Kansas decided to win the Big 12, and Dickinson was voted the best player

IRVING, Texas (AP) — Big 12 coaches named Kansas as the preseason favorite to win a conference that saw nine of its current teams reach the men's NCAA Tournament last season.

The Jayhawks were selected ahead of Houston, Iowa State, Baylor and league newcomer Arizona in a vote released Thursday by the conference's 16 coaches. Cincinnati, Texas Tech, Kansas State, BYU and TCU rounded out the top 10, followed by UCF, Arizona State, West Virginia, Oklahoma State, Colorado and Utah.

Because coaches are not allowed to vote for their own teams, Kansas received nine of the 15 possible first-place votes. Houston got five, while Iowa State and Arizona shared the other two.

Kansas center Hunter Dickinson was named preseason player of the year. The 7-foot-2 center averaged 17.9 points and a Big 12-best 10.9 rebounds last season.

Dickinson was the only unanimous choice to the preseason All-Big 12 team, which also included Houston's LJ Cryer and J'Wan Roberts, Iowa State's Tamin Lipsey and Arizona's Caleb Love.

Baylor guard Jeremy Roach and Kansas State guard Coleman Hawkins shared preseason Newcomer of the Year honors after leading their respective teams to the NCAA Elite Eight last season. Roach averaged 14 points and 3.3 assists at Duke and Hawkins averaged 12.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists at Illinois.

Bears guard VJ Edgecombe was named preseason rookie of the year.