KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Kansas basketball coach Bill Self is excited about his team this season.

Self said Wednesday during Big 12 Conference media days, at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, that his Jayhawks have improved. He described their roster as better, and deeper. Should they enjoy some good fortune — and remain healthy — he thinks this could be one of the better teams he’s had.

But Self isn’t counting his victories before they happen, especially in a league as loaded as the Big 12. He’s acutely aware of how talented so many teams in the Big 12 are, even if they aren’t in the preseason top 25. Just because his team is the preseason No. 1 squad and favorite to win the Big 12, it doesn’t mean he’s going to overlook anyone.

Where is Kansas basketball ranked in the USA TODAY Preseason Coaches Poll?

“I’ve said this a lot of times, and we’ve had some success in the league, that that particular year I feel like it would probably be the hardest year to win it of any of the years that we had,” Self said. “I can tell you hands-down this is going to be the hardest year to win our league, in large part because of unbalanced scheduling, too, depending on who you play at home and who you play on the road, and who you play twice and all those things.

“But it’s going to be a great league. I don't think you look at it … the way that maybe we used to, that it’s a win-the-league-at-all-costs deal. I think you look at it more as if we can compete and be at the top of this league, we’ve got a chance. And even though disappointment comes when you don’t win, you’d better be equipped to be disappointed some because nobody is going to run the table.”

Self’s Kansas team is the preseason favorite in the USA TODAY Preseason Poll, which is voted on by coaches. It’s also the preseason favorite in the Big 12’s preseason coaches poll. The gap, though, between the Jayhawks and other Big 12 teams, isn’t significant.

As Self would discuss, No. 4 Houston also represents the league in the top five. Looking at the top 10, there’s also No. 6 Iowa State, No. 8 Baylor and No. 9 Arizona. Rounding out the top 25, there’s No. 20 Cincinnati.

Self outlined there are a lot of leagues that are top-heavy but added those leagues are also bottom-heavy. From his perspective, the Big 12 has no bottom. He noted if someone goes 15-5 across a 20-game Big 12 schedule he would think they had an awesome year, compared to in the past it would be a team going 16-2 in an 18-game league slate.

Self thinks if you’re not ready for each game that comes up in this conference, you’re going to get beaten. When asked what the most significant Big 12 game on his schedule is, he volunteered the next one — understanding that would come across as coach-speak. Time will tell how the league shakes out, but Self knows before the season begins that it will be a grind.

“People from the outside may look — or our fan bases may look — at those as upsets,” Self said. “Hey, any road win in our league will be considered, I would think, to be at worst a Quad 2 win. At worst. And that’s why you get so many opportunities to make the NCAA tournament out of our league, because you have an opportunity to play 15, 18 Quad 1 games, and the rest of them are Quad 2 games, which is what makes the league hard.”

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas basketball's Bill Self knows how challenging the Big 12 will be