1. Kansas

At this point, Kansas winning the Big 12 is all but etched on the trophy each preseason. Despite losing stars Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid, the Jayhawks bring in top recruits Cliff Alexander and Kelly Oubre to aid returning players Perry Ellis and Wayne Selden. Bill Self’s knack for putting together championship-caliber teams does not seem to be ending any time soon.

2. Texas

Not only does Texas return nearly all of their talent from last year’s team, but it adds the nation’s No. 2 recruit in Myles Turner and four star recruit Jordan Barnett. Last year’s Big 12 Coach of the Year, Rick Barnes, will have plenty of talent to work with and will likely end up being one of the biggest teams in terms of size in the conference.

3. Iowa State

No Big 12 team had a better March than the Cyclones last season, winning the conference tournament before making a Sweet 16 run that ended in a five-point loss to eventual national champion UConn without star Georges Niang. Fred Hoiberg’s transfer experiment has yet to fail and this season’s crop addresses one of the few deficiencies Hoiberg team’s have had in past years: Size.

4. Oklahoma

If transfer TaShawn Thomas is ruled eligible to play by the NCAA, Oklahoma will be a dark horse to win the Big 12. The star transfer from Houston is expected to be one of the best transfers in college basketball. Returning stars Buddy Hield and Ryan Spangler will lead a Sooners team that finished second in the Big 12 last season.

5. Kansas State

The Wildcats return one of last season’s best freshman in the nation, Marcus Foster, and All-Big 12 Honorable Mention Thomas Gipson to a Kansas State team that finished fifth in the Big 12 last season. Add to that junior college transfer Stephen Hurt, who was listed as the No. 3 overall JUCO recruit by 247sports.com, and the Wildcats end up being one of the deepest teams in the conference.

6. West Virginia

All the hype surrounding All-Big 12 First Teamer Juwan Staten is well-deserved — he does it all. Averaging 18.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game, the Mountaineers have the conference’s most well-rounded player heading into the season. His supporting cast, however, is less proven, making West Virginia hard to gauge.

7. Baylor

Losing Isaiah Austin, Brady Heslip and Cory Jefferson may prove difficult for the Bears as the trio accounted for nearly half of the team’s points last season. Austin was one of the Big 12’s best defenders and without any true impact players coming in, the Bears will likely take a step back from their 2013-14 season that featured a late-season surge.

8. Oklahoma State

The good news for Oklahoma State is they return last season’s co-Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year, Phil Forte. The bad news? He is likely the team’s best player after being the team’s spark off the bench last season. Losing the team’s core of Marcus Smart, Markel Brown and Kamari Murphy means it will likely be a rebuilding year in Stillwater.

9. Texas Christian

The team that didn’t win a Big 12 game last season may have one of the biggest turnarounds in the conference if the team can stay healthy and transfers perform as expected. The loss of Jarvis Ray will likely be remedied by the talent the Horned Frogs gain and Trent Johnson may finish better than last place for the first time at TCU.

10. Texas Tech

The Red Raiders were the only team without a player represented on any All-Big 12 team or honorable mentions. Even worse, they lose five key players including two due to transferring. There are not many positives to find surrounding the program and the only thing that may keep Texas Tech in the headlines will be fans getting in altercations with players. Let’s just hope it’s not their own this year.