One more week and the Big 12 Conference will head to Kansas City for the Basketball Tournament. The championship game is going to get the ESPN Gameday treatment.
But, before that, we have two more rounds of Big 12 Conference games to play. Arizona still leads the league but has one more significant hurdle to clear before it can call itself regular season champions for the first time since joining the Big 12. Elsewhere, some teams proved they can get it done without key players and other teams showed that their seasons truly are winding down.
Here are this week’s power rankings.
Big 12 Basketball Tier 1 Power Rankings
1. Arizona (25-7, 14-2) (Last Ranking: 1)
2. Texas Tech (22-7, 12-4) (Last Ranking: 4)
3. Houston (24-5, 11-5) (Last Ranking: 3)
4. Iowa State (24-5, 11-4) (Last Ranking: 2)
5. Kansas (21-8, 11-5) (Last Ranking: 5)
Arizona still has Iowa State on Monday. But a reminder that the Wildcats are 4-2 against ranked teams since playing BYU in late January (and 9-2 on the season). Arizona has done about as well as any team could have done in that stretch, pending the Iowa State game. And, now, Arizona is full strength with Koa Peat and Dwayne Aristode back.
The Cyclones suffered their first home loss of the season on Saturday, falling to Texas Tech, which is 3-0 without JT Toppin. That honestly isn’t a sentence I would write after his injury. Tech has figured out how to play without him and after three games I think they can do it sustainably going into the NCAA Tournament. I was skeptical the Red Raiders could get out of the first weekend. Now? I think the chances are better than 50% and they should feel insulted if the NCAA Tournament committee drops them from the Top 16 seeds.
I’m done trying to figure out Kansas. I’m not surprised they lost at Arizona. I’m surprised the Jayhawks lost by as much as they did.
Tier 2
6. UCF (20-8, 9-7) (Last Ranking: 7)
7. TCU (19-10, 9-7) (Last Ranking: 9)
8. BYU (20-9, 8-8) (Last Ranking: 6)
9. Cincinnati (16-13, 8-8) (Last Ranking: 8)
10. West Virginia (17-12, 8-8) (Last Ranking: 10)
UCF floored BYU in Provo. I watched that game and I sat there at halftime and I kept trying to figure out why my eyes were flipping the score? You know how hard it is to play and win in Provo? It’s clear the Cougars are not what they were pre-Richie Saunders, but that’s the sort of loss one doesn’t expect at home. It’s also interesting to see how BYU has trended without Saunders and how Tech has trended without Toppin.
UCF should be firmly in the tournament. The Horned Frogs should be right behind them. TCU is on the last four in line at ESPN and has won three straight games. They’re the one bubble team that I outlined last week that is taking the path it needs to take to get in. If the Horned Frogs upset Tech in Lubbock, lock them in.
Cincinnati and West Virginia both had 1-1 weeks. Both had nice wins, but I think, realistically, their bubbles have burst, barring a deep run in the Big 12 Tournament.
Tier 3
11. Colorado (16-13, 6-10) (Last Ranking: 11)
12. Arizona State (15-14, 6-10) (Last Ranking: 13)
13. Baylor (15-14, 5-11) (Last Ranking: 14)
14. Oklahoma State (17-12, 5-11) (Last Ranking: 12)
15. Kansas State (11-18, 2-14) (Last Ranking: 15)
16. Utah (10-19, 2-14) (Last Ranking: 16)
Just some reshuffling on this tier. Arizona State has gone 4-3 in its last seven games. I don’t know what that means for head coach Bobby Hurley, but his team has shown fight down the stretch. The last week is brutal, though, with games at home against Kansas and on the road at Iowa State.
