Big 12 Conference Notebook
by Neal Heston
Race shaping as expected
The Big 12 conference slate is only one-fourth finished, but the teams expected to contend aren’t disappointing thus far. Fifth-ranked Kansas leads the league as predicted with a 3-0 mark. Texas A&M and Texas sit tied with the Jayhawks as well. Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Baylor also seem to be bouncing toward postseason berths. Iowa State has surprised the league so far, sitting at 2-1 in the league and in fifth place, but give the young Cyclones a couple more weeks to prove their capabilities before we get excited. Kansas State and Oklahoma sit just below Iowa State with 1-2 league marks. The bottom three teams have formed as most predicted, with Nebraska, Colorado and Missouri rounding out the standings, respectively.
Hoopville Big 12 Player of the Week: Kevin Durant, Texas
The freshman continues to dominate the court and has led the youthful Longhorns to three initial conference victories. Durant averaged 31 points and 13 rebounds in Texas’ last two contests.
If Selection Sunday were upon us:
NCAA-bound: Kansas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech
Work still remaining: Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas State
Close calls for Jayhawks
Getting to the top is difficult. Staying there is proving to be even harder for highly ranked Kansas. Since pulverizing 12th-ranked Oklahoma State 87-57 in the conference opener, the Jayhawks dodged a bullet and beat Iowa State in Ames, Iowa, last Saturday and barely squeezed past Missouri, 80-77, on Monday night. An upset is bound to happen if Kansas keeps getting stuck in close contests, and Bob Knight and his Texas Tech Red Raiders could be just the team to pull that off this Saturday.
How grown-up are they?
We will find out just how far the Texas Longhorns have come this season when they travel to Oklahoma State on Tuesday. The Longhorns’ three conference victories so far have come against three of the Big 12’s bottom four teams. Keeping their five-game winning streak going won’t be simple, as Oklahoma State will be looking to rebound from a 30-point defeat to Kansas last week.
Quicker than expected
Could first-year head coach Greg McDermott pull off the unexpected this season and get the Iowa State Cyclones to the postseason? It certainly looks possible, at least for an NIT opportunity. The Cyclones staved off the surprising Missouri Tigers in the conference opener for a 66-65 victory and then squeezed out a 71-62 home win over Nebraska. The true measuring stick came last Saturday against Kansas, and Iowa State passed the test. Although the Cyclones fell in overtime, 68-64, the outcome proved that McDermott and his Cyclones may be developing a little faster than most anticipated.
Not far from success either
Basketball fans knew the 11-2 start from Missouri wouldn’t keep going that strong, but the Tigers aren’t far from keeping a decent record and maybe even giving themselves a shot at the NIT. Missouri is eight total points from being 3-1 in the Big 12, which would have propelled the squad to a 14-3 mark – quite a different story than sitting in the conference cellar. Aside from a 20-point defeat at Texas, the Tigers’ three defeats were to Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State by one, three and four points, respectively.
On the brink
Here we are in mid-January, and the Baylor Bears are just three games from tying a school record for victories. At 11-5 and 1-2 in the Big 12, BU has proven that it is ready for at least an NIT appearance. Work still needs to be done for an opportunity at the NCAA Tournament, but even mentioning that seems unthinkable given the Bears’ basketball history. Baylor’s two conference defeats were close and to squads headed to the NCAA Tournament (Texas A&M and Oklahoma State), but some upsets are going to need to happen to get any chance to dance in March.
