2024-25 Big 12 Basketball Power Rankings: Week 3

Ariel Puterman gives his Big 12 basketball power rankings heading into week 3 of the 2024 season.

Matchup of the week: Baylor at St. John’s

Sneaky good matchup of the week: Oklahoma State at FAU

All games listed are EST

1) Kansas Jayhawks

Last week’s ranking: 1 (-)

Record: 4-0

Last week: W vs. Michigan State (77-69), W vs. Oakland (78-57)

Next week: vs. UNC Willmington (Nov. 19 – 8 p.m.)

Quality wins: #10 UNC, Michigan State

Bad losses: N/A

Jayhawks continue to take care of business, beating Michigan State in the Champions Classic, then getting a much easier opponent in Oakland and beating them by nearly 20. Hunter Dickinson was awesome in the Michigan State game, and AJ Storr finally broke out against Oakland. This team hasn’t looked as dominant as #1 teams in the past, but they keep winning, and that’s all that matters. They have a light week ahead before a big-time matchup against the Duke Blue Devils in Las Vegas.

2) Houston Cougars

Last week’s ranking: 2 (-)

Record: 2-1

Last week: W vs. Louisiana (91-45)

Next week: vs. Hofstra (Nov. 22 – 8 p.m.)

Quality wins: N/A

Bad losses: N/A

A light week for Houston, but they absolutely obliterated Louisiana. The defense looks as good as ever, and the scoring doesn’t look to bad itself. We still need to see that quality win come through, and Hofstra, a team that beat Seton Hall this season, will serve as a good warmup to Alabama.

3) Arizona State Sun Devils

Last week’s ranking: 7 (+4)

Record: 4-1

Last week: W vs. Grand Canyon (87-76), W vs. St. Thomas (81-66)

Next week: vs. Cal Poly (Nov. 20 – 9 p.m.)

Quality wins: Santa Clara, Grand Canyon

Bad losses: N/A

Has there been any team more surprising than Arizona State so far? After an impressive week prior, they followed up with another. Arizona State is one of three Power 5 teams that has played 5 games this season, but they haven’t let that hurt them. Grand Canyon was considered one of the best mid-major programs in the country, and Arizona State went onto a neutral court and took care of business. Then, they faced a St. Thomas team that people think can win their conference and won that one as well.

The freshmen duo of Sanon and Quaintance have been impressive, and the depth has been there, with different guys stepping up in different games. Sure, they haven’t beaten a top-25 team, but in a Big 12 conference without many quality wins, having two already deserves respect. They get a much-needed break, facing just one opponent in Cal Poly this week.

4) Cincinnati Bearcats

Last week’s ranking: 5 (+1)

Record: 3-0

Last week: W vs. Nichols (86-49)

Next week: at Northern Kentucky (Nov. 19 – 7 p.m.)

Quality wins: N/A

Bad losses: N/A

Cincinnati keeps beating up on bad teams, but they’ve beaten every team by 27 or more. Losing Dan Skillings for a few weeks is very unfortunate, but they still have the depth to make up for his loss. They face their first true road environment this week against Northern Kentucky.

5) UCF Knights

Last week’s ranking: 3 (-2)

Record: 3-0

Last week: W vs. Florida Atlantic (100-94)

Next week: vs. Tennessee Tech (Nov. 19 – 7 p.m.), vs. Wisconsin (Nov. 22 – 5 p.m.)

Quality wins: #13 Texas A&M

Bad losses: N/A

It seems like if UCF plays Kansas or Mississippi Valley State, the final score will be within ten points. In this week’s edition, they faced a good FAU team and won by 6, scoring 100 points. Keyshawn Hall had a monster game, scoring 26 points and grabbing 7 rebounds to lead them to the win.

This week should be another interesting one for the Knights. They start with a game against Tennessee Tech, a team they should beat by 30, then Wisconsin, who just beat a fellow Big 12 team in Arizona. If they beat Wisconsin, then we can have a serious conversation about this team’s tournament potential.

6) Baylor Bears

Last week’s ranking: 6 (-)

Record: 3-1

Last week: W vs. Sam Houston (104-67), W vs. Tarleton State (104-41)

Next week: vs. #22 St. John’s (Nov. 21 – 7 p.m.)

Quality wins: #18 Arkansas (neutral)

Bad losses: at #4 Gonzaga

After grueling back-to-back games against top 20 teams, Baylor faced a much lighter schedule last week, and boy did they take advantage. They beat their two opponents by a combined 100 points, scoring over 100 points in both. That Gonzaga game will loom over them for a while, but this week proved that they have the talent to be a championship-level team.

The schedule isn’t getting any easier. They’ll face another Top 25 team this week in Saint John’s, who have been terrific to start the season. This is the game of the week in the Big 12, and one that everyone should be planning their Thursday nights around.

7) Texas Tech Red Raiders

Last week’s ranking: 10 (-3)

Record: 3-0

Last week: W vs. Wyoming (96-49)

Next week: vs. Arkansas Pine-Bluff (Nov. 18 – 8 p.m.), vs. Saint Joseph’s (Nov. 21 – 9 p.m.)

Quality wins: N/A

Bad losses: N/A

Like Cincinnati, Texas Tech has just been beating inferior teams, with the latest victim being Wyoming. JT Toppin has been phenomenal, scoring 24 points in that game after 25 in the previous one. Up next, another probably 40-point win, but then a game that could be interesting. Saint Joseph’s just beat Villanova and could prove to be a tough test for the Red Raiders.

8) Iowa State Cyclones

Last week’s ranking: 8 (-)

Record: 2-0

Last week: W vs. Kansas City (82-56)

Next week: vs. IU Indy (Nov. 18 – 8 p.m.)

Quality wins: N/A

Bad losses: N/A

Arizona State has played five games this season. Three Big 12 teams have played four. The rest of the Big 12 has played three. Except Iowa State, which has only scheduled two games in two weeks. It’s been disappointing seeing the lack of action this team has had, and it won’t get better this week, with just one game on the schedule against IU Indy. They beat a Kansas City team that was the preseason pick to win their conference, but until they play either a higher volume of games or a big-time opponent, it’s hard to justify putting them ahead of other teams.

9) BYU Cougars

Last week’s ranking: 13 (-4)

Record: 4-0

Last week: W vs. Queens University (99-55), W vs. Idaho (95-71)

Next week: vs. Mississippi Valley State (Nov. 23 – 9 p.m.)

Quality wins: N/A

Bad losses: N/A

BYU hasn’t looked as impressive as some thought they would, but 4-0 is 4-0. They beat Queens with ease, but struggled with Idaho until they pulled away late. The offense looks good, but the defense has looked a bit concerning given the quality of their opponent. Speaking of, they face the worst team in college basketball this week before its first true test of the season against Ole Miss on Thanksgiving day.

10) Utah Utes

Last week’s ranking: 9 (-1)

Record: 3-1

Last week: W vs. Queens University (96-65), L vs. Mississippi State (73-78)

Next week: vs. Utah Tech (Nov. 22 – 5:30 p.m)

Quality wins: N/A

Bad losses: N/A

Utah was close to beating a tournament-level team in Mississippi State and finding themselves much higher up on the Power Rankings, but they couldn’t get it done, losing by 5 in a tough environment. They did it on a cold shooting night from Gabe Madsen, who came into the game averaging over 25 points a game. So far, this Utah team is playing much better than its projection (last in the Big 12), and they’ll get to add another win to the total this week against Utah Tech.

11) Arizona Wildcats

Last week’s ranking: 4 (-7)

Record: 2-1

Last week: L at Wisconsin (88-103)

Next week: vs. #6 Duke (Nov. 22 – 10:30 p.m.)

Quality wins: N/A

Bad losses: N/A

Arizona got their first test of the season, and to be honest, looked completely outmatched against a Wisconsin team projected to finish toward the bottom of the Big Ten. Caleb Love shot 2-13 and fouled out, and they allowed 47 free throws. That first road test of the season is always tough, but this was certainly not encouraging to see if you’re an Arizona fan.

They have an enormous game against Duke this week, a game that will truly show us Arizona’s ceiling. They’ll need Caleb Love to show up, and the defense will have to be better for them to come out on top.

12) Colorado Buffaloes

Last week’s ranking: 16 (+4)

Record: 4-0

Last week: W vs. Cal State Fullerton (83-53), W vs. Harvard (88-66)

Next week: None

Quality wins: N/A

Bad losses: N/A

After a lackluster Week 1 of the season, Colorado bounced back with two convincing wins this week. Jakimovski was terrific, leading the team in scoring in both games. They get a full week off before they’ll have to face Michigan State, who’d love a Big 12 win against the Champions Classic loss to Kansas.

13) Oklahoma State Cowboys

Last week’s ranking: 15 (-2)

Record: 3-0

Last week: W vs. Southern Illinois (85-78)

Next week: vs. FAU (Nov. 21 – 2:30 p.m.), Shriners Classic (Nov. 22-24)

Quality wins: N/A

Bad losses: N/A

Southern Illinois beat Oklahoma State last year, so returning the favor has to feel like a step in the right direction for Oklahoma State fans. The defense still looks like a huge problem, but you can’t apologize for being 3-0. This week, they’ll play in the Shriners Classic. They start that off with a game against FAU, a team that UCF just went toe-to-toe with. There’s potential for some quality matchups based on how they perform, including a potential second-round matchup with Miami.

14) TCU Horned Frogs

Last week’s ranking: 12 (-2)

Record: 3-1

Last week: W vs. Texas State (76-71), L at Michigan (64-76)

Next week: vs. Alcorn State (Nov. 19 – 8 p.m.)

Quality wins: N/A

Bad losses: N/A

Not the best week for the Horned Frogs. They trailed Texas State, a team they were favored to beat by 15.5 at half. They ended up winning but by just five points. Then, they went to Michigan, and while they hung around for most of the game, they ended up losing by double digits to the Wolverines. The Big 12 is going to have no off nights, and if they play like they did this week, it’s going to be a long winter for the Horned Frogs. Hopefully, a buy game against Alcorn State this week will get them back on track.

15) Kansas State Wildcats

Last week’s ranking: 14 (-1)

Record: 2-1

Last week: L vs. LSU (65-76)

Next week: vs. Mississippi Valley State (Nov. 19 – 8 p.m.), vs. George Washington (Nov. 22 – 8 p.m.)

Quality wins: N/A

Bad losses: N/A

Kansas State welcomed LSU onto their home court and got embarrassed losing by double digits and never really standing a chance. The offense looked off, and they couldn’t generate any kind of momentum at home against a team projected to finish toward the bottom of the SEC. Coleman Hawkins has struggled mightily, and this team can’t be great unless he is. It’s just one game, so no need to hit the panic button, but certainly not what they wanted to see.

This week, they’ll face off in the Paradise Jam, where they are the only Power conference team, but they can potentially face off against some of the better mid-major programs in the program. They should win the tournament, so anything less than that and they’ll be sitting down here in the power rankings for a long time.

16) West Virginia Mountaineers

Last week’s ranking: 11 (-5)

Record: 2-1

Last week: L at Pittsburgh (62-86)

Next week: vs. Iona (Nov. 20 – 7 p.m.)

Quality wins: N/A

Bad losses: at Pittsburgh

Oh man, this was not what West Virginia wanted to see. Losing a rivalry game sucks, but losing by 24 is no fun. No one has looked great early on, and the defense was non-existent. It’s still early, but a loss like that is not going to help the resume in a conference that is already so hard. It’s a quiet week ahead before a game against Gonzaga on the 27th.

Big 12 Basketball Power Rankings Week 2