2023-24 Big 12 Basketball Power Rankings: Week 8

Ariel Puterman gives his Big 12 basketball power rankings heading into week 8 of the 2023 season.

Matchup of the week: Ohio State vs West Virginia

Sneaky good matchup of the week: Evansville vs Cincinnati 

All games listed are EST

1) Kansas Jayhawks

Last week’s ranking: 1 (-)

Record: 11-1

Last week: W vs Yale (75-60)

Next week: vs. Wichita State (Dec. 30 – 4 p.m.)

Quality wins: UConn, Kentucky, Tennessee, at Indiana, Missouri

Bad losses: N/A

The Jayhawks have really struggled in the first half recently, and it was no different against Yale after they trailed by one at the half. However, when you have Kevin McCullar, who’s playing like a first-team All-American, then you find ways to win. McCullar finished with 34 on the night, a career high and is now averaging over 20 points a game. The Jayhawks have a pretty tame start to Big 12 play, but if they can’t control both halves, they may be in danger of dropping a game they should win.

2) Houston Cougars

Last week’s ranking: 2 (-)

Record: 12-0

Last week: W vs. Texas State (72-37)

Next week: vs. Penn (Dec. 30 – 7 p.m.)

Quality wins: Texas A&M, Utah, Dayton, at Xavier

Bad losses: N/A

Three undefeated teams remain, and Houston is one of them. A big reason is the defense, which showed again allowing just 37 points to Texas State. Up next, is a Penn team that should be no issue, however, they did beat Villanova earlier this season.

3) Oklahoma Sooners

Last week’s ranking: 3 (-)

Record: 10-1

Last week: L vs. North Carolina (81-69)

Next week: vs. Central Arkansas (Dec. 28 – 6 p.m.), vs. Monmouth (Dec. 31 – 3 p.m.)

Quality wins: Providence, Arkansas, USC, Iowa

Bad losses: N/A

After Houston and KU, there’s a huge dropoff, and at the moment it seems like Oklahoma has that spot. UNC was their biggest test of the year, and they failed, losing by double digits. The Providence win is aging well, but it’s safe to say no one views them as a championship contender yet. Still, if they win these two games, they’ll finish the calendar year at 12-1, which any Sooner fan would be happy with.

4) BYU Cougars

Last week’s ranking: 5 (+1)

Record: 11-1

Last week: W vs. Bellarmine (101-59)

Next week: vs. Wyoming (Dec. 30 – 6 p.m.)

Quality wins: San Diego State, NC State, Arizona State

Bad losses: N/A

BYU continued to do what they do best, blow out mid-major schools. This time, it was a 42-point win against Bellarmine. That San Diego State win continues to hold a lot of value for them, but they’ll need to knock off several Big 12 basketball opponents if they want to stay a top 15 team in the country.

5) Baylor Bears

Last week’s ranking: 6 (+1)

Record: 10-2

Last week: L. vs. #16 Duke (78-70), W vs. Mississippi Valley State (107-48)

Next week: None

Quality wins: Auburn, Florida, Seton Hall

Bad losses: N/A

Baylor had a chance to prove their championship contender by beating Michigan State and/or Duke, and they lost both. They still have three quality wins, but none against top 25 teams. The good news is that Ja’Kobe Walter has started to look better, scoring 15 against Duke and 26 against Mississippi Valley State. They get a week to recover before conference play begins.

6) Texas Longhorns

Last week’s ranking: 4 (-2)

Record: 9-2

Last week: W vs. Texas A&M CC (71-55)

Next week: vs. UNC Greensboro (Dec. 29 – 8 p.m.)

Quality wins: LSU

Bad losses: N/A

Something to highlight from this team is how good of a rebounder Dillon Mitchell has been. He’s grabbed double-digit rebounds in five straight games for the Longhorns. Mitchell averaged under 4 a game last year, so this is encouraging. UNC Greensboro does have a win against Arkansas this year, but the Longhorns should take care of the Spartans with ease.

7) Iowa State Cyclones

Last week’s ranking: 7 (-)

Record: 10-2

Last week: W vs. Eastern Illinois (80-48)

Next week: vs. New Hampshire (Dec. 31- 1 p.m.)

Quality wins: Iowa, VCU

Bad losses: N/A

Like BYU, Iowa State has done a great job blowing out their mid-major opponents, which the advanced metrics also seem to love. Iowa has really struggled and VCU isn’t seen as a tournament team, so as of now they don’t have that signature win that they’re usually so good at earning in non-conference play. Their first four conference opponents are Oklahoma, Houston, Oklahoma State, and BYU, so that stretch should give us a good indication of this team’s ceiling.

8) Texas Tech Red Raiders

Last week’s ranking: 8 (-)

Record: 9-2

Last week: W vs. UT Arlington (77-66)

Next week: vs. Sam Houston (Dec. 28 – 8 p.m.)

Quality wins: Michigan

Bad losses: N/A

The Red Raiders take on Sam Houston, who lost to Oklahoma State by 15 earlier this season. They have a good balance of scoring and it feels like they’re building chemistry, but time will tell. Like many of their Big 12 basketball members, they’ll need an impressive conference slate to earn the respect of the selection committee.

9) Kansas State Wildcats

Last week’s ranking: 10 (+1)

Record: 9-3

Last week: W vs. Wichita State (69-60)

Next week: None

Quality wins: Villanova, Providence, at LSU

Bad losses: N/A

Like Oklahoma, Providence’s recent success has boosted Kansas State and has put them ahead of several teams on the same level as them. They don’t look anywhere near the team they were last year, but they still have the talent to be a tournament team. Four of their first five conference games are against unranked teams, so if they can come out of that with a winning record that would be terrific for the Wildcats.

10) Cincinnati Bearcats

Last week’s ranking: 11 (+1)

Record: 10-2

Last week: W vs. Merrimack (65-49), W vs. Stetson (83-75)

Next week: vs. Evansville (Dec. 29 – 7 p.m.)

Quality wins: Georgia Tech

Bad losses: N/A

Cincy is going to have a brutal start to conference play, so they better enjoy the next week and a half. They face BYU on the road, Texas, Baylor on the road, TCU, Oklahoma, and then Kansas on the road to start the season. Things can get ugly quickly, and that Georgia Tech win won’t be enough of a blanket, so winning some of those will be crucial.

11) TCU Horned Frogs

Last week’s ranking: 9 (-2)

Record: 10-2

Last week: W vs. Old Dominion (111-87), L vs. Nevada (88-75), W vs. Hawaii (65-51)

Next week: None

Quality wins: Arizona State

Bad losses: N/A

TCU’s best win at this point of the season is against 6-5 Arizona State. That’s not going to cut it. Unfortunately for them, they start conference play with three straight games against Kansas, Oklahoma, and Houston – the top 3 in the current Big 12 Basketball Power Rankings. However, they’re 10-2 and have the personnel to shoot up the power rankings.

12) Oklahoma State Cowboys

Last week’s ranking: 13 (+1)

Record: 6-5

Last week: W vs. Wofford (76-70)

Next week: vs. South Carolina State (Dec. 31 – 3 p.m.)

Quality wins: N/A

Bad losses: Abilene Christian, Notre Dame, Southern Illinois

Oklahoma State looks like they’re starting to get on the right track, winning three in a row and going over .500 for the first time this season. They haven’t shown that they can crawl out of the Big 12 basketball cellar yet, but having momentum heading into conference play will help.

13) UCF Knights

Last week’s ranking: 12 (-1)

Record: 8-3

Last week: W vs. Maine (74-51), W vs. Florida A&M (69-56)

Next week: vs. Bethune-Cookman (Dec. 29 – 7 p.m.)

Quality wins: N/A

Bad losses: Stetson

If you thought TCU’s resume was bad, UCF’s best win is against 8-5 Jacksonville. UCF has a stretch of at Kansas State, Kansas, BYU, at Texas, and at Houston coming up so that winning record might vanish soon.

14) West Virginia Mountaineers

Last week’s ranking: 14 (-)

Record: 5-7

Last week: L vs. Radford (66-65), W vs. Toledo (91-81)

Next week: vs. Ohio State (Dec. 30 – 7 p.m.)

Quality wins: N/A

Bad losses: Monmouth, UMass

Every time West Virginia takes one step forward, they take two steps back. They get Raequan Battle back, and he looks terrific, scoring 29 points, but they lose to Radford at home. Then, their star center Jesse Edwards gets injured and is sidelined for a month at least. Now, they are coming off a good win against Toledo where Battle was terrific again. Can they keep the momentum against Ohio State? They have the talent, but it’s all about execution.

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