Top Big 12 Basketball Teams Preview

This Big 12 basketball season cannot get here fast enough. I am very excited to see Texas Tech take the court and show us this new up-tempo style game that Chris Walker keeps hyping up to all the fans. I also can’t wait to check out lots of Big 12 games and see some great match-ups. Every Monday this season I will be picking my favorite games of the Big 12 each week. I’ll put up a post of the quick breakdown of the game with my predicted winner. Another thing I’ll add in the post will be picking my Big 12 player of the week with his weekly stats and comments on his play. It should be a great way to look forward to the basketball week to come with Big 12 games and keep us updated to some of these can’t miss match-ups.

For now I’ll just talk about the Big 12 until our games start Friday. Texas Tech is being written off as being the 2nd worst team in the Big 12 right above only TCU. I think most people are going to be in for a huge surprise when they see the level of talent our guys have, and how quick and athletic we play the game. I don’t think we have a shot at being the best team in the Big 12, but we should be a lot higher than #9 in the Big 12 when conference play is over.

The Big 12 is going to be up for grabs for the most part, but two teams are way out in front as being the best in the conference. Lots of people have been talking about UT having a very competitive team this year, but that is what I hear every year and I’m not buying into it. The two that we all know are going to have good seasons are Kansas and Baylor. I’ve put together a short summary on KU and Baylor below.

Top Teams in the Big 12

Kansas | It comes to no ones surprise that Kansas will be the best team in the Big 12 conference, and one of the top teams in all college basketball. They made it to the championship game in the NCAA tournament last year only to lose to a Kentucky team that was destined to win the whole thing. They lost Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor to the NBA, but still have guys like Elijah Johnson, Travis Releford, and Jeff Withey. Thomas Robinson was an absolute beast last year playing power forward, and he was the most valuable player in the Big 12. I have said it before last season and I’ll say it again this season, Jordan Tolbert could be our version of a Thomas Robinson type player if he is more aggressive down low in the post. Every time you turned around to check out KU basketball games Robinson was putting up another double-double last season. It will be hard to replace that guy, but KU has lots of talent on their squad this year. They will work hard to keep their sights set to make a strong run in the NCAA tournament this year. I hope Tech can keep up with KU on the court because it will be the type of team we will be facing if we do something special this year and miraculously make a post-season appearance in the "big dance." I pick KU to have the best conference record and make it the farthest in the NCAA tournament this season. Their top non-conference games this year are against Michigan State and Ohio State.

Baylor | They had some real professional talent on their squad last year. Perry Jones III, Quincy Miller, and Quincy Acy all were picked by teams in the NBA Draft after last season. I always thought they had the most talented group in the Big 12 last year, but it didn’t seem like Scott Drew could put it all together on the court to make this team the winner I thought that they would be in Big 12 play. They did make it to the Elite Eight and also lost to Kentucky in the tournament, it just wasn’t in the championship game. Who knows what would’ve happened if Baylor and KU traded spots in the tournament, they might have been playing in the Final game against Kentucky? This team can play some damn fine ball. They have the Big 12 preseason player of the year Pierre Jackson. He can do just about anything you need from a great point guard to win games. Baylor again has the talent to be the best team in the Big 12. They need to find the chemistry on the floor and they could be a scary good basketball team. Baylor will be another hard squad for Tech to play, and a team that will be trying to make a run in the Big 12 & NCAA tournaments at the end of this season. I don’t see them having a better Big 12 record then Kansas, but I can see Baylor winning the Big 12 tournament. Sometimes it’s more fun to be a great tournament team than be the team with the better winning record. Their top non-conference games this year are against Kentucky and Gonzaga.