Even though the Big 12 didn’t come away with a national championship in basketball this season, that doesn’t take away from everything the conference has done for the sport.
To me, there is no conference in the country that is better than the Big 12 from top to bottom. The depth of the Big 12 is unmatched and multiple times a week, there is always a big time top 25 matchup. Don’t believe me? Just look how many times the Big 12 took over Big Monday on ESPN.
Over the last seven seasons, we have seen the Big 12 represented four times in the national championship game. And twice, the conference has come away with titles thanks to Baylor (2021) and Kansas (2022).
The reason we there are so many great teams in the Big 12? Look no further than the talent on the floor. Even when the conference said goodbye to Texas and Oklahoma, they were able to bring in some power programs like BYU and Arizona. The Big 12 didn’t lose anything, in fact, they got better.
Now with the 2026 NBA Draft in the rear view, it’s easy to see why the conference was so loaded this season. The Big 12 had 13 players taken in two rounds which set a record for the conference that has stood for 16 years.
Just in the first round alone, the Big 12 had nine players taken, which was also a new record. The nine first-round picks were the third most by any conference in NBA Draft history as BYU’s AJ Dybantsa and KU’s Darryn Peterson gave the Big 12 the first and second overall picks in the same draft for the first time ever.
Nobody else in the country had more players selected in the NBA Draft than the Big 12 this year. That shouldn’t be a shock to anyone considering how great the conference was this past season. It’s not if the Big 12 is going to win a national championship, it’s when the Big 12 is going to win a national championship. Don’t be surprised to see one of the teams from the conference win it all in 2027.
