Big 12 rankings: Festivus style

By: Curtis Kitchen, 810whb.com senior writer

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – In the spirit of Festivus, it is time for the rest of us to break down what we’ve learned thus far about the Big 12. 

We’ve seen feats of strength (Texas and Kansas State) and already heard an early airing of grievances (Mark Turgeon, go figure, and backlash toward Kansas’ non-conference schedule).  We have also seen an expected hearty meal of good ham turn up like your crazy aunt’s over-cooked, over-sauced meatloaf (Oklahoma).

There is plenty to discuss, so read my first go at what will be weekly power-rankings, and then gather ‘round the pole to discuss.

(AP ranking in parentheses):

1)  TEXAS (2) 11-0 – I know the adage says the top team can’t be replaced until it loses.  I just don’t buy it.  Texas has played infinitely tougher teams than Kansas so far, and it has demolished them.  By 20?  No.  But, anyone who saw the manner with which Texas out-gunned North Carolina and then throttled Kalin Lucas and Michigan State had to be impressed with the offensive and defensive prowess displayed by Barnes’ club.  This team is nasty.

2)  KANSAS (1) 11-0 – Is the gap between KU and Texas a large one?  I don’t think so, but Texas has proven more to this point.  That said, KU has done what it needed to do, going undefeated against weak competition and doing so in impressive fashion – winning by an average victory margin of 29.1.  My biggest question continues to be: once competition gets tougher, can Xavier Henry and Sherron Collins decide who gets to take the really meaningful shots in pressure situations?

3)  KANSAS STATE (12) 11-1 – The Wildcats are the biggest example of why most experts now believe the Big 12 is going to be more than a 1-2 cakewalk.  Going 2-0 against Top 25 opponents and blasting through a four-game December stretch where many fans hoped for 2-2 gave K-State so many quality wins that the team’s schedule at realtimerpi.com looks like a payroll sheet with all the dollar-sign designations.  I think it best sums up K-State and guard Jacob Pullen (a potential All-America candidate should his performance continue) through the first two months:  Money.

4)  TEXAS TECH (23) 10-1 – I will give credit where I didn’t believe it was going to be due.  Pat Knight flooded his roster with a junior college performance enhancer, and it has worked so far.  Returners Mike Singletary and John Roberson have benefitted from the better talent surrounding them.  Now, after hanging 100 on Stanford, the Red Raiders get a major test playing Steve Alford’s undefeated New Mexico Lobos on Dec. 29.  

5)  TEXAS A&M (19) 9-3 – I would have had the Aggies at four, but that was before Derrick Roland broke his leg Tuesday night in the team’s loss to Washington.  The 6’4” senior was the team’s second-leading scorer and often helped set the team’s defensive tone.  He’s gone, so the obvious question is who steps up?  Through Dec. 22, the Aggies were 11^th in the Big 12 in scoring (73.8 ppg) and eighth defensively (64.8 ppg) – point being the team wasn’t spectacular on either end of the floor even with Roland.  This league is tight enough that his absence could wind up knocking the Aggies down from 4-5 to somewhere in the 7-9 range by the end.

6)  BAYLOR 9-1 – Even if his conference peers harbor underground ill feelings toward him and his program, I’ll put Scott Drew’s Bears in the top half of the league for now.  I realize I’m doing this for a team that has played four opponents with RPI values in the 300s, but Baylor also defeated Xavier by five and lost a three-point game to Alabama.  Really, I think this is a typical Baylor team – shock someone better once or twice, lose to someone they shouldn’t once or twice, and be a general pain to everybody else through conference play.

7)  OKLAHOMA STATE 10-1 – Before the season, Travis Ford said he would be willing to put up his backcourt against anybody else’s in the country. If he was talking about his non-conference slate, I’d agree because the Cowboys have played next to nobody.  Tulsa whipped them at the Donald Reynolds Center, holding James Anderson and Marshall Moses to a combined 9-of-32 from the field.  If that’s all it takes to strangle Ford’s offense, which is averaging just 76.5 ppg, OSU is going to find a tough road to hoe in conference play.

8)  OKLAHOMA 8-4 – The record seems okay, but flatly, OU is a disaster right now.  With Willie Warren, if you’re Jeff Capel you just hope he scores more than he gives up.  Ryan Wright has now fooled two head coaches into thinking he was a top-level basketball player and even though their numbers are pretty decent, freshmen Tiny Gallon and Tommy Mason-Griffin are just that – freshmen.  Capel has had to use Tony Crocker at the four a little bit, which won’t be an option in January and February.  Consecutive losses in November to VCU, San Diego and Houston were a head-turner for the Big 12 preseason-three pick, as was the Dec. 19 come-from-behind, one-point win against Northern Colorado.

9)  MISSOURI 7-3 – Life without DeMarre Carroll and Leo Lyons has been tough for Mike Anderson and crew.  Kim English has done his best to make up for their scoring, but he needs more help from the Tigers’ frontcourt of Laurence Bowers and Justin Safford.  I don’t know that they can do much more than the 10.2 and 7.6 ppg they average now.  Marcus Denmon and Michael Dixon (off the bench) are fun to watch, but I have a feeling other teams’ big guys are going to treat Missouri very rudely.

10)  IOWA STATE 9-3 – There isn’t a whole lot to say about the Cyclones yet.  Craig Brackins is really good.  He has some okay talent around him, but not enough to make Iowa State a true threat to many teams in the Big 12 – unless he goes for 40 on any given night.  It has been asked already, but I’ll do it a final time before we go too far into the season: What if Wesley Johnson’s 16 points and eight rebounds was still around…

11)  NEBRASKA 9-2 – Want some insight to what makes Doc Sadler tick?  A tweet from the coach last month said the team spent two hours working on – wait for it – defending ball screens.   The ‘Huskers are 9-2, which includes a bad loss to Saint Louis and a good win against the same Tulsa team that blew out Oklahoma State.  Offense will again be the issue for Sadler’s group, seeing as how Ryan Anderson is the only player averaging double figures…with 11.0 ppg.  Hope the time spent on defending ball screens is paying off because they’re going to need every facet of defense to work to stay in games.

12)  COLORADO 7-4 – The Buffaloes earned a casual glance with two hard-fought losses to Gonzaga and Arizona in Maui.  Since then, they are 4-2 with the wins coming against sub-par competition and the losses against Oregon State and Colorado State.  Cory Higgins is good and Alec Burks is solid, but you need three players of their caliber to really make any headway, not just two.  This group won’t lose every conference game, obviously, and there may even be a night in Boulder where CU jumps up and bites a better team, but it won’t happen consistently.


Send your comments to curtiskitchen@810whb.com.  Also, follow him @curtiskitchen on Twitter for game-day reports from Manhattan and other sports news during the week!