Jan. 8: Big 12 Power Rankings

With the second week of Big 12 basketball conference play concluding on Saturday, all teams have played three games so let’s see where they stand.

10. West Virginia Mountaineers (10-5, 0-3)

After an impressive non-conference start to the season, West Virginia has failed to carry it over in conference play. The Mountaineers have started with three straight losses, capped off with a 14 point home loss to Kansas on Saturday. WVU led in the final five minutes of their first two losses, but ended up not being able to finish them off with wins. West Virginia was finally able to come back home to take on Kansas with a chance to prove they belong at the top of the conference. Instead, Kansas was able to lead by double-digits the majority of the game, and get a convincing road win, keeping the Mountaineers win-less in conference.

9. Texas Tech Red Raiders (10-5, 0-3)

Coming off of making the Big 12 championship game last season, the Red Raiders are another team failing to live up to expectations thus far. Texas Tech was able to play Kansas close at home early this week, being down one point and with the ball in the dying seconds but a turnover led to a Kansas dunk and Texas Tech not pulling off the upset. They got a chance to try to redeem themselves on Saturday, with another home game against Oklahoma. The game was a low scoring affair with neither team breaking 25 points in the first half, and both teams missing free throws in the final minute to send the game to overtime. Oklahoma was able to dominate in overtime, holding Texas Tech to just seven points and keeping them winless.

8. Baylor Bears (10-5, 0-3)

Probably the most disappointing team in the Big 12 to this point, Baylor has yet to win a conference game and will be losing their ranking this week. The Bears started the week off with a disappointing loss at home against TCU where they led by double digits at half-time. Baylor followed up one close loss at home, with a second close loss at home this time to Kansas State. Former Mountaineer Jalen Bridges hit a three with 22 seconds left to tie the game and eventually send it to overtime, where Baylor would eventually succumb to Kansas State.

7. Oklahoma State Cowboys (9-6, 1-2)

Oklahoma State picked up their first conference win early in the week when they defeated West Virginia at home. The Cowboys led for much of the game until Erik Stevenson made three consecutive three pointers for the Mountaineers to give them a lead deep into the second half. Oklahoma State was able to weather the storm, and good defense down the stretch led them to a victory. The Cowboys got another home game to end the week, hosting No. 6 Texas, who had recently fired head coach Chris Beard and a chance to continue a strong conference start. Oklahoma State was not able to find an offensive footing in the game, scoring only 46 points though, and convincingly losing to the Longhorns by 20.

6. Oklahoma Sooners (10-5, 1-2)

The Sooners lost their first two conference games by a combined four points, both against ranked teams. The Sooners finally got a break from ranked opponents, heading on the road to take on Texas Tech. The Sooners were able to avoid starting 0-3, picking up a five point win on the road after Texas Tech was able to hit late free throws that sent the game to overtime.

5. TCU Horned Frogs (13-2, 2-1)

The Horned Frogs started off conference play on a high note, defeating Texas Tech and going on the road to Waco and using a 5-0 run in the final 40 seconds of the game to defeat Baylor and stay undefeated in conference. The Horned Frogs got to return home with a chance to stay undefeated against Iowa State. TCU fell behind early, trailing by six at the half and were able to claw their way back late and take a lead with 23 seconds left, before a three pointer with five seconds left gave the Horned Frogs their first loss. 

4. Texas Longhorns (13-2, 2-1)

Texas was able to narrowly avoid losing their first conference game, defeating Oklahoma by one point. Their first loss would come in the next game, where they gave up a conference high in points this season thus far, giving up 116 points in a loss to Kansas State. The Longhorns tightened up their defense in the next game, giving up nearly a third of what they did in the loss to Kansas. The Longhorns gave up only 46 points in their win over Oklahoma State and proved they still have what it takes to compete at the top of the conference, even without their head coach.

3. Kansas State Wildcats (14-1, 3-0)

All of the remaining teams left are undefeated in conference, and have proved they have what it takes to compete in the toughest conference in the country. Kansas State got off to a potentially rocky start, letting West Virginia take them to overtime. They followed that up with a statement win over Texas, scoring 116 points on the road. Kansas State stayed in Texas to take on Baylor, and followed up their 116 point performance with 97 points, although this time they needed overtime to do it. Road wins in the Big 12 are hard to come by, and getting two in one week proves that Kansas State is one of the top teams in the conference.

2. Iowa State Cyclones (12-2, 3-0)

Iowa State started conference play with a 15 point win over Baylor, and followed their impressive win up with a close win on the road over Oklahoma. Then they stayed on the road and traveled to Fort Worth, where they fell behind early and trailed by six at the half, and eventually down a point with 23 seconds left. A three pointer by Gabe Kalscheur with five seconds left gave the Cyclones another impressive road win, and stayed undefeated. 

2. Kansas Jayhawks (14-1, 3-0)

The Jayhawks won their first two conference games by only a combined five points, and looked like they may not be as invincible as usual. Traveling on the road to a hostile West Virginia environment could have handed them their first conference loss if they played how they had in the first two games. Instead, Kansas proved they are still the best team in the conference, dominating from start to finish in an eventual 14 point win, where the lead got up to 22 late in the second half.

Photo by Aaron Parker, Blue Gold Sports