What’s going on in the Big 12 and beyond? I expand and explain every Sunday in Postscripts at Heartland College Sports, your home for independent Big 12 coverage.
This week, some final thoughts about the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City.
The KC Debate
I think a vigorous social media discussion about the location of the Big 12 Tournament is going to be an annual tradition until the contract with Kansas City ends in 2031. Everyone has an interesting point of view. But, as someone who has covered this tournament in other cities and has covered other college basketball tournaments, my educated opinion is that there is no better place for this conference to hold its basketball tournaments than Kansas City.
I have never seen a city support a conference tournament the way Kansas City supports the Big 12. It’s part of its identity. And that identity is part of what makes this tournament so great.
Naturally, there’s a chance that the tournament moves after the deal expires. It has moved away from Kansas City before. But if the Big 12 decides to move the tournament, they must move it to a place where they are virtually assured that city will support it the way Kansas City does.
I’m sorry, but Las Vegas is not that city. As much as I would love to drive from home every day to cover this tournament, Dallas is not that location either.
I would be more willing to move this tournament to another Big 12 city, such as Salt Lake City, Tucson or Cincinnati before I move it to Las Vegas. I know it makes sense for a couple of fan bases to move it Las Vegas, but it makes no sense for the conference writ large. The Big 12 is right to keep it here for the foreseeable future.
That Incredible Game
The Iowa State-Arizona game was the best Big 12 Tournament game I’ve ever covered. I started covering this tournament regularly in 2019. That game was incredible. I’ve never seen such high level offense in the final 10 minutes of a game by both teams like I did on Friday night.
That might have been a Top 5 all-time Big 12 Tournament game and an all-time Top 10 conference tournament game. That’s a bit hyperbolic, but that’s how good the game was. It will be a high bar for the future.
Spreading the Word
There were a lot of national writers here this week. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen as many national writers at the men’s tournament. Most had never been to this tournament or had not been here for a while and raved about it. It’s interesting they all chose this year to come. We’ve known this is the place to be for years. I’m curious to see which ones come back in 2027.
Get Off the Glass
The Big 12 was right to get rid of the glass floor after Thursday’s quarterfinals. The conference was fortunate that no one suffered a season-ending injury in either the men’s or women’s tournaments thanks to that floor (that I’m aware of).
As I wrote on Friday, I’m all for innovation and I’m all for trying new things. But you can’t mess with playing surface. The players and coaches made that abundantly clear in both the men’s and women’s tournaments. It’s unfortunate that it took a groin injury to Texas Tech’s Christian Anderson to finally hammer that message home when the league was getting significant feedback for more than a week that this wasn’t it. I watched the women’s tournament from home and all one had to do was open the quote sheets and monitor social media for similar complaints.
The technology is likely to get better. But, if the Big 12 takes another pass, that decision needs more runway so teams have time to play on the surface multiple times before a tournament like this. Ultimately, the whole thing was rushed.
These Freshmen
I’m not sure we’ll see a better freshman class on the men’s side than the one we saw this year. You could put together a Sweet 16 team with AJ Dybantsa, Kingston Flemings, Darryn Peterson, Koa Peat and Brayden Burries (and I’m leaving several freshmen off that starting five — that’s just the group that comes immediately to mind).
There is so much emphasis on the transfer portal and building mature teams that while high school recruiting isn’t going to go away, it’s going to get harder for the non-five-star players to land with high-major programs out of high school. I think you’ll see that in the next three to five years.
Dybantsa solidified himself as the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft this week. He’s the perfect prototype player for the league. He needs to refine his shot from the arc and become a serviceable defender. But the rest of the toolbox is there.
Arizona’s Incredible Season (So Far)
I think everyone should have a deep appreciation for what Arizona did this season. Most teams build to March. The Wildcats started at a March-level in November and stayed there. Aside from one week in February, they were dominant.
That’s incredibly hard to do. It’s incredibly hard to keep players “up” for five months. Tommy Lloyd did it and you’re going to see him being named national coach of the year by several publications. Whatever happens in the NCAA Tournament, I think this is Tommy Lloyd’s best job as a coach.
Bill Self Needs Personnel Help
Kansas coach Bill Self needs a GM. Since that 2022 national title his teams have been increasingly inconsistent, and he’s had difficulty pulling the “right” talent out of the portal. Nothing seems to fit together right now.
I’ve looked at Kansas’ basketball page, and the program doesn’t have one. Self doesn’t need a GM to answer to. That’s not what a college GM does. He needs someone to do the legwork to find the transfers he should pursue based on the need and his system. Self can close the deal after that.
I don’t think he’s going to retire after this season. But four years removed from the national championship, it’s time for him to reset how he builds his teams.
Iowa State’s Immediate Future
I hate to tease Cyclone fans, but I think this team has the juice to get to the Elite Eight. Outside of Arizona, Iowa State was the best team in this tournament. If ISU plays at that offensive level, combined with the defense, the Cyclones can get to the Elite Eight and perhaps the Final Four.
A few weeks ago I was worried they might not even get out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Since that loss to Arizona, something’s clicked. I loved the attitude after the Arizona loss. They’re ready for March and they have the goods to get to Indianapolis.
West Virginia’s Rise is Good for The Women
Reflecting on the women’s tournament, the best thing that could have happened for the conference was West Virginia winning the tournament title.
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark has spoken openly about needing several schools in this conference to become bigger brands in their sports. Texas Tech has done it in football. Houston has done it in men’s basketball. West Virginia could do it on the women’s side. Getting to host a sub-regional will be a great showcase for the program.
TCU, WVU, Baylor and Iowa State give the league a core four. Oklahoma State’s success is growing under coach Jacie Hoyt. Same with Colorado and JR Payne. Arizona State and BYU are energized under new head coaches. I think Arizona is coming soon, too.
Losing Oklahoma and Texas was a harder hit for the women than the men. The way the women are building, in two or three years they’ll be that highly competitive, nationally recognized standard that the men are.
What A Season
I got to do more basketball on the road outside of Texas than I’ve ever gotten to do before. Along with my trip to Texas Tech, I got out to Iowa State and finally experienced Hilton Coliseum for the first time. MLB spring training allowed me to hit both Arizona and Arizona State and experience those environments. I want to thanks to SIDs for being welcoming when I parachuted in for games. It made my job much easier.
I can tell you that everyone in this conference loves basketball, men’s and women’s. I don’t think there’s a more passionate basketball fan base in the country than the Big 12. We can’t seem to agree on where to have the conference tournament, but we can agree on the passion. It’s been a blast. Hopefully we have three weeks left on both the men’s and the women’s side and maybe, just maybe, the league will get at least one national champion. Enjoy the madness. We’ll talk soon.
