As hard as it may be to believe, next weekend will mark the midway point of the Big 12 men’s basketball 20-game schedule.
It’s been an incredible run so far. Houston is coming off a double overtime win over Kansas to remain as the No. 1 team in these power rankings. Iowa State went to Arizona State and had to work hard to put away the Sun Devils. On Monday, the Cyclones get Arizona.
UCF is making a play for the NCAA Tournament. West Virginia followed up a memorable weekend upsetting Iowa State with an 0-2 week. So, while there is stability at the top, there’s tumult in the middle.
Our Heartland College Sports men’s power rankings will come out every Monday until we get to the conference tournament in Kansas City.
Each week we spotlight four teams. This week we’ll spotlight the two most surprising teams and the two most disappointing teams relative to the Big 12 preseason rankings.
Let’s dig in.
No. 1 Houston (16-3, 8-0; Last Ranking: 1)
No. 2 Iowa State (17-2, 7-1; Last Ranking: 3)
No. 3 Texas Tech (15-4, 6-2; Last Ranking: No. 5)
No. 4 Arizona (13-6, 7-1; Last Ranking: No. 6)
No. 5 Kansas (14-5, 5-3, Last Ranking: 4)
No. 6 West Virginia (13-6, 4-4; Last Ranking: No. 2)
No Big 12 team has been more surprising relative to their preseason ranking than the Mountaineers. Going into the season the coaches pegged West Virginia at No. 13, so its ranking here is a seven-place jump.
West Virginia followed up that terrific upset of then-No. 2 Iowa State with a pair of losses to Arizona State and Kansas State. After facing Houston this week, the Mountaineers don’t have another game against a ranked team. It gives the Mountaineers a big opportunity to keep racking up wins.
Darian DeVries is an early front-runner for Big 12 coach of the year. Guard Javon Small is going to be in the conversation for all-Big 12 first team. Teams are going to start trying to make things more difficult on Small. The return of guard Tucker DeVries can’t come soon enough, though it’s unclear when that will be.
No. 7 Baylor (13-6, 5-3; Last Ranking: 10)
No. 8 UCF (13-6, 4-4; Last Ranking: No. 8)
No. 9 BYU (13-6, 4-4; Last Ranking: No. 12)
No. 10 TCU (10-9, 3-5; Last Ranking: No. 7)
No. 11 Utah (11-8, 3-5; Last Ranking: No. 11)
You won’t believe this, but right now Utah is the second-biggest surprise relative to the preseason. The Utes moved up five places from being picked last.
The Utes had a three-game winning streak in Big 12 play at one point, beating Oklahoma State, TCU and BYU. Utah has lost its five league games by an average of 25 points. That includes two losses to Baylor, along with losses to Iowa State, Houston and Texas Tech. That’s a little unfair, but that’s life in this conference.
The Utes don’t exactly wow you. But if they get solid production from the Madsen brothers Gabe and Mason — and quality interior production from Lawson Lovering — then they can do some damage down the stretch to teams who need wins over them to ensure their NCAA Tournament bubble doesn’t burst.
No. 12 Oklahoma State (10-9, 2-6; Last Ranking: No. 13)
No. 13 Cincinnati (12-7, 2-6; Last Ranking: No. 9)
No team has been more disappointing relative to preseason ranking than Cincinnati, which was ranked sixth by the coaches and has dropped seven spots this week.
This was a team coach Wes Miller built to survive the rigors of this conference, but the Bearcats are flailing. Cincinnati pulled itself out of an 0-4 start with wins over Colorado and Arizona State. But, this past week, losses to Texas Tech and BYU must have Miller asking more questions. Getting dominated by the Cougars, 80-52, on the road might be their worst loss of the season.
Guard Simas Lukosius was in a huge slump to start conference and he’s starting to come out of it. But what is really hurting Cincinnati is consistent defense, along with a lack of depth in the frontcourt. The Bearcats don’t have the waves of size they could throw at teams and frustrate them a season ago. Cincy has Aziz Bandaogo and Dillon Mitchell and that’s it.
The Bearcats are a bubble team now. They need a surge, and it has to start now.
No. 14 Kansas State (8-11, 2-6; Last Ranking: No. 14)
Kansas State was selected eighth in the preseason poll by the coaches, so it’s a six-place drop. What did they miss? Honestly, I keep asking myself what I missed?
The Wildcats just won their biggest game of the season, snapping a six-game losing streak by dominating West Virginia. Yep, the Mountaineers now qualify as the Wildcats’ biggest win for now. Going back to non-conference, the Wildcats are 2-9 since Dec. 7, when they lost to St. John’s.
I think their biggest issue is interior play. They have plenty of players that can rebound but no one that can dominate like Keyontae Johnson did two seasons ago. And, yet, David N’Guessan keeps racking up double-doubles, but there’s nothing traditional about his inside game.
The pieces don’t fit. That’s the real problem and it’s one teams will keep encountering in the transfer portal/NIL era. The great roster the Wildcats have had on paper hasn’t materialize on the court.
Coach Jerome Tang is hopeful. Why? He feels K-State has been truly competitive the last four games. The Wildcats get Oklahoma State on Wednesday. It’s a game K-State cannot lose.
No. 15 Arizona State (11-8, 2-6; Last Ranking: No. 15)
No. 16 Colorado (9-10, 0-8; Last Ranking: No. 16)
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
