On Saturday, 247Sports’ Grant Hughes ranked college basketball’s biggest disappointments, a group that featured three members of the Big 12 Conference.
Hughes listed Arizona, Baylor, and Kansas as teams that haven’t met preseason expectations alongside UConn, Arkansas, Gonzaga, North Carolina, and Rutgers.
ARIZONA
“Arizona entered the season at No. 10 in the AP poll but quickly tumbled outside the top 25 with a 3-4 start,” Hughes wrote. “The Wildcats boast one of the best-rebounding frontcourts in the nation but haven’t been able to get anything to go from beyond the arc, ranking No. 299 in the nation in three-point percentage (31.3%). Arizona rebounded this month with back-to-back ranked wins in conference play. The Wildcats’ five losses are the program’s most through 14 games since 2009-10.”
However, Arizona looks like a team that is starting to turn things around. They’ve won six in a row and have started off Big 12 Conference play at 4-0, including Saturday night’s 88-80 win over UCF, and are tied atop the conference standings. The Wildcats are No. 4 in the Big 12 in Margin of Victory at 10.3.
Related: Five Biggest Takeaways From Saturday’s Big 12 Basketball Games
BAYLOR
“Baylor entered the season with Final Four expectations after earning a No. 3 seed in last season’s NCAA Tournament and adding the No. 2 combined high school and transfer portal class in the offseason,” Hughes said. “The Bears got a reality check early with a 38-point loss to Gonzaga in the season-opener, the program’s largest margin of loss ever as a top-10 team (No. 8). Scott Drew and Co. dropped a pair of games in December and fell outside the top 25 last week after a 19-point loss at Iowa State.”
Baylor is another team that may be starting to turn things around. The Bears handled Arizona State on Saturday night 72-66 and are 3-1 in the Big 12, with their only loss coming against a Top 5 Iowa State team, that may be one of the best in the country. The Bears are No. 5 in league play in Margin of Victory at 8.0.
KANSAS
“Kansas entered the season at No. 1 in every major poll but fell outside the top 10 in the latest AP rankings after going 2-3 in the month of December,” Hughes wrote. “All three losses were to unranked teams. Kansas’ 62-61 loss at home to West Virginia on New Year’s Eve snapped the program’s 33-game winning streak in conference openers. The Mountaineers were without second and third-leading scorers Tucker DeVries and Amani Hansberry. Kansas guard AJ Storr rated as the No. 4 overall player in the transfer portal this offseason after averaging 16.8 points per game as a sophomore at Wisconsin in 2023-24. He’s started all 14 games for the Jayhawks this season and is averaging a career-low 7.0 points, along with 1.0 assists and 0.9 turnovers per game.”
Meantime, the Jayhawks handled Cincinnati on Saturday and after losing their Big 12 opener to West Virginia, have won three in a row in the league, improving to a 3-1 record, with their other wins coming vs. UCF and Arizona State. The Jayhawks are No. 2 in Margin of Victory at 20.8 in four Big 12 games, trailing only the Houston Cougars (23.3).
While the trio of Big 12 teams have all had slightly rocky starts to the 2024-25 season, there is still plenty of time for each team to shake off the rust. Each team was featured as tournament participants in Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology update and is expected to reach post-season play.
