Busting Brackets ranks 25 Big 12 standouts to watch for the 2026-27 season

As the 2026-27 college basketball season approaches, a new preseason ranking from Busting Brackets places the spotlight on the Big 12’s top returning and incoming impact players. The outlet’s list, which covers the 25 best players entering the season, is built to frame who could carry major minutes and tilt games in a conference known for relentless matchups.

The Big 12, long viewed as one of the toughest conferences to navigate week to week, has a reputation for compressing margins and demanding versatility from its leading players. Busting Brackets’ premise is that the coming season should reinforce that identity, with multiple programs featuring players capable of influencing both ends of the floor and elevating their teams in high-leverage situations.

Among the names included in the ranking are Tyran Stokes, J.T. Toppin, Motiejus Krivas, Robert Wright III, and Joseph Tugler. The presence of established scorers and well-regarded playmakers underscores the broader point of the list: the conference’s depth is not limited to one style or one archetype, and game-to-game matchups are likely to hinge on specific individual matchups.

Lists like this are not official standings, but they often function as a useful guide to where attention will land early in the season. In the Big 12, preseason expectations can translate quickly into real-time scrutiny, because teams play each other frequently enough that “name value” can become a measurable driver of outcomes within the conference schedule.

For fans and evaluators, the key takeaway is not simply which players made the cut, but what the group indicates about the conference’s competitive balance. A league that can circulate legitimate threats across multiple programs typically creates a postseason environment where multiple teams contend for tournament positioning, rather than relying on a single dominant path.

What to watch next is how these ranked players translate their roles into consistent production and impact as the season settles in. The early nonconference slate will matter for setting confidence and rotation patterns, but Big 12 play will ultimately determine whether the preseason framework matches the realities of the standings race.