While you've still got ample time to bet on March Madness futures on all of the top sports betting apps in your state, it's never too early to break down the tape on who could cut down the nets this season. With that in mind, the team at RotoWire.com utilized the official Big 12 team websites to gather the class (from freshman to graduate) of all players on the active roster as of Sept. 25th. After using the average age for a player in that class, we were able to rank the oldest to youngest Big 12 teams for the 2025-26 season.
Note: This is not an exact average age for each roster due to limited access to player ages. This is used to be an estimate and subject to change based on roster changes.
Oldest to Youngest Big 12 Basketball Teams for 2025
Rank | Team | # of Players | Average Age |
1 |
| 15 | 20.47 |
2 |
| 12 | 20.00 |
T3 |
| 15 | 19.87 |
T3 |
| 15 | 19.87 |
5 |
| 14 | 19.86 |
6 |
| 15 | 19.80 |
7 |
| 14 | 19.79 |
T8 |
| 15 | 19.73 |
T8 |
| 15 | 19.73 |
T8 |
| 15 | 19.73 |
11 |
| 14 | 19.71 |
T12 |
| 16 | 19.63 |
T12 |
| 16 | 19.63 |
14 |
| 16 | 19.50 |
15 |
| 14 | 19.36 |
16 |
| 15 | 18.93 |
Analyzing Oldest and Youngest Big 12 Teams
While only time will tell whether the Houston Cougars can repeat as Big 12 Tournament champs in 2026, for now we can look at the rosters of the 16 teams that compete in the national conference to see what each will look like in the coming season.
One thing that stands out is that Johnny Dawkins will have a veteran-heavy lineup in Orlando this year, as the Knights trot out the oldest roster in the Big 12, with an average age of 20.47 in his ninth season with the program.
While UCF hasn't made the Big Dance since reaching the second round in 2018-19, the Knights did win 20 games last season. But it doesn't look like oddsmakers are expecting great things from the school in 2025, with +10000 odds of winning the Big 12 according to bet365, ranking well behind leaders like Houston (+150), BYU (+350), Kansas (+650), Texas Tech (+700) and Arizona (+1000).
In the case of the Cougars, head coach Kelvin Sampson returns for his 12th season in the Space City with a team that ranks seventh conference-wide with an average age of 19.79. They'll look to reach the NCAA Tournament for the sixth year in a row and possibly bring home the first national title in program history while they're at it after losing to Florida in the championship game in April.
Conversely, the youngest teams in the Big 12 this basketball season are the Colorado Buffaloes, who have an average age of 18.93, followed by the Red Raiders (19.36), Wildcats of Arizona (19.50) and a tie between KU and TCU (19.63 each).
Who Has Dominated the Big 12 Lately?
While Kansas pulled off 14 straight Big 12 regular season titles under head coach Bill Self from 2003-04 through 2018-19, the league's landscape has featured a lot more parity since, with Houston (2025), Iowa State (2019 and 2024), Texas (2021 and 2023) and KU (2018 and 2022) winning the conference tournament in that span.
Last year, the Cougars knocked off the Arizona Wildcats, 72-64, in the Big 12 title game in Kansas City, with Kelvin Sampson and Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd looking to do the same this season.
This year, it'll help Sampson and his staff out that veterans like Milos Uzan, Emanuel Sharp and Joseph Tugler will be back for the Cougars in 2025-26. The the trio started 109 out of a possible 120 games for UH last season, with Sharp (12.6 PPG) and Uzan (11.4 PPG) averaging double-digit scoring for the program, helping to explain why Houston's ranked 2nd nationally in a recent poll compiled by Isaac Trotter of CBS Sports.
In Tucson, the return of guard Jaden Bradley, who was the Wildcats' second-leading scorer last year (with 12.1 PPG in 37 games played), guard Anthony Dell'Orso (who averaged 7.2 PPG in 37 games) and forward Tobe Awaka (who averaged 8.2 PPG and 7.8 rebounds per game last year), along with the arrival of five-star recruits Brayden Burries and Koa Peat has expectations through the roof this season, explaining the Wildcats' lofty stature on preseason odds boards across the country as the 2025-26 NCAA men's basketball season arrives.