This article is part of our Conference Preview series.
In terms of which team is going to win the Big 12 regular season championship, this league is boring. Kansas has been winning the Big 12 for longer than I have been writing about college basketball, and there are not a lot of things that have not changed in the last 11 years. There is intrigue in the rest of the league and there may be a team or two that will be able to challenge the Jayhawks. West Virginia could be this year's challenger because coach Bob Huggins brings back a strong squad. Baylor could be interesting, but there is also a chance that Kansas is simply head and shoulders better than the rest of the conference once again. The Player of the Year race should be open, however.
Top Three Players
Jeffrey Carroll (G/F)
The entire first-team all-Big 12 unit absconded for other places, which leaves an opportunity for players to move up. Carroll was a second-team all-Big 12 player after providing 17.5 points and 6.6 rebounds for the Cowboys, who made the NCAA tournament. The backcourt of Jawun Evans and Phil Forte -- who combined for 32.5 points -- are gone, so Carroll will be the primary offensive outlet for new coach Mike Boynton. The 6-foot-6 wing canned 44.4 percent of his 3-pointers in his junior campaign -- a career-best mark. He was particularly effective against Kansas: he averaged 25.0 points and hit eight 3-pointers in the pair of losses to the Jayhawks.
Jevon Carter (G) 
It
In terms of which team is going to win the Big 12 regular season championship, this league is boring. Kansas has been winning the Big 12 for longer than I have been writing about college basketball, and there are not a lot of things that have not changed in the last 11 years. There is intrigue in the rest of the league and there may be a team or two that will be able to challenge the Jayhawks. West Virginia could be this year's challenger because coach Bob Huggins brings back a strong squad. Baylor could be interesting, but there is also a chance that Kansas is simply head and shoulders better than the rest of the conference once again. The Player of the Year race should be open, however.
Top Three Players
Jeffrey Carroll (G/F)The entire first-team all-Big 12 unit absconded for other places, which leaves an opportunity for players to move up. Carroll was a second-team all-Big 12 player after providing 17.5 points and 6.6 rebounds for the Cowboys, who made the NCAA tournament. The backcourt of Jawun Evans and Phil Forte -- who combined for 32.5 points -- are gone, so Carroll will be the primary offensive outlet for new coach Mike Boynton. The 6-foot-6 wing canned 44.4 percent of his 3-pointers in his junior campaign -- a career-best mark. He was particularly effective against Kansas: he averaged 25.0 points and hit eight 3-pointers in the pair of losses to the Jayhawks.
Jevon Carter (G)
It is not going to be fun to play the Mountaineers again. The team forces turnovers at an alarming rate, and Carter is the master thief heading the defense. He led all power conferences with 2.5 steals to go along with 13.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.7 assists. The 6-2 guard was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and could be a candidate for national defensive honors in 2017-18. Carter performed well as West Virginia advanced to the Sweet 16 by hitting 10 3-pointers and averaging 19.0 points in three games. Carter hit 38.9 percent of his 3-pointers as a junior after netting just 31.0 percent of his long-range shots in his first two years. Be careful for a regression to the mean from distance for the senior.
Kenrich Williams (F) 
TCU had a plethora of big bodies for coach Jamie Dixon, but it was the 6-7 Williams who emerged as the team's top rebounder. In 2016-17, he was second in the Big 12 with 9.3 rebounds to go with 11.4 points and 1.5 steals. The Horned Frogs have the majority of their NIT Championship team returning, but Williams is the most valuable player because he had 19 double-doubles. The senior also put up a triple-double in the win over Richmond in the NIT Quarterfinals with 11 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists. He had double-doubles in all five games of the lesser postseason tournament and will spring into 2017-18 looking to continue his upswing.
Top Newcomers
Billy Preston (F)
Other than the Joel Embiid-Andrew Wiggins class, coach Bill Self has not been quite in the upper echelon when it comes to recruiting. He is more of a molder of players. That being said, we should not discount his ability to find excellent players, and it appears that the 6-10 Preston is the next in line. The Jayhawks only return Udoka Azubuike (who missed all but 11 games with a broken wrist) to their frontcourt, so there should be plenty of minutes for Preston to bang and score on the interior.
Mo Bamba (C) 
Coach Shaka Smart's second season in Austin did not go well. I thought they would challenge Kansas based on a big lineup, but the team desperately needed a point guard. The Longhorns should be improved with freshman Matt Coleman as field marshal, but it will be the 6-11 Bamba who will anchor the Texas defense. The freshman should lead the Big 12 in shot blocking and will be a top rebounder as well. His offensive arsenal is not apace with his defense, but Bamba will have plenty of chances to clean up errant misses and use his size to dunk over opponents.
Trae Young (G) 
For the past four seasons, Oklahoma did not need to worry about point guard play. They had Jordan Woodard to lead the offense and score when needed. Woodard has left the Sooner barn, but his heir may be Young. The 6-2 freshman guard is a score-first point guard who paced Oklahoma on their summer trip to Australia with 22.3 points, 7.0 assists, and 2.3 steals over four games. It is a fool's errand to put too much stock in exhibition stats, but Young should lead the Sooners in both scoring and assists.
Pair of Sleepers
Donovan Jackson (G)
Iowa State will have an entirely new backcourt in 2017-18. Most notably, Monte Morris has moved on, but may be replaced by freshman Lindell Wigginton. Meanwhile, Jackson enters the season with an opportunity to be the team's leading scorer. He finished last season on a nice scoring roll by averaging 8.1 points and hitting 58.5 percent of his 3-pointers over the last 10 games. For the season, Jackson averaged 6.4 points and hit 45.4 percent of his long-range shots. With so many offensive opportunities, Jackson should at least double his scoring output from last season.
Nuni Omot (F) 
The Bears were one of the nicest surprises of the 2016-17 season. They were unranked in the preseason and moved up the charts by winning 20 of their first 21 games. Baylor leveled off in Big 12 play with six losses, but they could be a surprise team again in the new season. Omot is a 6-9 stretch power forward who averaged 4.0 points in 11.2 minutes off the Bear bench. He only hit 31.0 percent of his 3-pointers, but attempted more than half of his shots from the perimeter. This year's squad appears to be a guard-oriented team led by Manu Lacomte and Jake Lindsey. Omot could offer some offensive balance.
