The Big 12 Preseason Poll was released and it was predicted that Texas Tech will finish 3rd:
1. Houston (14) – 224
2. BYU (1) – 204
3. Texas Tech – 200
4. Arizona (1) – 179
5. Iowa State – 170
6. Kansas – 163
7. Baylor – 137
8. Cincinnati – 120
9. K-State – 117
10. TCU – 90
11. West Virginia – 79
12. Oklahoma State – 77
13. Utah – 50
14. UCF – 39
15. Colorado – 37
16. Arizona State – 34
I don’t know what these teams are necessarily going to be. I tend to think that Kansas is underrated, but I don’t know who I would move out that’s already ahead of Kansas. For me, the wildcard is Arizona, they have a ton of freshmen (very talented ones) and Kansas, which simply hasn’t been able to figure out the transfer situation for the last couple of years. Maybe just not the right mix of players with the Jayhawks, but Peterson is the #2 player in the nation, right behind BYU’s Dybantsa.
In addition to the predicted finish, the Preseason All-Big 12 Team was released with JT Toppin and Christian Anderson receiving honors:
Preseason All-Big 12 Team
*AJ Dybantsa, BYU
*Milos Uzan, Houston
*Darryn Peterson, Kansas
*JT Toppin, Texas Tech
Richie Saunders, BYU
Emanuel Sharp, Houston
Joseph Tugler, Houston
Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State
P.J. Haggerty, K-State
Christian Anderson, Texas Tech
*-unanimous selection
JT Toppin was picked to be the Preseason Player of the Year and LeJuan Watts was picked to be the Preseason Newcomer of the Year, which considering the huge number of newcomers seems crazy to think that he’s going to come in and basically replace Darrion Williams and his production. Kansas State’s Haggerty would be another player that will likely receive Newcomer of the Year votes. I have no idea how AJ Dybantsa wasn’t picked as the Preseason Freshman of the Year, but Peterson is going to be pretty special for Kansas and receive a ton of playing time.
Preseason Player of the Year: JT Toppin, Texas Tech
Preseason Newcomer of the Year: LeJuan Watts, Texas Tech
Preseason Freshman of the Year: Darryn Peterson, Kansas
Media availability of Donovan Atwell and LeJuan Watts:
Episode 1 of Toughest Team Wins.