Big 12 rankings: Sunflower domination

By: Curtis Kitchen, 810whb.com senior writer

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – After waging an epic battle in Manhattan on Saturday, Kansas and Kansas State get to lay claim to the top two spots in this week’s power rankings.

Texas is at three, but if the Longhorns don’t get some things fixed, Baylor is ready to take over the third spot. Past that, you have a bunch of .500 (as of late) teams and then the bottom four who can’t seem to grab hold of anything good for an extended period of time. 

Ah, such is conference life.

Team (AP ranking) record – (previous power rank, NC = no change):

1)  KANSAS (1) 20-1, 6-0 – (NC) KU doesn’t get props for anything it does outside of March, which is too bad.  The Jayhawks annually show poise, confidence and talent, of course. Last Saturday was no different (Xavier Henry aside), and KU got out of Manhattan with a win to remain perfect in conference. The ‘Hawks win so regularly, everywhere, it’s a shame most have taken to March as the only measuring stick of a KU season and forget to enjoy each season’s ride.

2)  KANSAS STATE (t-10) 18-4, 5-3 – (3) After taking the nation’s No. 1 team to the wire, the Wildcats needed to prove the ability to bounce right back in a tough environment. Smoking Nebraska like summer prairie grass was perfect. The ‘Skers went into Tuesday’s game giving up 65 ppg in Big 12 games, but allowed 76 to K-State in the Wildcats’ 19-point win. Denis Clemente’s poor shot-selection was overshadowed by a 5-trey, 23-point night as the Wildcats got their first win in Lincoln since 2006.

3)  TEXAS (9) 19-3, 5-2 – (2) – The Longhorns were 20 minutes away from full-crisis mode, trailing Monday night at Stillwater.  Then, James Anderson got tired, freshman Jordan Hamilton went nuts and Texas is fixed now.  Right?  Nuh-uh.  Dexter Pittman and Damion James have been ordinary lately. The mean streak with which Texas played defense earlier this year has mellowed, and team (second half at OSU not included) just looks a lot more beatable than it did a month ago. Going 2-3 in your last five will do that.

4)  BAYLOR (20) 16-4, 3-3 – (NC) The farther we go into Big 12 play, the harder it is for me to figure out how Baylor lost at Colorado. Since then, the Bears are 3-2 with their losses to KU and K-State by eight points total. They also lead the conference in field goal shooting (48.8 percent). Ekpe Udoh has 84 blocks is on pace to break Kelvin Cato’s Big 12 record in a season (118), and Tweety Carter is scoring points in bunches. With size, some decent defense at times and outside shooting, this is a team nobody wants to face in tournament play.

5)  MISSOURI 16-5 (RV), 4-2 – (NC) Had the Tigers held a late lead in Norman, the rest of the conference would have attention turned to Columbia at this point because Missouri would have been 5-1 now.  Still, after shooting 17-of-31 from 3 and hanging 95 on Oklahoma State over the weekend, the Tigers are in the conversation for a Big 12 Tournament first-round bye. Kim English broke out a bit with 20 against OSU, leading four other guys in double figures. The team shot 52.3 percent from the field, a welcome change for the worst-shooting team in conference play.

6) TEXAS A&M 15-6, 4-3 – (NC) Well, hello there, David Loubeau. The sophomore forward has scored 33 points over his last two games, far above his season’s 8.1 ppg average. His emergence helped the Aggies go 1-1 over that stretch, and A&M was able to squeak out a pair of home wins by three and four points over Oklahoma and Colorado, respectively. It may not have been pretty stretch in terms of style points, but 4-3 in the conference is a great shade of lipstick on what easily could have been a 2-5 pig.

7)  OKLAHOMA STATE (RV) 16-6, 4-4 – (NC) The ‘Pokes were feeling pretty good about things with a three-game winning streak including knocking off K-State in Manhattan.  Getting waxed at Missouri and losing a halftime lead to Texas has tempered the enthusiasm in Stillwater some, however. James Anderson is staking his claim as Big 12 player of the year, and I would say he has my vote except that his scoring outbursts have to lead to wins more consistently.  That may or may not be fair, but when you’re going against the likes of Sherron Collins, Damion James and maybe Jacob Pullen or Donald Sloan to a lesser extent, you have to deliver.

8)  TEXAS TECH 14-7, 2-5 – (9) After starting the season 12-2, it appeared the Red Raiders had figured some things out under Pat Knight. Whatever those things were, a current 2-5 stretch has warmed up the hot seat in Lubbock for Knight. The next six games don’t do anything to lighten the building pressure. In fact, Tech could be staring at a 3-10 Big 12 mark. At that point, all bets are off.

9)  OKLAHOMA 12-9, 3-4 – (8) There hasn’t been a bigger disappointment in the Big 12 this year than the Sooners. Jeff Capel tried to warn folks that he would have a young team, but even he couldn’t have imagined the wheels breaking completely from the Schooner.  Willie Warren doesn’t seem to understand the pros won’t want him if he can only muster four points in 28 minutes like he did at Nebraska in the team’s 63-46 loss.  Is the guy trying to actively not be a leader?  It sure seems that way, and the Sooners have struggled all season because of it.

10)  COLORADO 11-10, 2-5 – (NC) There is much to celebrate in Boulder this basketball season. The team has already surpassed its win totals both overall and in conference. The Buffs are 10-1 at home – their best home mark since 2005-06. The bad news, however, is the day-to-day status of Alec Burks, the team’s second-leading scorer at 16.3 ppg, and the Big 12’s freshmen scoring leader. He sprained his left knee in the first two minutes against Iowa State on Saturday, saying he could hear the bones touch together.  Ugh.  Good thing he’s young. He hopes to play against Kansas, and the sooner the better for CU.

11) IOWA STATE 13-8, 2-4 – (NC) The Cyclones got a 64-63 win against CU on the strength of Craig Brackins’ seventh double-double of the year with 27 points and 13 rebounds. The defense has been sturdy for Greg McDermott this season as ISU has held every opponent under 50 percent from the field this year and 10 teams under 40 percent. They will need every bit of that as the schedule lines up Baylor, K-State, Missouri and Kansas over the next four games.

12)  NEBRASKA 13-9, 1-6 – (NC) After shutting down Oklahoma over the weekend, holding the Sooners to 46 points, the Huskers nearly gave that up in the first half against K-State, allowing 42. Doc Sadler’s team has nowhere near the offense to have that happen defensively. Before Tuesday, Nebraska had held nine of its previous 13 opponents to 57 points or less in Lincoln. That wasn’t going to happen with Clemente shooting the way he did, and K-State just flat overwhelming the home team.


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!