By Jim O'Connell
The Associated Press

The top basketball teams in the Big 12 are easy to spot - just look at the national rankings.

Only Arizona was ahead of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas in the preseason Top 25, just the third time three teams from the same conference were ranked in the top five since the start of the preseason poll 41 years ago.

And there's more to the Big 12 than the big three. Six teams from the conference were in the NCAA tournament last season and that number could rise in March.

"In our conference, there's eight teams that can legitimately say we've got a chance to go to NCAA tournament," Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said. "That makes it tough."

Kansas and Oklahoma reached the Final Four last season, but neither made it to the championship game. Both programs seem capable of getting there again, especially with Kansas having Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison back, while Oklahoma has four starters returning.

"Any time you get so close to one of your goals, I think it hurts that much more when you do not accomplish it," said Hinrich, a preseason All-America. "It leaves a bitter taste in your mouth, and makes you want to go out and work that much harder to try and accomplish that."

T.J. Ford, the first freshman to lead the country in assists at 8.3 per game, is back to run the offense for Texas.

"He's stronger than last year and he never got totally healthy last season," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "He worked hard on his shooting and he can be more of a factor for us by creating as much havoc on the defensive end as he does on the offensive end."

Missouri, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State were the other Big 12 teams to play in the NCAA tournament last season and they are all expected to do so again.

"I think we'll have a nice ballclub, but the league is going to be so much tougher," Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton said. "You look at six teams in the NCAA tournament last year, the other five teams certainly will be as good or better. The thing that makes the league so much better is that the bottom half of the conference is going to be much, much better.

"There aren't going to be any gimmes. When any of those top teams go on the road, they better be ready to play."

Sampson couldn't agree more.

"You better be good at home in this league, because it's going to be tough to get road wins," he said.

Michigan State missed winning a fifth straight Big Ten title last season by finishing one game out the league's four-way tie for first, a fact coach Tom Izzo is using to get the four returning starters and star-studded freshman class ready for this year.

"The biggest thing that I'm trying to get through to my team is how hard it is to win championships," Izzo said. "I'm not into just winning games anymore. To win a championship, you have so little room for error."

The Spartans have to replace Marcus Taylor, who led the conference last season in scoring and assists, and that job should fall to sophomore Chris Hill, who led the team in 3-point shooting last season.

Indiana, which lost to Maryland in the national championship game after an unexpected tournament run that included knocking off Duke, lost three of its top four scorers, including Jared Jeffries, who left for the NBA after his sophomore year.

"We were very fortunate to have the success we had last year, but when you have a year like we did, the worst thing that can happen is for a team to get complacent," Hoosiers coach Mike Davis said.

Rick Rickert of Minnesota and Kirk Penney of Wisconsin are expected to carry their teams to the postseason, while Illinois will turn to Brian Cook as it tries to replace four seniors and junior Frank Williams.

Ohio State, which won the Big Ten tournament after finishing in the four-way tie, has to replace two of its top scorers.

Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins has already clinched the comeback of the year award by returning to practice a month after having a heart attack. His Bearcats are good enough to win an eighth straight Conference USA title, although replacing guard Steve Logan will be the key to any success.

Marquette has the league's biggest name back in junior swingman Dwyane Wade and Memphis has the biggest name to replace with Dajuan Wagner having headed to the NBA after his freshman year.

Louisville will be closer to the type of team Rick Pitino likes to take the floor and a key to the season could be Marvin Stone, who transferred from Kentucky.

Creighton and Southern Illinois tied for the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title last season and both are good enough to make it a dogfight again. Kyle Korver returns to Creighton after leading the team in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals last season, while Illinois State welcomes back guard Kent Williams, who is on the verge of becoming the school's career scoring leader.

The Mid-American Conference will again be the league looking to knock off the big boys, although it will be tough to match Ball State's start to last season when it beat Kansas and UCLA on consecutive days in the Maui Invitational.

Ball State, led by Theron Smith, and Ohio University, led by Brandon Hunter, are the favorites to win the MAC's divisions.

Illinois-Chicago stunned the Horizon League by winning the conference tournament last season as the No. 6 seed. The conference should be so competitive this year that a postseason run from a low-seeded team wouldn't be as much of a shock.

The Mid-Continent Conference has been dominated by Valparaiso and coach Homer Drew over the last decade. Drew retired but he turned the program over to Scott Drew and the father left the son plenty of big men to keep the Crusaders in the run for another league title.