Big 12 Basketball Update & Power Rankings

December 31st Big 12 Basketball update

With the Big 12 beginning its conference schedule on Jan. 10, let’s size up what the non-conference schedule has produced.

Credibility: No. 7 Texas has played arguably the toughest schedule in the country with games against Notre Dame, Oregon, St. Joseph’s, Villanova, UCLA, Michigan St. and Wisconsin. Are you kidding? No. 4 Oklahoma has wins over Purdue and Davidson although it fell from the unbeaten ranks with 96-88 loss at Arkansas on Tuesday.

Baylor has a solid win Arizona St. and it played well against Wake Forest. But truth be told, depth may be a problem this year. Defending national champion Kansas has an unexplainable loss to UMass and did not play well at Arizona. Missouri has quality wins over USC and California.

Conference championship contenders: Really, it should be a two-team race between Texas and Oklahoma. The Longhorns and Sooners play each other Jan. 12 in Norman, Okla. and Feb. 21 in Austin. Texas will get tested early with three of its first five on the road. Conversely, the Sooners will face their own challenge with three of their final five on the road. Baylor’s talent and youth are super but probably just a year away from being serious conference championship contenders. The same goes for Kansas. But then you would expect that from a team that lost so much from the title team. Their only known quantity is shooting guard Sherron Collins.

Team we don’t know about: Kansas St. Yes, Bill Walker and Michael Beasley are gone from last year’s squad that advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. However, their non-conference schedule is filled with so many unknowns, that the show In Search Of might need to be revived. They have played some no names as Emporia St., Wagner and Chicago St. When the Wildcats were pushed, they lost. They fell to Kentucky, Iowa and Oregon. Guard Jacob Pullen is averaging 14 points per game but is going to have to get that shooting percentage going. He’s only at 38 percent for the season.

Team we continue to learn about: Texas A&M. With point guard Donald Sloan playing very consistent basketball, the Aggies are finding ways to win. Look at the resume and it includes quality triumphs over Alabama, LSU and Arizona. Josh Carter is as steady a player you will find in this conference at his slash position. The Aggies could make some noise in the conference race. But you wouldn’t wish their first five conference games on anyone. They open at Oklahoma St. play host to Baylor and Oklahoma and then travel to Kansas and Texas. If coach Mark Turgeon doesn’t learn anything through that stretch, then there’s point to finishing the season.

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ETC: The league MVP battle will come down to Texas point guard A.J. Abrams and Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin. Griffin, though, probably has a huge advantage because he is averaging 23 points and 14 rebounds. He is having the kind of season that Kevin Durant had for Texas two years ago….To say Colorado is struggling is being kind. The Buffaloes have lost to Montana St., Buffalo and at Vermont. It’s hard to see how the Buffaloes can get out of the cellar. But it may be a fight between them and Iowa St. That’s too bad because sophomore Buffalo guard Cory Higgins is having a nice year at 17.9 points and 52 percent shooting.

Power Rankings

1. Oklahoma
2. Texas
3. Baylor
4. Texas A&M
5. Kansas
6. Missouri
7. Oklahoma St.
8. Kansas St.
9. Texas Tech
10. Nebraska
11. Iowa St.
12. Colorado

By Kevin Lonnquist
Big 12 Fans Correspondant

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