West Virginia picked 11th in Big 12 preseason poll

Voters selected West Virginia’s men’s basketball team 11th in the Big 12 preseason poll, which was released Thursday.

The Mountaineers finished 19-13 overall last season and 10-10 in the Big 12. They lost to Colorado in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. They are set to open the 2025-26 season under first-year coach Ross Hodge.

Houston, which played in the national championship game last winter, was tabbed as the Big 12 favorite after being selected No. 2 in its first two seasons in the conference. Houston received 14 of the 16 first-place votes.

BYU, Texas Tech, Arizona and Iowa State rounded out the top five, followed by Kansas, Baylor, Cincinnati, Kansas State and TCU.

Texas Tech’s JT Toppin was named Preseason Player of the Year, returning to Lubbock after capturing postseason player of the year honors in 2024-25 when he averaged 18.2 points and 9.4 rebounds.

Kansas’ Darryn Peterson was picked as the Preseason Freshman of the Year after averaging 30.4 points per game at Napa Christian High School.

Texas Tech’s LeJuan Watts, a Washington State transfer who averaged 13.7 points and 6.7 rebounds, was picked as the Preseason Newcomer of the Year.

Big 12 preseason poll

Houston (14) - 224

BYU (1) - 204

Texas Tech - 200

Arizona (1) - 179

Iowa State - 170

Kansas - 163

Baylor - 137

Cincinnati - 120

K-State - 117

TCU - 90

West Virginia - 79

Oklahoma State - 77

Utah - 50

UCF - 39

Colorado - 37

Arizona State - 34

Preseason All-Big 12 Team

AJ Dybantsa, BYU*

Richie Saunders, BYU

Emanuel Sharp, Houston

Joseph Tugler, Houston

Milos Uzan, Houston*

Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State

Darryn Peterson, Kansas*

P.J. Haggerty, K-State

Christian Anderson, Texas Tech

JT Toppin, Texas Tech*

*-unanimous selection

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