Big 12 Basketball Power Rankings after a disappointing Big 12/SEC Challenge
Matchup of the week: Texas vs Texas Tech
Sneaky good matchup of the week: TCU @Oklahoma
1) Texas Tech Red Raiders
Last week ranking: 1 (-)
Record: 16-5 (5-3)
Last week: @#5 Kansas (L) 91-94 2OT, Mississippi St (W) 76-50
Next week: #23 Texas (2/1/22, 9 PM ET), @West Virginia (2/5/22, 2 PM ET)
Best wins: @#8 Baylor, #10 Kansas, #20 Iowa State, #22 Tennessee (neutral), Mississippi St, West Virginia, Oklahoma State
Worst losses: @Kansas State
Tournament seeding: 3 seed (Making the Madness, CBS Sports, CBB Review), 4 seed (ESPN)
Texas Tech had quite the Monday night, taking Kansas to double overtime on the road before falling. They then followed up with a dominant win over Mississippi St for one of the few wins the Big 12 had on Saturday. This team continues to prove how legit they are both offensively and especially defensively, and while many people may think Baylor is the team to beat in the Big 12, it should be this team. Up next, the game all Red Raiders fans had circled on their calendar since October, the Chris Beard return game.
2) Baylor Bears
Last week ranking: 2 (-)
Record: 18-3 (6-2)
Last week: Kansas State (W) 75-49, @Alabama (L) 78-87
Next week: West Virginia (1/31/22, 9 PM ET), @#10 Kansas (2/5/22, 4 PM ET)
Best wins: #12 Villanova, #13 Michigan State (neutral), @#20 Iowa State, @Oregon, Oklahoma (2x), TCU, West Virginia, Kansas State
Worst losses: Oklahoma State
Tournament seeding: 1 seed (Making the Madness, ESPN, CBS Sports, CBB Review)
Baylor had a chance to jump to #1 this week but suffered the road loss to Alabama, who may have the weirdest resume in the country. This team is looking healthy, which is great news, and they’ll need to be 100% when they take on Kansas at home this Saturday, a rematch of last year when Kansas handed them their first and only regular-season loss.
3) Kansas Jayhawks
After 693 days, @CollegeGameDay is back on the 🛣 …
And you know the first stop had to be Allen Fieldhouse. pic.twitter.com/SmlFqvOTZN
— Kansas Men’s Basketball (@KUHoops) January 29, 2022
Last week ranking: 3 (-)
Record: 17-3 (6-1)
Last week: #13 Texas Tech (W) 94-91 2OT, #12 Kentucky (L) 62-80
Next week: @Iowa State (2/1/22, 7 PM ET), #8 Baylor (2/5/22, 4 PM ET)
Best wins: #13 Michigan State (neutral), #14 Texas Tech, #20 Iowa State, West Virginia, St. John’s, Oklahoma. Oklahoma State, Iona
Worst losses: Dayton (neutral)
Tournament seeding: 1 seed (ESPN), 2 seed (Making the Madness, CBS Sports, CBB Review)
What a week it was for the Jayhawks. First, they play in what might be the game of the year and pull off the massive win in double overtime to boost their resume and confidence. This was followed by an absolute blowout at home against Kentucky where they looked like a team that didn’t want to be there. There is some obvious concern surrounding Kansas after that game, but there is still a lot of confidence in this team. They get back-to-back Top 25 matchups once again, another great opportunity to boost their resume.
4) Texas Longhorns
Last week ranking: 7 (+3)
Record: 16-5 (5-3)
Last week: @TCU (W) 73-50, #18 Tennessee (W) 52-51
Next week: @#14 Texas Tech (2/1/22, 9 PM ET), #20 Iowa State (2/5/22, 2 PM ET)
Best wins: #22 Tennessee, @TCU, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Stanford (neutral), @Kansas State, Oklahoma State
Worst losses: Kansas State, @Oklahoma State
Tournament seeding: 6 seed (CBS Sports), 7 seed (Making the Madness, ESPN,), 9 seed (CBB Review)
This week, we finally saw a Texas team that could be a problem in March. They had two major issues heading into the week, winning on the road and beating ranked opponents. They did both, crushing TCU then pulling off the home win against Tennessee. The defense continues to be solid, and the offense showed its capability against TCU. Let’s see if they can ride this momentum into February when they take on a Texas Tech team who wants nothing more than to beat Chris Beard, and an Iowa State team that has also gained some momentum this week.
5) TCU Horned Frogs
TIGERS TAMED!
TCU defeats no.19 LSU in the Big 12/SEC Challenge!#GoFrogs #Big12MBB pic.twitter.com/fa5FrGv2AG
— TCU Basketball (@TCUBasketball) January 29, 2022
Last week ranking: 4 (-1)
Record: 14-4 (3-3)
Last week: Texas (L) 50-73, #19 LSU (W) 77-68
Next week: @Oklahoma (1/31/22, 9 PM ET), Kansas State (2/5/22, 8 PM ET)
Best wins: #25 LSU, @#20 Iowa State, Oklahoma, Texas A&M (neutral), @Kansas State, Oral Roberts
Worst losses: Santa Clara (Neutral)
Tournament seeding: 7 seed (CBS Sports), 9 seed (CBB Review), 10 seed (Making the Madness), 11 seed (ESPN)
TCU redeemed its bad loss to Texas by pulling off the upset and defeating LSU at home for the Big 12 basketball’s best win on Saturday. Consistency has remained a slight issue, but they have proven that they are capable of being a good team and one that can win a game in March. They have a much easier week upcoming when they take on Oklahoma and Kansas State.
6) Iowa State Cyclones
Last week ranking: 6 (-)
Record: 16-5 (3-5)
Last week: @Oklahoma State (W) 84-81 OT, Missouri (W) 67-50
Next week: #10 Kansas (2/1/22, 7 PM ET), @#23 Texas (2/5/22, 2 PM ET)
Best wins: #14 Texas Tech, #21 Xavier (neutral), #23 Texas, @Creighton, Iowa, @Oklahoma State, Memphis (neutral)
Worst losses: @Oklahoma
Tournament seeding: 4 seed (CBS Sports), 5 seed (Making the Madness), 6 seed (CBB Review), 7 seed (ESPN)
Iowa State made history this week, breaking their 24 game Big 12 basketball road losing streak. They followed this with an easy win against Missouri. While last week was a “bye week” in the Big 12, they get a real test when they welcome Kansas to Ames in a rematch of the game they lost in the final seconds a few weeks ago, followed by a rematch against Texas where they beat them on their home court.
7) Oklahoma Sooners
Got the (𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑦) road dub 😤#BoomerSooner | @tannergroves pic.twitter.com/xgFfSxTuB0
— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_MBBall) January 27, 2022
Last week ranking: 10 (+3)
Record: 13-8 (3-5)
Last week: @West Virginia (W) 72-62, @#1 Auburn (L) 68-86
Next week: TCU (1/31/22, 9 PM ET), @Oklahoma State (2/5/22, 12 PM ET)
Best wins: #20 Iowa State, Arkansas (neutral), Florida, @ West Virginia, @UCF, Kansas State
Worst losses: Utah State (neutral), Butler, @TCU
Tournament seeding: 9 seed (Making the Madness, CBS Sports, ESPN), OUT (CBB Review)
Oklahoma took a beating from Auburn as expected, but did pull out a road win against West Virginia this week. They still remain a tournament lock at this point but will need to pick it up. This week is extremely important because after this they have Texas Tech twice, Kansas, Texas, and Iowa State their next five games.
8) Oklahoma State Cowboys
Last week ranking: 5 (-3)
Record: 1o-10 (3-5)
Last week: #23 Iowa State (L) 81-84 OT, @Florida (L) 72-81
Next week: @Kansas State (2/2/22, 9 PM ET), Oklahoma (2/5/22, 12 PM ET)
Best wins: @#8 Baylor, #20 Iowa State, #23 Texas, NC State (neutral), @Oral Roberts, Cleveland State
Worst losses: Oakland, Wichita State
Tournament seeding: INELIGIBLE
Oklahoma State went 0-2 on the week, extending their losing streak to 3 games. The Cowboys have four straight games upcoming against unranked teams, so they are hoping to pick up a few wins there. A bright spot was Avery Anderson scoring 34 points in their loss to Iowa State. If they can get him more involved in the offense, good things will come.
9) Kansas State Wildcats
Last week ranking: 9 (-1)
Record: 10-10 (2-6)
Last week: @#4 Baylor (L) 49-74, @Ole Miss (L) 56-67
Next week: Oklahoma State (2/2/22, 9 PM ET), @TCU (2/5/22, 8 PM ET)
Best wins: #14 Texas Tech, @ #23 Texas, Wichita State
Worst losses: @Ole Miss, @West Virginia
Tournament seeding: OUT (Making the Madness, ESPN, CBS Sports, CBB Review)
With back-to-back losses, Kansas State’s at large chances keep getting slimmer and slimmer. The good news for them is they still play Baylor, Kansas, Iowa State twice, and Texas Tech for a chance to get some quality wins. If the rest of the season looks more like last week and not the previous weeks before where they were playing close games, then Kansas State fans should expect a quiet mid-March.
10) West Virginia Mountaineers
Last week ranking: 9 (-1)
Record: 13-7 (2-5)
Last week: Oklahoma (L) 62-72, @Arkansas (L) 68-77
Next week: @8 Baylor (1/31/22, 9 PM ET), #14 Texas Tech (2/5/22, 2 PM ET)
Best wins: #20 UConn, @UAB, Oklahoma State, Clemson (neutral), Oakland, Kansas State
Worst losses: Oklahoma
Tournament seeding: 11 seed (CBS Sports), Last Four In (Making the Madness, ESPN, CBB Review)
The West Virginia losing streak extends to five games, as hope for an at-large bid is slowly dwindling away. They remain in the bracket in the four bracketology, but with games against Baylor and Texas Tech this week, unless they win one a seven-game losing streak won’t be taken too well. After leading West Virginia in scoring in eight of the 12 non-conference games to start the season, Taz Sherman has only led in scoring once out of the last eight games. They need to get him more involved in the offense if they want to be in a situation to win, or they will remain at the bottom of the Big 12 basketball power rankings.
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