There’s Really No Favorite In The Loaded Big 12
By Cody Daniel
It’s not often that a Power-Five conference is void of a true favorite to control their individual league, but that happens to be the case for the loaded Big 12 this season. The SEC has Kentucky, the ACC has Duke, the Big 10 has Wisconsin and the Pac 12 has Arizona.
But as for the Big 12…there’s no one filling the role that Kansas usually does as the clear-cut favorite to finish the regular season atop their conference.
As it stands, the Big 12 features six ranked teams – No. 10 Texas, No. 12 Kansas, No. 14 West Virginia, No. 16 Oklahoma, No. 17 Iowa State and No. 21 Baylor – and as crazy as it may sound, each of these six squads is a legitimate threat to contend for the conference title; each with their own strengths.
Texas is built on defense and interior dominance. Kansas has a nice mix of talented newcomers and veterans led by one of the best coaches in college basketball. Bob Huggins’ West Virginia club is controlling everyone when their full court press and offensive efficiency.
Oklahoma and Iowa State have high-powered offenses led by future NBA talent, and both playing some solid defense this season has made their case for conference contenders even more legitimate. Even Baylor has shown that their tough, physical style deserves some respect, although, they haven’t jumped out to the ideal start in conference play at 0-2.
Of course, there are some teams in the conference that are a bit more favored than others to claim the conference crown. For example, Texas and Kansas are expected to have more success this season than Baylor or West Virginia. But if the early stages of conference play have been any indicator, there’s really no telling who stands as a favorite at this point.
The team many have believed to have surfaced as of late behind their massive frontcourt and glorified point guard, Isaiah Taylor – the Texas Longhorns – were throttled on a national stage at home 70-49 in their second conference game of the season, which led to many questions as to whether or not they were worthy of such high praise so soon.
More from Hoops Habit
- The 5 most dominant NBA players who never won a championship
- 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
- Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
- Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
- Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
There’s always Kansas, just as it has been for the past decade straight, and with their highly touted freshman seemingly getting it together, although, it will be the hardest run Kansas has had thus far, as seen in a column by Fox Sports Sean Keeler:
“We’ve won the league, or shared it, 10 times in a row, and this (will) be the hardest year for us to win the league,” Self said earlier this week. “I really believe that. Whomever wins it this year is going to earn it.”
But with Kansas, the inconsistencies of sophomore guard, Wayne Selden Jr, and lack of dominant size on the inside could prove to become their downfall.
The point of the game is to score the most points, which is favoring the Cyclones early on. Iowa State leads the NCAA in assists at 18.7 per game, while also leading the conference in scoring at 80.9. Fred Hoiberg has built an offensive juggernaut that includes five players scoring in double figures with Jameel McKay on the outside looking in at 9.5 per.
But just as with Kansas, and even more-so, Iowa State is devoid of true size in the paint, and that will pose some problems at some point against some of the more physical Big 12 clubs.
West Virginia follows suit in scoring at 78.8 per game, which is good for second in the conference. Huggins has also implemented a full-court press that he puts into play almost constantly, and it’s caused countless issues for opposing teams, which points to why the Mountaineers lead college basketball in steals at 13.1.
A tremendously talented senior point guard in Juwan Staten leads them, but where the questions will arise comes in the forms of double-digit scorers, Devin Williams and Jonathan Holton, as well as the rest of the supporting cast when competition gets stiffer and game plans are focused on stopping Staten.
As you could see in their dominating effort against Texas, Oklahoma can score in bunches with the star-power of Buddy Hield Isaiah Cousins. Throw in the fact that they’re defending much better this season and it’s hard to make a case against Oklahoma being right in the mix at the end of the season.
And then even though they’re long shots, Baylor has to be considered in there somewhere. They’re sharing the ball well with 15 assists a night. They are excellent on the boards with 40 rebounds per, and they’ve got a well-rounded unit built on toughness and Kenny Cherry’s leadership.
Although Baylor is the least likely to dethrone Kansas from their conference reign, seeing them make some noise and be a contender is something to watch for.
It may sound asinine to try and make a case for ever one of these six teams to truthfully have a shot at a Big 12 title, but that’s the simple truth. There’s a reason the Big 12 is widely referred to as the best conference in basketball, with the best winning percentage and most ranked teams to back it up.
This is going to be a wild ride of a conference and all we can do is sit back and enjoy, as the bloodbath will ensue on a nightly basis between prominent programs.