Big 12 Basketball Tiers: Were the Kansas Jayhawks Disrespected?

With the official Preseason AP Top 25 out, the social media page College Basketball Report released its conference tier lists. The most recent one posted was the Big 12, and Kansas was placed in the middle of the pack.

CBK Report lists every conference by the same tiers: Tier 1: Juggernauts, Tier 2: Contenders, Tier 3: Good Teams, Tier 4: Mid, Tier 5: Below Average, and Tier 6: Bad.

Big 12 College Basketball Tiers 🏀 pic.twitter.com/LRYMR8Eeut
— College Basketball Report (@CBKReport) October 20, 2025

Most tiers have multiple teams. However, for the Big 12, Houston stands alone in Tier 1. This is an agreeable rating.

Since the Cougars joined the conference in 2023, they have made their mark and consistently dominated it.

Tier 2 for the Big 12 rankings consists of Texas Tech, BYU, Iowa State, and Arizona. It could easily be argued that Tech could hang in the Tier 1 rankings.

Some may be wondering where the Kansas Jayhawks are. Well, you would have to wait for Tier 3 to find them.

The list of Tier 3 teams is Kansas and Baylor. It is an interesting rating for Baylor, as it lost all of last year’s team, but Scott Drew still built the Bears back up.

As far as the rating for Kansas, the Jayhawks seem to find themselves flying under the radar, which is unsurprising, as Kansas has underperformed in past years.

Tier 4 includes Cincinnati, Oklahoma State, and Kansas State. Tier 5 includes TCU, West Virginia, and UCF. And finally, Tier 6 includes Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah.

Kansas On SI's Verdict

Although the Jayhawks have had two very brutal seasons before this upcoming one, I still believe the Jayhawks are viewed as underrated across all platforms.

I am glad to see Kansas is not highly rated, but they still deserve more credit. The offseason was nothing short of a roller coaster with big-time misses and uncertainty for how the squad will round off.

Regardless of how rough it started, Bill Self still managed to bring in a few solid veterans from the transfer portal, and a loaded freshman class led by none other than Darryn Peterson.

I feel this team has a lot more potential than some people think. Sure, some areas need to be improved, but every team has those.

Peterson is as good as advertised, and Kohl Rosario, Samis Calderon, and Bryson Tiller have impressed analysts and staff. The veterans brought in, such as Tre White and Melvin Council Jr., will bring high energy and help keep the team in check. This Jayhawks team will look different, yet way more exciting to watch than in previous years.

Kansas will compete in the Big 12 and should be listed in Tier 2. I don’t want to over hype this team, but I truly believe that the Jayhawks could finish top three in the conference.