Three top 25 teams come from the Big 12 Conference as of this week, but only now do the best of the league have the chance to set themselves apart from the rest.
Women’s basketball conference play begins in the Big 12 on Saturday. With 11 teams holding just two losses or less on the year, nonconference matchups did little to sniff out how the standings may look in March, but that all changes this weekend, starting with a 2 p.m. ET tip-off in Orlando.
Two of the Big 12’s three ranked programs will see action on Saturday, as No. 12 TCU travels to UCF for the conference opener, and No. 14 West Virginia closes the night at Colorado at 8 p.m. ET.
No. 13 Kansas State will host Cincinnati in its first Big 12 game on Sunday at 2 p.m. Houston will play at Texas Tech one hour later to close out the weekend.
9-4 Arizona takes on 9-2 BYU in Utah at 3 p.m. on Saturday, followed by a 4 p.m. tip-off for Baylor at Kansas and Iowa State at Oklahoma State and a 5 p.m. start for Arizona State at Utah.
WVU, Kansas State, and TCU have the top three defenses in the Big 12 in that order.
West Virginia’s defensive identity, marked by a remarkable 26.3 forced turnovers per game (fifth in the NCAA) and 15.2 steals per game (third in the NCAA), makes its placement unsurprising.
Offensively, there is still a lot to be desired from Mark Kellogg’s squad, but with a variety of scoring options and sharpshooting guards Sydney Shaw, JJ Quinerly, and Jordan Harrison, the Mountaineers are all set to take advantage of the Buffaloes, the Big 12’s third worst perimeter defenders, on Saturday.
Barring upsets by the 9-2 Buffaloes over WVU or the 7-3 Knights over TCU, Baylor and Kansas will likely stand out as the most exciting game of the evening.
With only a loss to Iowa so far, the Jayhawks are 10-1 despite averaging the 14th best win margin in the Big 12. They do shine from beyond the arc, with the fourth best three-point percentage in the conference, though it is only on the 11th most attempts.
The Jayhawks will likely plan to increase their perimeter efforts on Saturday, though, as Baylor shoots the fourth best total field goal percentage in the conference but just the seventh best from three. An increase in production from three could allow Kansas to outscore the Big 12’s third best team in scoring this year to push the Bears to 10-3.
Iowa State and Oklahoma State earned national television honors for the weekend, playing on ESPN2 on Saturday at 4 p.m.
The Cyclones currently sit toward the bottom of the standings with four losses already on the year, but with 33 votes in this week’s AP top 25 poll, Iowa State is nothing shy of competitive.
6-foot-3 sophomore Audi Crooks averages the second most points in the Big 12 with 21.6 points per game on 60.6% shooting from the field. The bulky center also averages 7.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.
Oklahoma State will also appreciate the national attention, having received just three votes on the poll this week despite only one loss on the year to nearly-ranked Richmond.
The Cowgirls simultaneously shoot the second highest field goal percentage and hold opponents to the second lowest field goal percentage in the Big 12. They average the most points per game with only one top 15 scorer, 5-foot-8 junior guard Micah Gray, who scores 16.8 points per contest.
As a cohesive unit, the Cowgirls have fought for their current fourth-place position in the Big 12 standings. As conference play begins, Oklahoma State’s competition will only rise from here, and the success or fall that will follow is yet to be seen.
Despite the competitive slate, Oklahoma State and Iowa State stand alone on national television this weekend. All other Big 12 matchups will be available to stream with ESPN+.
Photo by Tanner Mountz, Blue Gold Sports
