Big 12 coaches pick Arizona to win league again, name Motiejus Krivas preseason POY

The Big 12 announced its official preseason coaches poll on Thursday, with 12 of the league's 16 coaches voting Arizona in the No. 1 spot. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own teams, meaning UA's Tommy Lloyd was one of four coaches voting for Houston, the only other team to receive first-place votes.

Overall, Houston was voted to finish second, followed by Kansas, Iowa State, Texas Tech, BYU and TCU. Behind the Horned Frogs, Cincinnati and West Virginia were tied in voting for eighth place while Baylor was voted 10th.

Former Pac-12 members ASU (12), Colorado (tied for 14th) and Utah (16th) were picked to finish in the bottom tier.

While Krivas was named preseason Player of the Year, his fellow Lithuanian and former UA teammate, forward Paulius Murauskas, was named the Big 12's Newcomer of the Year after following coach Randy Bennett from Saint Mary's to ASU. Murauskas played sparingly for UA as a freshman in 2023-24, when Krivas was also a freshman, then became a two-time all-WCC pick for the Gaels.

Meanwhile, Kansas' Tyran Stokes was named the Big 12's Freshman of the Year. Stokes joined Krivas, Kharchenkov and Murauskas on the Big 12 preseason all-league team along with six others: Houston forward Joseph Tugler, BYU guard Robert Wright, Texas Tech forward JT Toppin, Houston guard Dedan Thomas, Iowa State guard Tamin Lipsey and TCU forward Xavier Edmonds.

The Big 12 is scheduled to hold its preseason media days on Tuesday and Wednesday in Kansas City.