Big 12 Men's Basketball Power Ranking - Week 6
Yet again, we thought we had started to figure out the tiers of the Big 12 Conference, and then the teams had to go and throw some wrenches in the works. Texas got a couple of big wins that shocked a lot of people, and a couple teams are making some late charges to try and secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament. But what does that mean for the rest of the teams? Our crew got together to once again try to make sense of the conference hierarchy.
A quick reminder on how our power rankings work. It is NOT just going to be restating the standings. It is entirely possible that a team that has a worse record lands higher on the list, especially if they are playing really well as of late. Similarly, it is also not going to be a "who's hottest" list. Instead, it will be a subjective mix of which team is playing better and which team we think IS better, with a tiebreaker going to teams that have significantly outperformed our expectations.
So with that, here is the Week 6 edition of the Blue Wings Rising Big 12 Basketball Power Rankings:
Editor's Note: These rankings were determined prior to tipoff of the action on Big Monday. All voting was completed Sunday night.
1. Texas Longhorns (19-4, 8-2 Big 12) - 49 Points, LW: 4
Last Week: 76-71 W vs Baylor, 69-66 W at Kansas State
This Week: Mon at Kansas, Sat vs West Virginia
They are on an absolute tear, and have been able to win in multiple ways. The comebacks have been impressive, and it's hard to imagine a scenario where I can rule out the possibility of a run to win a game until the game is officially over. And while they certainly won't be favored in every game or win every game, it's hard to pinpoint games where they won't be competitive.
2. Iowa State Cyclones (16-6, 7-3 Big 12) - 41 Points, LW: 3
Last Week: 80-77 L at Texas Tech, 68-53 W vs Kansas
This Week: Wed at West Virginia, Sat vs Oklahoma State
There was really only one consensus pick, and that was the Longhorns. Iowa State gets the nod here for the quick turnaround and dominant victory, but there are still concerns about the ability to close out games, especially on the road. If the games were all played on a neutral court, I'm not sure they keep this ranking, but there were a lot of comments similar to "who else?" when voting this week.
3. Kansas Jayhawks (18-5, 6-4 Big 12) - 37 Points, LW: 2
Last Week: 90-78 W vs Kansas State, 68-53 L at Kansas State
This Week: Mon vs Texas, Sat at Oklahoma
This feels high after the blowout against the Cyclones, but it's also hard to imagine that they continue to have games as disastrous as that one was. At the very least, there is real worries about the consistency of this team. But when they are effective, they can literally beat anyone in the conference, and it doesn't even require everyone to be on at the same time.
4. Kansas State Wildcats (18-5, 6-4 Big 12) - 35 Points, LW: 1
Last Week: 90-78 L at Kansas, 69-66 L vs Texas
This Week: Tues vs TCU, Sat vs Texas Tech
Jerome Tang has done a fantastic job in his first year. But as we are finding, there are two key guys that both have to be playing well to avoid big losses. Markquise Nowell and Keyontae Johnson are both so important to this team, in completely different ways, that it is hard for them to overcome an off night from either one individually. And there are some real deficiencies on this team that opponents are starting to take advantage of, starting with turnovers.
5. Baylor Bears (17-6, 6-4 Big 12) - 34 Points, LW: 6
Last Week: 76-71 L at Texas, 89-62 W vs Texas Tech
This Week: Wed vs Oklahoma, Sat at TCU
The results are about what you expect from a team in the middle of the pack in this conference, but they were in that Texas game with a chance to win late. A bit of a week off, especially if TCU doesn't get back their two star players from injuries.
6. TCU Horned Frogs (17-6, 6-4 Big 12) - 29 Points, LW: 5
Last Week: 76-72 W vs West Virginia, 79-73 L at Oklahoma State
This Week: Tues at Kansas State, Sat vs Baylor
No Mike Miles and no Eddie Lampkin? That's going to be a tough ask for pretty much anyone. They haven't moved down yet because their losses so far a pretty understandable, but if the injury situation stretches on much further, it may be difficult to continue to justify this spot.
7. Oklahoma State Cowboys (14-9, 5-5 Big 12) - 19 Points, LW: 7
Last Week: 71-61 W at Oklahoma, 79-73 W vs TCU
This Week: Wed vs Texas Tech, Sat at Iowa State
The Cowboys are pushing to try and catch up to the rest of the conference leaders, but they may have too much ground to make up. They are clearly better than the three teams below them, but also clearly worse than the 6 above them. They are likely going to be pretty safe to make it to the NCAA tournament unless they stumble multiple times against the lower three.
8. West Virginia Mountaineers (14-9, 3-7 Big 12) - 15 Points, LW: 9
Last Week: 76-71 L at TCU, 96-61 W vs Oklahoma
This Week: Wed vs Iowa State, Sat at Texas
They have worked their way back onto the bubble, with two huge opportunities this week to get into the projected field. A win over Iowa State would be a huge feather in their cap, a marquee win that could be enough to push them over the line in tiebreaker scenarios. They have made it tough to play in Morgantown this year, as is usually the case, so look to see how fast they start that one.
9. Oklahoma Sooners (12-11, 2-8 Big 12) - 9 Points, LW: 8
Last Week: 71-61 L vs Oklahoma State, 93-61 L at West Virginia
This Week: Wed at Baylor, Sat vs Kansas
This team is puzzling, as they seemed to have stuff figured out but have dropped multiple games by significant margins. Is their huge win against Alabama a sign of how much tougher the Big 12 is than every other conference, or was it just a massive fluke?
10. Texas Tech Red Raiders (12-11, 1-9 Big 12) - 7 Points, LW: 10
Last Week: 80-77 (OT) W vs Iowa State, 89-62 L at Baylor
This Week: Wed at Oklahoma State, Sat vs Kansas State
The got their one win last week, but it wasn't quite enough to push them up a spot in the rankings. But with a theoretically easier week than Oklahoma, I could see them pushing ahead of the Sooners. That's going to require quite an upset though, and I'm not sure how many of them they have left.
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