Before the season started, Trae Young failed to capture the hype attached to the other five-star recruits in his class.

It seemed he was no Deandre Ayton, Marvin Bagley III, Mohamed Bamba or Michael Porter Jr., his best friend. Young was just the local kid who'd picked a school 10 minutes from his childhood home in Norman, Oklahoma, a heartwarming story but not game-changing.

Last week, however, Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz told Young he planned to attend one of his games this season, and Young FaceTimed with Houston Rockets star Chris Paul, a wild six-week transition for the freshman who dropped 25 points and 10 assists in the first half of a 104-78 victory over Northwestern, an NCAA tournament team last season that entered Friday's game without injured Vic Law.

Most didn't see Young's rise coming. But it correlates with the emergence of multiple Big 12 teams that seem capable of dethroning Kansas.

What would have seemed like a fantasy a month ago is now more reasonable based on the competition within the league and the promise of Norman's homegrown hero.

Freshman Trae Young poured in 31 points -- 25 in the first half -- with 12 assists as Oklahoma blitzed Northwestern. AP Photo/Tyler Drabek

Young recorded his fifth 20-point, five-assist game of the season by halftime of Friday's game and fueled No. 17 Oklahoma's 68-point first half, the most scored against a major conference opponent in one half within the past decade, per ESPN Stats & Information.

He has taken last season's 11-20 team, which returned the bulk of its key contributors, and molded it into a serious Big 12 threat.

And the Sooners (10-1) are not alone. The TCU squad Oklahoma will face Dec. 30 in its Big 12 opener in Fort Worth is strong, too.

Jamie Dixon's undefeated Horned Frogs entered their Friday matchup against William & Mary shooting 42.1 percent from the 3-point line, backed by a nucleus of upperclassmen who helped win the NIT last season.

An aggressive West Virginia squad has held three opponents under 50 points this season. Texas Tech is ranked sixth in adjusted defensive efficiency, per ESPN Sports Analytics. Baylor is one of four Big 12 teams shooting better than 37 percent from beyond the arc.

It's always wise to temper any piece that suggests Kansas, which tied a Division I record with its 13th consecutive Big 12 crown last season, could finish without a league title.

Yes, the Jayhawks suffered a loss to an ambitious Washington team that would lose to Gonzaga by 27 points four days later. Then they lost to a powerful Arizona State squad that should enter Pac-12 play as the favorite to win that conference's crown. And Devonte' Graham has had a handful of shaky outings as he attempts to replace Wooden Award winner Frank Mason.

But Bill Self's team has connected on nearly 60 percent of its shots inside the arc. And the Jayhawks will still enter league play as the favorite and the most talented team in the conference.

Kansas does not, however, have the best player in the conference this season. He plays for Oklahoma. And the Jayhawks are surrounded by a collection of programs that could make the pursuit of No. 14 the most difficult fight of Self's tenure.

In September, Young -- who picked Oklahoma over Kansas -- told ESPN.com about his vision to end KU's reign.

"I want to break Kansas' [Big 12 title] streak," Young said then. "It's not going to be easy, by any means, but that's something that I'm going to be hard on all year. If I would have [gone] to Kansas, I would have been a little bit different, but I wanted to break that streak. That's my goal. We're gonna do it. I have all faith in God that that's what his plan is."

With a week to go before Big 12 play commences, nothing about his plan sounds crazy.