Big 12 basketball power rankings: Texas, Oklahoma surge after big victories
By Brian Spaen
It’s another week where you can pick up all the Big 12 team cards, shuffle them, and lay it all out differently.
Outside of going into Lubbock, it’s going to be extremely hard to venture into an opponent’s arena and get a win. Last week, only one conference team won on the road — TCU over a lifeless Texas Tech. A big story is the traditional football powerhouses — Texas and Oklahoma — landed big victories on Saturday and boost up in the rankings.
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Bottom line: It’s all about defending home court. Texas had to learn the hard way by getting blown out by Oklahoma two weeks ago. Now, everyone in the conference should know how important it is to win at home. Here are the Big 12 basketball power rankings for week 11, and it starts with one of the best home court advantages in college basketball.
1. Iowa State Cyclones (13-3, 3-1)
Putting Iowa State at the top last week was the right move after they held serve at home against Kansas. Both teams played at a high level on Saturday night and there may be a little separation between these two teams and the rest of the conference.
2. Kansas Jayhawks (14-3, 3-1)
Considering all the momentum Iowa State had with ESPN College GameDay making its first visit to Ames, they held up pretty well. Kansas had a chance to win the game for over the first 30 minutes until Bill Self ran out of timeouts and couldn’t keep the Cyclones at bay any longer.
3. Texas Longhorns (13-4, 2-2)
Having a week off must have helped. After losing to the pair of Oklahoma schools, Texas took down the former 3rd-ranked team on these very power rankings. Not only did they take them down, it was an absolute wallop. If the Longhorns continue to play like that, they’ll join Iowa State and Kansas in the upper echelon of the Big 12.
4. Oklahoma Sooners (12-5, 3-2)
This Sooners team makes no sense. Lose on the road by 21 to West Virginia, then beatdown Oklahoma State at home. Outside of losing to Kansas State at home, it was probably too harsh to pound this team down in the rankings. Like Texas, they get a big surge up this week.
5. West Virginia Mountaineers (15-3, 3-2)
Speaking of teams that make no sense, where do we put West Virginia? Getting smacked by Texas was a real disappointment after wacking Oklahoma at home. That game at Kansas State next week will be interesting.
Jan 17, 2015; Manhattan, KS, USA; Kansas State Wildcats guard/forward Wesley Iwundu (25) drives to the basket during a 63-61 win against the Baylor Bears at Fred Bramlage Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports
6. Kansas State Wildcats (11-7, 4-1)
This will probably have some controversy, but the Wildcats get the edge over Baylor because of the latest head-to-head and KSU is currently on a four-game winning streak. Getting a winning streak like that in Big 12 action will be rare, and because of it, the Wildcats are actually at the top of the Big 12 standings.
7. Baylor Bears (13-4, 2-3)
As I’ve said in previous rankings, a team that shouldn’t be seventh will have to be seventh. That’s just how deep this conference is. Even after beating Iowa State who reigns as the top dog, I can’t put Baylor ahead of these other teams. An important stretch is here with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas all coming up in the next three games.
8. Oklahoma State Cowboys (12-5, 2-3)
Perhaps I was way too high on the Cowboys last week as they didn’t look good in losses to Kansas and Oklahoma. Le’Bryan Nash and Phil Forte must click together every night, and the odds of it always happening are pretty long.
9. TCU Horned Frogs (14-3, 1-3)
They’ll have to impress a lot more than getting a win over Texas Tech — even on the road. We’ll see how they do when they host Texas in a quick turnaround on Monday night.
10. Texas Tech Red Raiders (10-8, 0-5)
Losing to TCU by 20 points at home assures this team can just set up camp here — they won’t be going anywhere for a while. The Red Raiders could easily go 0-18 in the Big 12.