Kansas head coach Bill Self lays into an official after a what he perceived was a missed call during the second half on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022 at Allen Fieldhouse.

It’s never been much of a challenge for Kansas basketball coach Bill Self to sing the praises of the conference that he believes is the best in America.

But this year, after the start that the nine other Big 12 men’s basketball teams have jumped out to, it seemed easier than ever.

Asked this week for his early assessment of the league, with the start of conference play up next on the docket for all 10 teams, Self pointed to the conference’s depth as its biggest source of bragging rights so far.

“(There’s) absolutely not one bottom tier team,” Self said. “You knew Texas would be good, you knew Baylor would be good, you knew TCU would be good, you knew Tech would be good. But what makes our league so great is the fact that everybody’s good. It’ll be competitive again.”

The numbers certainly support Self’s claim.

Four Big 12 teams, including Kansas, will enter the start of conference play with just one loss. All four of those losses came to ranked teams. Four other Big 12 teams have only lost twice. And all 10 teams are ranked in the top 52 of the latest KenPom.com rankings, with KU, at No. 5, ranking the highest, and Kansas State, at 52nd, the lowest.

The two teams in the Sooner State, which are a combined 17-7 — Oklahoma’s 9-3 and Oklahoma State is 8-4 — both reside in the top 32 in KenPom’s rankings.

Self talked about both teams when examining the league.

“You look at Oklahoma State, the reason I bring them up is they’re (8-4) and they lost to Virginia Tech, who’s in the top 25, at Virginia Tech, on the last possession,” he said. “Oklahoma State’s good. And then you look at, well, Oklahoma lost to Sam Houston State to start the season and what have they done since then? They rattled off seven out of eight (wins) and played a good schedule.”

Self continued: “The one team that I think has been the most pleasant surprise, though, is West Virginia. I think they’re good. I watched a little bit of Huggs’ (Bob Huggins) group the other day. They’re good. And they’re playing the way he loves to play.”

Kansas will open the Big 12 season on Dec. 31 at home against Oklahoma State.

Here’s a quick look at how all 10 Big 12 squads fared during nonconference play, with Associated Press Top 25 rankings used for the breakdown.

No. 4 Kansas, 11-1

Best wins: 69-64 over No. 14 Duke, 84-62 over No. 18 Indiana

Notable Loss: 64-50 vs. No. 8 Tennessee in Battle 4 Atlantis finals

Strength of Schedule: No. 37

KenPom: No. 5

Leading scorer: Junior forward Jalen Wilson at 21.1 points per game

No. 7 Texas, 10-1

Best wins: 93-74 over No. 11 Gonzaga, 72-67 over Creighton

Notable loss: 85-78 in overtime vs. No. 16 Illinois

Strength of Schedule: No. 279

KenPom: No. 6

Leading scorer: Senior guard Marcus Carr at 15.7 points per game

No. 12 Baylor, 9-2

Best wins: 80-75 over No. 13 UCLA, 64-63 over No. 11 Gonzaga

Notable losses: 86-79 vs. No. 6 Virginia and 96-70 at No. 24 Marquette

Strength of Schedule: No. 132

KenPom: No. 16

Leading scorer: Senior guard Adam Flagler at 15.7 points per game

No. 20 TCU, 10-1

Best wins: 79-66 over Iowa, 75-71 over Utah

Notable loss: 64-63 at home vs. Northwestern State

Strength of Schedule: No. 359

KenPom: No. 38

Leading scorer: Senior guard Mike Miles Jr. at 17.8 points per game

Kansas State, 11-1

Best wins: 96-87 in OT over Nevada, 61-59 over LSU

Notable loss: 76-64 at Butler

Strength of Schedule: No. 265

KenPom: No. 52

Leading scorer: Senior forward Keyontae Johnson at 17.7 points per game

West Virginia, 10-2

Best wins: 84-55 over Florida, 81-70 over UAB

Notable Losses: 80-68 to No. 1 Purdue, 84-74 to Xavier

Strength of Schedule: No. 124

KenPom: No. 21

Leading scorer: Senior guard Erik Stevenson at 14.5 points per game

Iowa State, 9-2

Best wins: 81-79 in OT over Villanova, 70-65 over North Carolina.

Notable losses: 71-53 to No. 2 UConn and 75-56 at Iowa

Strength of Schedule: No. 274

KenPom: No. 46

Leading scorer: Senior guard Jaren Holmes at 13.8 points per game

Texas Tech, 9-2

Best wins: 64-55 vs. Louisiana Tech

Notable Losses: 76-65 to Creighton, 80-73 to Ohio State

Strength of Schedule: No. 335

KenPom: No. 33

Leading scorer: Senior forward Kevin Obanor at 15.3 points per game

Oklahoma, 9-3

Best wins: 62-53 vs. Florida, 77-64 vs. Seton Hall

Notable losses: 52-51 vs. Sam Houston State in season opener

Strength of Schedule: No. 89

KenPom: No. 32

Leading scorer: Senior guard Grant Sherfield at 18 points per game

Oklahoma State, 8-4

Best wins: 65-51 vs. Sam Houston State, 59-49 at Wichita State,

Notable losses: 61-60 vs. Southern Illinois, 60-56 OT vs. UCF

Strength of Schedule: No. 119

KenPom: No. 30

Leading scorer: Senior guard Avery Anderson III at 12.2 points per game