Big 12 Hoops | Power Rankings - Big Upsets to Kansas, Iowa State, and Texas

Kansas got knocked off by Oklahoma State 72-65 in Stillwater on Saturday, but they are still the #1 team in the conference. A loss to OSU this late in the season will actually most likely help the Jayhawks forget about their regular season Big 12 crown, and focus on winning the Big 12 tournament. Kansas beat OU earlier last week 83-75. Joel Embiid had double-doubles in both games.

KU ends their regular season playing Texas Tech at home on Wednesday, and then West Virginia on the road this Saturday.

Nobody can win in Manhattan, and Iowa State was in the same boat as all the other Big 12 teams. On Saturday the Cyclones fell to K-State 80-73 even behind a 30 point and 16 rebound performance by Melvin Ejim. After winning 4 in a row it might have been time for ISU to stumble now and refocus on their difficult remaining regular season schedule.

ISU has to end the regular season against arguably the 2 hottest bubble teams in the nation, Baylor and Oklahoma State. They play away against Baylor on Tuesday, and at home against OSU on Saturday.

Oklahoma has won 3 of their last 4 games, with the 1 loss coming at the hands of Kansas in Lawrence. On Saturday they toppled Texas 77-65 and completed a sweep of UT for the season. The Sooners only had 7 turnovers in the game, and Isaiah Cousins scored 24 points. OU is in good position to finish the regular season strong with their games against West Virginia and TCU this week.

Texas has been crumbling for the past 2 weeks matched-up with other teams in the top half of the conference. It’s now 3 losses in 4 games, with the lone win coming against Baylor. After Oklahoma knocked them off on Saturday they need to get wins this week to turn things around. The Longhorns play at home against TCU on Wednesday and on the road at Texas Tech on Saturday.

K-State won on the road last Tuesday for the first time since January 7th. The Wildcats beat Texas Tech in a battle that was close until the last play of the game. But, then they came back to Manhattan. K-State upset ISU on Saturday 80-73. It is unbelievable the unblemished home win streak K-State has kept in the Big 12. The game against ISU was a team effort as 5 different players scored in double figures.

Just like ISU... K-State has to end the regular season against arguably the 2 hottest bubble teams in the nation, Baylor and Oklahoma State. They play away against Oklahoma State on Monday, and at home against Baylor on Saturday.

Huge signature win against Kansas on Saturday for the Cowboys. OSU surprised with a 72-65 upset over the best team in the Big 12. Marcus Smart and Markel Brown both scored 21 points in the victory. To get off the bubble assuredly then OSU needs to win both games this week. It won’t be easy as they take on K-State at home on Monday and away at ISU on Saturday.

The loss to Texas last week slowed down the Bears, but the win against Texas Tech on Saturday still made for 5 wins in their last 6 games. In the win against Texas Tech they shot only 30% from the floor and still came away with a victory. They need to keep their end of the season run going to keep off the bubble that they sit on. Just like OSU, it will be very difficult with hosting ISU on Tuesday and playing at K-State on Saturday.

After dropping 3 in a row, the Mountaineers finally got a break getting to play TCU on Saturday. WVU whipped the Horned Frogs 81-59 with 18 points from Eron Harris and 17 from Juwan Staten. They have a hard path to finish the regular season when they play at Oklahoma on Wednesday and at home against Kansas.

Things seem to be going south fairly quickly for the Red Raiders as they dropped 2 more contests last week, and now are on a losing skid of 5 in a row. The K-State game was ugly most of the way with both sides playing sloppy. It came down to a last possession turnover by Robert Turner to give K-State a clear uncontested path lay-up to end it. The 60-56 defeat was another heartbreaker on the season for Texas Tech.

In Waco the team never seemed to get into any rhythm against Baylor. A lot of things went wrong in the game for Tech. The missed free throws and poor rebounding were only a few of the negatives, but it was promising to see a few freshmen do well when their numbers were called upon. Aaron Ross and Alex Foster looked like they will have bright futures in Tech uniforms. Their minutes were increased due to Coach Tubby Smith putting his starting frontcourt of Jaye Crockett, Jordan Tolbert, and Dejan Kravic on the bench for the final 9 minutes of the game. Though the benching of Crockett could be because he has been hampered by tendonitis in his knees for the last few games, and it is noticeable.

The game in Lawrence might not be pretty to watch on Wednesday as KU is coming off an upset loss and will remember winning by only 1 point to Tech in Lubbock. The Red Raiders need to stay collected and not get rattled by the crowd in Allen Fieldhouse. Then they have a chance to play rival UT in Lubbock on Saturday, a team Jaye Crockett or no other player on our team has ever beaten in their Red Raiders basketball careers. The regular season finale game for our seniors in Lubbock could be a very special one. Wreck 'em Tech!

The Horned Frogs are 0-16 in the Big 12. They have games against Texas and OU this week.