Lindy's Ranks Oklahoma State Preseason No. 7 in Big 12

Lindy's Sports released its annual college basketball preview, including a preseason Big 12 ranking that has Oklahoma State at No. 7.

STILLWATER -- While we still don't know all the specific details of the upcoming 2020 college basketball season, such as when or where the start-of-the-season tournaments will be played or who all will be playing, we're inching ever closer to the start.

Something that typically signifies we're getting closer is the release of the Lindy's Sports season preview and that's what we're going to be taking a look at in this article.

Let's start off with what jumped out at me right out of the gate: the preseason conference rankings.

This is how Lindy's ranks the Big 12 going into the season.

1. Baylor
2. Kansas
3. Texas Tech
4. West Virginia 
5. Texas
6. Oklahoma
7. Oklahoma State
8. Iowa State
9. TCU
10. Kansas State

I view this in two ways, both of which I agree with and understand.

Oklahoma State lost four key seniors off the 2019 team, a team that may or may not have made the NCAA tournament if it had been played.

The Pokes enter the 2020 season almost as a new team from top to bottom. Mike Boynton and Co. return Isaac Likekele, Avery Anderson, Chris Harris, Kalib Boone, Keylan Boone and Dee Mitchell, but they lost Yor Anei and Hidde Roessink to the transfer portal, five seniors to graduation and have brought in eight new players in the 2020 class.

That's seven guys out and eight new guys in. So, it's easy to understand why the Pokes are more than half way down the rankings.

However, college basketball is really the only sport where freshmen can come in and make an almost immediate impact and Boynton and Co. brought in a great freshmen class.

They brought in the No. 1 player in the 2020 class, and the United States in Cade Cunningham, and the No. 1 prospect out of Canada in Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe. They also brought in two experienced transfers in Ferron Flavors Jr. and Bryce Williams, who help make up for the lost experience.

Sure, it's a young team, but the talent coming back, plus the addition of the No. 1 overall prospect in the country, and possibly the 2021 NBA Draft has to count for more than just seventh.

Junior point guard Isaac Likekele made the cover of the regional Big 12 cover, and rightfully so. Likekele is going to be one of the top point guards in not just the conference this season, but in all of college basketball and he deserves the recognition.

Likekele suffered a massive setback in 2019 with sitting out a month with mono. It took him a while, but as the season came to a close this past spring, began to look more and more like the pre-sick Likekele and is poised to have a monster junior season.

A few questions I have going into the 2020 season are how will big man Bernard Kouma make the transition from JUCO to high-level DI basketball. Can he adequately contribute down low?

Also, how will guard play be this year? There's a lot of talented guards on the roster; can they be a cohesive unit or will it be a too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen situation? Honestly, I believe the guard situation will work itself out and be a lot of fun to watch.

There's a lot of what-ifs and questions for college basketball going into the 2020 season, but if everyone can figure out the logistics, it should be a fun one to watch. Especially if you're an Oklahoma State fan.