Bears picked over Jayhawks in preseason Big 12 poll

By Matt Tait Oct 29, 2020

Nick Krug

Baylor guard Jared Butler (12) gets around Kansas guard Marcus Garrett (0) as he heads to the bucket during the second half on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020 at Allen Fieldhouse.

For the first time in 10 years, a program other than Kansas has been picked to win the Big 12 men’s basketball title in 2020-21.

The Baylor Bears, many people’s preseason pick to be the No. 1 team in the country, edged out KU at the top of the Big 12 coaches poll on Thursday, picking up six more points (79-73) and four more first-place votes (7-3) than the second-place Jayhawks.

It marks the first time in school history that the Bears have been picked to win the conference and sets the stage for the two teams who battled it out for the 2019-20 title to deliver an encore performance during the upcoming season.

Kansas, which recently set an NCAA record with 14 consecutive regular season conference titles from 2005-18, has been picked to finish atop the Big 12 standings 19 times in the 25-year history of the conference.

In addition, KU has won 19 of the past 24 league titles, including last season’s title with a 17-1 record.

The Jayhawks’ only Big 12 loss during the 2019-20 season came to Baylor at home. And the Jayhawks got revenge for that setback with a win in Waco, Texas, later in the season, when the Bears were ranked No. 1 in the national polls.

Baylor finished the 2019-20 conference season two games behind Kansas at 15-3.

The league’s top two teams are scheduled for two more clashes this season, with KU traveling to Baylor on Jan. 18, 2021 for a Big Monday battle in Waco, and the Jayhawks hosting the Bears on Feb. 27, 2021 in the regular season finale for both teams.

Bob Huggins’ West Virginia squad was picked to finish in third place with 61 points, with Texas (58) and Texas Tech (53) rounding out the top five.

Oklahoma (39), Oklahoma State (35), Iowa State (19), TCU (18) and Kansas State (15) made up the bottom half of the preseason picks.

Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams, therefore each ballot consisted of just nine teams, with nine points going to first place, eight to second and so on down the line.

The Big 12 season is slated to open in mid-December, with all 10 teams playing two conference games before the end of the season.

KU will open at Texas Tech on Dec. 17 and will play host to West Virginia on Dec. 22 at Allen Fieldhouse.

The regular season is slated to begin Nov. 25.

2020-21 Big 12 Preseason Poll

1 – Baylor (7), 79

2 – Kansas (3), 73

3 – West Virginia, 61

4 – Texas, 58

5 – Texas Tech, 53

6 – Oklahoma, 39

7 – Oklahoma State, 35

8 – Iowa State, 19

9 – TCU, 18

10 – Kansas State, 15

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.