Coogs just barely lost their two big non-con games against Auburn and Alabama, so they’ll have to prove themselves once conference play starts this week. It’ll take one of BYU’s best offensive performances of the season to beat them down in Texas this Saturday.
5. Baylor (8-3)
Similarly to Houston, Baylor loaded up their schedule, but unfortunately lost most of their big games, including being run out of the gym against Gonzaga to start the season. But Scott Drew’s team won’t stay quiet for long. 5-star prospect VJ Edgecombe should get better as the season progresses, while Duke transfer Jeremy Roach should also get it going here soon.
6. BYU (9-2)
Things were ugly in a blowout loss to Providence, but this Cougar offense can be really good when things are humming. Egor Demin is must-watch TV, while the frontcourt combo of Keba Keita and Fousseyni Traore can dominate inside. The defense will have to get better though, as sitting at #74 on KenPom won’t cut it.
7. West Virginia (9-2)
The Mountaineers took down the same Gonzaga team that destroyed Baylor but dropped games to Pittsburgh and Louisville in November. Still, West Virginia could probably lose out the rest of the season and still appreciate the progress that Darian DeVries has brought in his first year in Morgantown. Tucker DeVries hasn’t lost a step in his move to the Big 12 either, as the guard is shooting 47% from three on almost seven attempts per game. That is insane.
8. Texas Tech (9-2)
You can’t fault the Red Raiders too much for losing to a great Texas A&M team, while a one-point loss to St. Joseph’s is their other loss on the season. With Pop Isaacs now playing at Creighton, Darrion Williams has successfully taken charge in Lubbock, averaging over 16 points a game in his junior season.
9. UCF (9-2)
The Knights took down Texas A&M to open the season, but that was nearly two months ago, and they haven’t done much since. They’ll have two great chances this week though, as games against Texas Tech and Kansas will give UCF the chance to prove that their opening win was not a fluke.
10. Utah (8-3)
The Runnin’ Utes look to be much improved this season, although it will be difficult to tell until they’ve played a few conference games. Senior Gabe Madsen has gotten better every year, now averaging nearly 19 points per game for Craig Smith’s offense.
11. Arizona (6-5)
The Wildcats are at a worst case scenario start after having already lost their fifth game of the season to UCLA a couple of weeks ago. Still, U of A has absolutely destroyed the lesser competition they have faced, while they just haven’t been able to close out in some of their bigger games.
12. Arizona State (9-2)
BYU fans are well familiar with ASU’s early opponents, as the Sun Devils took down WCC power St. Mary's, but lost to the other one in Gonzaga. Bobby Hurley currently has five players scoring in double figures, which should help their depth through the Big 12 grind.
13. Colorado (9-2)
The Buffs lost some talented players this past summer, as Cody Williams and Tristan da Silva were selected in the first round of the NBA draft. But it didn’t matter when Colorado shocked UConn in Maui, and maybe took a few years off of Dan Hurley’s life in the process. Ugly losses to Michigan State and Iowa State show they’ve got some work to do to compete with the top of this conference.
14. TCU (7-4)
The Horned Frogs have been ice-cold shooting the ball from deep so far, shooting just 32%, including a 6% showing in an ugly loss to Santa Clara. Their win over Xavier keeps them out of the basement of these rankings, for now.
15. Oklahoma State (8-3)
It’ll be a season full of baby steps in Stillwater following a disastrous 2024 campaign last season. Steve Lutz does seem to have the Cowboys playing a little better though, thanks to Xavier transfer Abou Ousmane. They’ll need former five-star prospect Bryce Thompson to find some consistency in what will now be his fifth season.
16. Kansas State (6-5)
Jerome Tang’s Elite Eight run of 2023 now seems like a distant memory to some K-State fans. The Wildcats have now lost three in a row and it could be just the beginning. Transfers Coleman Hawkins and Achor Achor haven’t lived up to expectations thus far, while the rest of the roster was designed to complement, not cover for them.