Big 12 Men’s Basketball Power Rankings: Tech Now Second; ISU Inches Up

Where does our panel of fans rank each of the teams in the Big 12?

© Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

The end of the regular season is coming quickly. Soon, these power rankings will be matched against the seeding in the Big 12 tournament. We will see how our panel of experts did compared to the final standings in the conference.

Kansas is now in the Top 5. Tech is the next highest-ranked, then Baylor. Our rankings reflect that.

We’ve talked about three groups of teams within the conference for the last few weeks. For the most part, the groups remained the same week-over-week. Here’s how the groups look now, based upon this week’s rankings:

The Conference Elite
Kansas, Tech, Baylor – Another week of flip-flopping between Tech and Baylor while Kansas easily stays at the top.

The Middle of the Pack
Texas, TCU, Kansas State, Iowa State – Iowa State moves back into this group, but the line between them and the next group is still thin.

The We Want to be Good but Others Keep Beating Us
Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, West Virginia – OU and OSU move up as they make room for Iowa State to join this group.

Each week, our panel ranks the teams 1-10. Their rankings are averaged out to determine the order the teams get ranked here.

Here are how this week’s rankings look:

(These rankings were done before any of this week’s midweek games)

Power Rankings

10. West Virginia (14-14, 3-12), last week #10

The Mountaineers have lost 12 of their last 13 games. The last time they had a 2-game winning streak was back in early January. They have Texas, Oklahoma, and TCU remaining. Bob Huggins might as well pack up the stool.

9. Oklahoma (14-14, 4-11), last week #8

The Sooners haven’t fared much better than West Virginia. They’ve lost four straight and have only won two games in their last 13. They do have Oklahoma State at home plus West Virginia and K-State, so, they could improve that record, or that losing streak could continue.

8. Oklahoma State (13-14, 6-9), last week - #7

OSU won’t be playing in the postseason, but they can certainly play spoilers for everyone else’s dreams of dancing. They’ve spent the month of win one, lose one, win one, lose one. They have to face Oklahoma in Norman and ISU in Ames before hosting a hot Texas Tech team to close out the season.

7. Iowa State (19-9, 6-9), last week #9

It’s certainly been a rollercoaster ride for Cyclones fans. They had an impressive nonconference schedule. Big 12 play has been up and down for them. They lost four in a row only to then win three in a row. They have to play Kansas State and Oklahoma State before ending the season in Waco. Look for their rollercoaster ride to continue.

6. Kansas State (14-13, 6-9), last week #6

Once thought to be the bottom feeder of the standings, the Wildcats have actually rebounded well from their slow conference start. They could certainly end the regular season in the top half of the conference and should go dancing, something that didn’t seem possible in early January. They have Iowa State, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma left on their slate

5. TCU (17-9, 6-8), last week #5

The Frogs can’t seem to remember that a game is 40 minutes long, not 30 minutes. They are also having a horrible time as of late holding onto the ball. Costly turnovers are leading to big runs by their opponents. They have one of the toughest remaining schedules and will be lucky if they can win even one. They play Tech, West Virginia, and two back-to-back games against Kansas.

4. #20 Texas (20-8, 9-6), last week #4

Texas will probably finish at No. 4 in the conference. But to get there, it won’t be easy. They are like that other team that wears orange. They too seem to win one, then lose one, then win again. They get a game with West Virginia before closing with Baylor and Kansas.

3. #10 Baylor (23-5, 11-4), last week #2

The Bears are still holding on to a Top 10 ranking. They lost to Tech last week but are still holding on. It’s going to be hard for the defending national champions to finish above third place in the conference this season, but they could possibly do it. They have Kansas, Texas, and Iowa State remaining.

2. #9 Texas Tech (22-6,11-4), last week #3

Tech continues to be the most complete team in the league. They’ve only lost one game in February. And they could easily dominate their remaining schedule as they face TCU, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State. They are dreaming of gumbo and beignets. And, they have a great chance of those dreams coming true.

1. #5 Kansas (23-4, 12-2), last week #1

Kansas has been gliding along at the top for a while now. They spent the first two weeks of conference play at No. 2, but after Baylor’s stumbles, they took over the top spot and are easily staying in that position. They do have four games left – Baylor and Texas bookend their home-and-home with TCU.

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Note: Power Rankings are determined by fans representing most of the ten schools currently in the Big 12 Conference.

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