Big 12 basketball has seemingly taken a back seat to the Southeastern Conference as the media darling this season, and it’s shown up in several places.
Four of the top five teams in the latest AP Poll and three of the four No. 1 seeds in the latest bracketology are from the SEC. Plus, over the last few weeks, it’s become more and more evident that ESPN is doing more to hurt the Big 12 than they are to help them.
Whatever the narrative might be on the outside, the Big 12 has still proven it’s playing some of the best basketball of any conference in America.
On Monday evening, No. 6 Houston played host to a feisty Baylor team but, once again, took care of business in a 76-65 win. The Cougars (20-4, 12-1 Big 12) have been among the most consistent teams in the country over the last several seasons, and that hasn’t changed in 2024-25.
After their latest victory, ESPN’s Fran Franschilla said that Houston is still one of the few teams with a real shot of cutting down the nets in San Antonio in April, even if nobody is talking about them.
“This is the quietest sixth ranked team in America,” Franschilla told Paper City Magazine on Monday. “…Everybody’s putting Houston on the back burner, but that is absolutely a national championship contender.”
People made the mistake of writing Kelvin Sampson’s team off after three losses in November. The problem is, Houston has gone 16-1 since then and 13 of those wins have been by double digits.
“I think the silver lining of the three November losses is that people have sort of slept on Houston,” Franschilla said. “…I think Houston’s going to keep getting better and better. They’re one of eight teams that can win it all.”
