Ariel Puterman gives his Big 12 basketball power rankings heading into week 4 of the 2024 season.
Matchup of the week: Auburn vs Iowa State
Sneaky good matchup of the week: TCU vs Santa Clara
All games listed are EST
1) Kansas Jayhawks
Last week’s ranking: 1 (-)
Record: 5-0
Last week: W vs. UNC Willmington (84-66)
Next week: vs. #11 Duke (November 26 – 9:00 p.m), vs. Furman (November 30 – 6:00 p.m)
Quality wins: #12 UNC, Michigan State
Bad losses: N/A
After back-to-back weekends with big-time matchups, Kansas had a lighter week, beating UNC Wilmington. Wilmington stood tall, holding Kansas to single digits for a good chunk of the game, but Kansas was able to pull away. There are still several question marks with this team, but as long as they keep winning, that’s all that matters. They do have their toughest matchup of the season to date incoming, a test against Duke in Vegas.
2) Houston Cougars
Last week’s ranking: 2 (-)
Record: 3-1
Last week: W vs. Hofstra (80-44)
Next week: vs. #9 Alabama (November 26 – 8:00 p.m), vs. Notre Dame (November 27 – 12:30 p.m), Players Era Championship Day (November 30 – TBD)
Quality wins: N/A
Bad losses: N/A
Houston continues to beat up on poor little mid-major teams, with Hofstra being their latest victim. They haven’t allowed more than 45 points to any mid-major team, and are getting a nice blend of scoring, with four different leading scorers in four different games.
Up next, a big resume-boosting week. They start it off with a top-ten matchup against Alabama, which will be a terrific game. Then, a game against Notre Dame, who they should be able to take care of. From there, they could potentially see Oregon, San Diego State, Texas A&M, or Creighton, all of whom should be tournament teams this season. If they can come on top of this tournament, there’s little doubt that they are the championship-level team that we thought they would be coming into the season.
3) Cincinnati Bearcats
Last week’s ranking: 4 (+1)
Record: 5-0
Last week: W at Northern Kentucky (76-60), at Georgia Tech (81-58)
Next week: vs. Alabama State (November 27 – 7:00 p.m)
Quality wins: at Georgia Tech
Bad losses: N/A
Cincinnati continues to take care of business, picking up two double-digit road wins this weekend. Even without Skillings, they haven’t taken a step back, and Dillon Mitchell is really starting to get things going on both ends of the court. Now, they haven’t had elite competition like the rest of the Big 12, but we’ll see it soon. For now, as long as they keep winning in this fashion, they should have no problem staying atop the Power Rankings.
4) Baylor Bears
Last week’s ranking: 6 (-)
Record: 4-2
Last week: W #22 St. John’s (99-98 2 OT), L vs. #11 Tennessee (62-77)
Next week: vs. New Orleans (November 27 – 2:00 p.m)
Quality wins: #18 Arkansas (neutral), #22 St. John’s (neutral)
Bad losses: at #3 Gonzaga
We have an early nominee for the game of the year, and Baylor was at the winning end of it. In double overtime, the Bears trailed by 5 with under 10 seconds left, yet a three by Jeremy Roach against St John’s pushed them to the big win. It was pretty apparent that they were out of gas the next game though, taking on a good defensive Tennessee team and looking outmatched.
From a win standpoint, Baylor has the best in the conference so far. They’ll add another one to boost the overall record this week against New Orleans, but the non-c0nference gauntlet won’t end soon, with a road matchup vs UConn looming.
5) BYU Cougars
Last week’s ranking: 9 (+4)
Record: 5-0
Last week: W vs. Mississippi Valley State (87-43)
Next week: vs. Ole Miss (November 28 – 5:30 p.m), vs. #13 Purdue OR NC State (November 29 – TBD)
Quality wins: N/A
Bad losses: N/A
Since the UC Riverside game, BYU has looked a lot better, beating their last three opponents by 24 or more, including a 44-point win this past week. However, none of these wins will mean much in March. The wins that matter will come this week when they face Ole Miss and one of Purdue or NC State in the Rady’s Children Invitational. If they can come out of that with wins over Ole Miss and Purdue, they’ll prove they are a top-25 team and a threat to win the Big 12.
If they struggle though, there will be a lot of questions going forward, and with a relatively light non-conference, they won’t have many more chances to prove themselves before conference play.
6) Iowa State Cyclones
Last week’s ranking: 8 (+2)
Record: 3-0
Last week: W vs. IU Indy (87-52)
Next week: vs. #4 Auburn (November 25 – 9:00 p.m), vs. Dayton OR #12 North Carolina (November 26 – TBD), Third Round of Maui Invitational (November 27 – TBD)
Quality wins: N/A
Bad losses: N/A
If you’re one of the many who have been patiently waiting for this Iowa State team to take on legitimate competition, the time has come. They’ll start off with a doozy, facing off against Auburn, a Top 25 team who already beat Houston this season. Then a matchup against UNC, a top 10 team in the country, or Dayton who are a top 2 team in the A10 arguably. If that wasn’t enough, they could potentially face UConn, Memphis, Colorado, or Michigan State. The Maui Invitational is no joke, and no matter what they’ll come out with three quality matchups. How they do in those matchups will tell the tale of this Iowa State basketball team.
7) Arizona State Sun Devils
Last week’s ranking: 7 (+4)
Record: 5-1
Last week: W vs. Cal Poly (93-89)
Next week: vs. New Mexico (November 28 – 11:30 p.m), vs. USC OR Saint Mary’s (November 29 – TBD)
Quality wins: Santa Clara, Grand Canyon
Bad losses: N/A
Arizona State came back down to earth this week, narrowly beating a Cal Poly that they shouldn’t have had any issues with. A win is still a win though, and the freshmen were once again great. Sanon led the team in scoring with 22 points, while Quaintance grabbed 12 rebounds. The tough non-conference continues, facing New Mexico in the semifinals of the Acrisure Classic, then either USC or Saint Mary’s in the final. There are still many doubters of this Arizona State team, but If they can win two or even one of these games, they’ll make a huge statement ahead of Big 12 play.
8) Texas Tech Red Raiders
Last week’s ranking: 7 (+1)
Record: 5-1
Last week: W vs. Arkansas Pine-Bluff (98-64), L vs. Saint Joseph’s (77-78), W vs. Syracuse (79-74)
Next week: vs. Northern Colorado (November 29 – 8:00 p.m)
Quality wins: Syracuse
Bad losses: N/A
Texas Tech split the UKG Legends Classic games, unfortunately missing out on a quality matchup with Texas after its loss to Saint Joseph’s, but still got a nice win over Syracuse to finally add a quality win to its resume. Obviously, the loss isn’t great, and the resume still needs a boost, but seeing Derrion Williams and JT Toppin shine was very encouraging. They’ll have a chance to regroup this week before a game against Texas A&M in two weeks.
9) Utah Utes
Last week’s ranking: 10 (+1)
Record: 4-1
Last week: W vs. Utah Tech (84-53)
Next week: vs. Mississippi Valley State (November 26 – 9 p.m), vs. Eastern Washington (November 30 – 5:00 p.m)
Quality wins: N/A
Bad losses: N/A
Utah picked up another dominant win this week, beating Utah Tech by 31. The offense looked good per usual, but what really encouraging was the defense holding them to just 53 points. They’ll get two more free wins this week, and as long as they keep winning these games in dominant fashion, they’ll stay around here in the power rankings, especially since they put together a sad non-conference schedule.
10) TCU Horned Frogs
Last week’s ranking: 14 (+4)
Record: 4-1
Last week: W vs. Alcorn State (71-48)
Next week: vs. Santa Clara (November 28 – 4:00 p.m), Washington OR Colorado State (November 29 – TBD)
Quality wins: N/A
Bad losses: N/A
The first time TCU had a chance to add a quality win to their resume, they failed, losing to Michigan on the road. They get opportunity #2 here in the Acrisure Invitational, taking on a Santa Clara team that Arizona State beat earlier this season, then either Washington or Colorado State. TCU SHOULD win this 4 team tournament, so a bigger takeaway would be if they don’t, this will be a great early season test for Jamie Dixon and the TCU Horned Frogs.
11) Arizona Wildcats
Last week’s ranking: 11 (-)
Record: 2-2
Last week: L vs Duke (55-69)
Next week: vs. Davidson (November 27 – 7:30 p.m), vs. Oklahoma OR Providence (November 27), Battle 4 Atlantis Day 3 (November 29 – TBD)
Quality wins: N/A
Bad losses: N/A
Arizona has had two tests this season and failed both comfortably. This time, it was a 14-point home loss to Duke. Now, losing to Duke isn’t bad, but at home, you have to put up more of a fight. Caleb Love has disappeared, and if he can’t get it going, this won’t be the last double-digit loss for this Arizona team.
This week, they get the Battle 4 Atlantis. They got a very favorable bracket, and have no excuse not to reach the final. If they drop the Davidson game or the Oklahoma/Providence game, then it might be time to have a serious discussion about this team’s ceiling.
12) UCF Knights
Last week’s ranking: 5 (-7)
Record: 4-2
Last week: W vs. Tennessee Tech (80-69), L vs. #15 Wisconsin (70-86), L vs. LSU (102-109 3 OT)
Next week: vs. Milwaukee (November 27 – 7:00 p.m)
Quality wins: #20 Texas A&M
Bad losses: N/A
UCF played in the Greenbrier Tip-Off and finished 4th… out of 4. They looked outmatched against a Wisconsin team that has surprised many this season, but in the 3rd place game, they blew a 20-point lead and lost in a 3 OT thriller to LSU. If they beat LSU by 20, or even 10, we’d be having a much different conversation right now, but losing in that fashion is pretty unacceptable.
UCF has a great big three in Darius Johnson, Jordan Ivy-Curry, and Keyshawn Hall, but they’ll need the other guys to step up more. Hopefully, Jaylin Sellers can come back soon and provide that extra punch. That was the last big non-conference game for UCF, so they’ll need to impress in conference play to earn a bid. A win against Texas A&M is good, but might not hold enough weight.
13) Colorado Buffaloes
Last week’s ranking: 12 (-1)
Record: 4-0
Last week: None
Next week: vs. Michigan State (November 25 – 5:00 p.m), vs. Memphis OR #2 UConn (November 26 – TBD), Third Round of Maui Invitational (November 27 – TBD)
Quality wins: N/A
Bad losses: N/A
Colorado comes into this tournament as the far and away worst team in the tournament, so if they win a game, then that will be very encouraging. They got a week of rest in, so hopefully they’ll be energized from tip and use that to their advantage. Tad Boyle is a great coach, and hopefully, he can leave Colorado fans happy coming out of Maui.
14) West Virginia Mountaineers
Last week’s ranking: 16 (+2)
Record: 3-1
Last week: W vs. Iona (86-43)
Next week: vs. #3 Gonzaga (November 27 – 2:30 p.m), vs. Louisville OR Indiana (November 28 – TBD), Battle 4 Atlantis Day 3 (November 29 – TBD)
Quality wins: N/A
Bad losses: at Pittsburgh
West Virginia took out all the anger they had on the past two weeks and beat up on Iona, doubling up their score. We talked about how Arizona got a pretty favorable draw in the Battle 4 Atlantis, well West Virginia got the opposite. They’ll start off against Gonzaga, who has taken care of business against other Big 12 teams, then either Indiana, a top 15 team in the country, or Louisville, who have looked great as well. If they can come out of this tournament with multiple wins, they should be thrilled.
15) Oklahoma State Cowboys
Last week’s ranking: 15 (-2)
Record: 4-2
Last week: L vs. FAU (78-86), W vs. Miami (80-74), L vs. Nevada (78-90)
Next week: None
Quality wins: Miami (Neutral)
Bad losses: FAU (Neutral)
Oklahoma State feasted earlier than most of its Big 12 teams, and unfortunately came out 1-2. FAU isn’t a bad team by any means, but Oklahoma State should beat them. We’ll see how that Miami win holds later in the season. The Nevada loss isn’t bad at all, this is a team that can win the Mountain West.
There still isn’t a clear read on how good this team will be. Beating Miami is very encouraging, but going 1-2 in this tournament is from it. They’ll get a week off here, then face several other Power 5 teams to help us get a better understanding of this Oklahoma State team.
16) Kansas State Wildcats
Last week’s ranking: 15 (-1)
Record: 4-2
Last week: W vs. Mississippi Valley State (74-56), W vs. George Washington (83-71), L vs. Liberty (65-67)
Next week: vs. Longwood (November 25 – 5:30 p.m), vs. Arkansas Pine-Bluff (December 1 – 2:00 p.m)
Quality wins: N/A
Bad losses: Liberty
Never did I think at any point of the season that Kansas State would be the worst team in the Big 12, but it’s hard to argue against it at this point. They started off the week against a Mississippi Valley State team that lost by 39 to Iowa State, 72 to Missouri, 46 to Texas, and 44 to BYU. They trailed Kansas State by just 2 at half. Kansas State ended up winning by 18, but compared to the other teams mentioned, were by fair Mississippi Valley State’s easiest opponent.
Then, in the Paradise Jam, they face a good Liberty team, but one they should beat. That was not the case, dropping a neutral site matchup. This team just hasn’t looked great, and no one has consistently stepped up and taken over, especially in close games like this. They’ll need to figure things out soon, and hopefully, this Longwood game shouldn’t cause any issues for the Wildcats.