Big 12 Hoops | Power Rankings - UT & WVU are Falling

Last week Kansas squeaked by Texas Tech 64-63 in Lubbock on a last second layup by Andrew Wiggins. Against Texas they slaughtered the Longhorns 85-54 in a revenge game for the loss in Austin a few weeks back. KU is the clear favorite to win the regular season Big 12 crown, no other team in the conference is close anymore (closest is 3 games behind). The Jayhawks take on Oklahoma tonight and Oklahoma State on Saturday.

The Cyclones are rolling along with a 3 game win streak, and have won 6 out of their last 7. Last week they beat UT 85-76 proving that they are the #2 team in the conference. DeAndre Kane, Melvin Ejim, and Georges Niang all had 20+ points in the game. The West Virginia game on Wednesday might be tough, but the real game to focus your attention is the K-State game on Saturday. They play in Manhattan and K-State has not lost any conference games there yet this season.

Texas was knocked down by Iowa State and Kansas last week. If the Longhorns want to stay at the top of the rankings then they need to learn how to win on the road against top conference teams. This week they play a hot Baylor team at home and away at Oklahoma.

Oklahoma only had one game last week and it was a win against K-State 86-73. Four players on the team scored 10+ points in a nice team effort to get the victory. This week comes the extreme test to see how good the Sooners really are. They go to Lawrence to play KU tonight and get UT at home, those are 2 very difficult games.

It’s the same story for K-State each week, win at home and lose on the road. Last week K-State beat TCU 65-53 and lost to Oklahoma 86-73. It will be interesting to see how they play on Tuesday night in Lubbock against Texas Tech. Also, can they keep their home court win streak going when the mighty Cyclones from ISU go to Manhattan on Saturday?

Baylor is really the hottest team right now besides Kansas and ISU. They are on a 4 game win streak and are looking to be taken seriously again by others in the conference. Last week they beat OSU (without Marcus Smart) and WVU. If they want to make believers out of everybody they need to go into Austin and get a victory over UT. Saturday against Texas Tech will be another hard game to try and win.

Another loss for the Mountaineers to Baylor 88-75 on Saturday makes it now 3 losses in the last 4 conference games. Eron Harris scored 32 points with 9-17 FGs and 6 downtown makes in the loss. WVU is falling quickly and it doesn’t get better as they have to play ISU in Ames on Wednesday. On Saturday TCU goes to Morgantown.

The losing streak was broken on Saturday when the Cowboys destroyed Texas Tech 84-62. Marcus Smart is back and had 16 points, 10 assists, 6 steals, and 3 rebounds. OSU kept their bubble team status alive and will try to get a major signature win at home against Kansas on Saturday. They have to beat TCU tonight to get there.

A 3 game win streak followed by a 3 game losing streak. The Red Raiders were unlucky last week against Kansas. It was one of the best games I have watched be played by Texas Tech in the past few seasons. There is nothing you can do to make yourself feel any better when you get so close to a win. No shame when there is a lucky lay-up for the other guys at the end to beat you. Don’t dwell on it.

The ass kicking on Saturday from OSU 84-62 was very uncharacteristic for the team we have watched play this season. Tech forgot how to play defense and fell into the exact game OSU likes to play. It also wasn’t very easy for me admit this, but OSU wanted to win the game more than us.

I am very interested to see how our team responds to the losing streak and butt whipping when we play next on Tuesday against K-State. If you haven’t heard; Tech is trying to break the national men’s basketball student attendance record. They want 10,000 students to show up at the game. Should be fun! On Saturday we have a rough outing to Waco against Baylor. Wreck 'em Tech!

The Horned Frogs are 0-14 in the Big 12. They have games against OSU and WVU this week.