The Big 12 women’s basketball season is now five games away from completing the regular season and after another wild week, the power rankings have shaken up again.
In fact, we have a new No. 1 team — Oklahoma State.
Why? Well, one loss separates the top five teams in the standings. We’ve reached a stage of the season where everyone has played everyone at least once.
Oklahoma State absolutely rolled an Ayoka Lee-less Kansas State by 30 points last weekend. The Cowgirls are 4-1 against Kansas State, TCU, Baylor and West Virginia this season. The Cowgirls have won six of their last seven games and eight of their last 10.
It’s been a terrific turnaround for OSU, which was picked No. 11 in the preseason poll. For now, they’re playing the best of anyone in the league.
Our Heartland College Sports women’s power rankings will come out every Friday until we get to the conference tournament in Kansas City.
Each week we spotlight four teams. This week it’s just three teams as we look at the three that are on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Let’s dig in.
No. 1 Oklahoma State (20-4, 10-3; Last Ranking: No. 3)
No. 2 Kansas State (23-3, 11-2; Last Ranking: No. 1)
No. 3 TCU (23-3, 11-2; Last Ranking: No. 2)
No. 4 Baylor (21-5, 11-2; Last Ranking: No. 4)
No. 5 West Virginia (19-5, 9-4; Last Ranking: No. 5)
No. 6 Utah (19-5, 10-3; Last Ranking: No. 6)
No. 7 Iowa State (17-9, 8-5; Last Ranking: No. 7)
The Cyclones are one of the last four byes, which is the staging area for the Last Four In, per ESPN Bracketology. Iowa State has been hovering between the byes and the bubble for a while. At one point, the Cyclones were in a First Four game with Iowa (imagine the traveling fan bases for that one?). Now, ISU is a No. 10 seed.
Iowa State has two more shots at ranked teams in Big 12 play against Baylor and Kansas State. Winning one of those two should keep the Cyclones in the field, regardless of what happens in Kansas City.
No. 8 Arizona (15-11, 6-7; Last Ranking: No. 8)
The Wildcats are one of the First Four Out per ESPN. Arizona is hanging in there ahead of Colorado, even though Arizona lost to Colorado last week and only has one Quad 1 win going into this weekend.
It’s been a roller-coaster for the Wildcats in Big 12 play — a three-game losing streak in January, followed by a three-game winning streak. Arizona enters this weekend having lost three of its last four games and is preparing for TCU. That game is the Wildcats’ last shot at a Quad 1 win before the Big 12 Tournament. If they pull off that upset in Fort Worth, their credentials grow considerably. If now, the Wildcats need to win out and get some help.
No. 9 Colorado (16-8, 7-6; Last Ranking: No. 9)
The Buffs are among the Next Four Out per ESPN and their last two losses to Iowa State and Utah didn’t help their standing. Right now, Colorado is ranked No. 64 in NCAA NET, just five spots behind Arizona. The Buffs have one more Quad 1 win than the Wildcats.
That’s what may be keeping Colorado in this. The Buffs have two more shots at Quad 1 wins against Baylor (at home) and Oklahoma State (on the road) in the next 10 days. If Colorado can win one of those, it has a fighting chance.
No. 10 BYU (12-12, 3-10; Last Ranking: No. 14)
No. 11 Cincinnati (14-9, 6-7; Last Ranking: No. 10)
No. 12 Kansas (14-10, 4-9; Last Ranking: No. 12)
No. 13 Texas Tech (14-12, 3-10; Last Ranking: No. 11)
No. 14 UCF (9-14, 2-11; Last Ranking: No. 16)
No. 15 Houston (5-19, 1-12; Last Ranking: No. 15)
No. 16 Arizona State (8-17, 2-11; Last Ranking: No. 13)
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
