College basketball in the Big 12 this season has been filled with high-octane offenses, tough, physical defenses and rosters that are littered with future NBA talent competing for minutes with proven veterans.
It’s been, by far, the toughest conference to remain relevant in on a nightly basis, with a majority of each team’s schedule being slotted against ranked conference foes, which often comes in grueling stretches where a team will run into four or five consecutive ranked opponents.
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This has made for a tremendously fun season to watch thus far, but for the teams in the Big 12, it has been a gift and a curse to play in such a stacked conference.
The Gift
At the moment, six of the Big 12’s 10 teams are currently ranked. With the exception of Texas Tech, every single team has been ranked at some point this season and if things shape up as expected, seven teams from the Big 12 should be dancing once March rolls around.
Seventy percent of the teams from one conference playing in the NCAA tournament is unheard of, but then again, that’s just one more thing that will make this season in the Big 12 so special.
Of these seven teams expected to make the tourney, which includes No. 8 Kansas, No. 14 Iowa State, No. 16 Baylor, No. 17 Oklahoma, No. 21 Oklahoma State, No. 21 West Virginia – yes, both WVU and Oklahoma State are ranked 21 right now – and Texas, the main goal to begin the season was the same: make the NCAA tournament and compete for a national championship.
The hardest part of that journey is getting through the regular season and remaining in a position where that dream is still a reality.
But in the Big 12, the regular season, although daunting, sets each team up to be well battle-tested in March when the competition is at its highest. The intensity level and competitive nature that comes with tournament games is something that is relevant in practically every Big 12 game.
For example, each Big 12 team has already played in at least five ranked games, and that’s a number that will continue to increase over the final month of the season. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and TCU have all played at least eight ranked conference opponents.
When heading into March Madness, which several Big 12 teams will be doing, the best possible thing to be is battle-tested with experience in big games on national stages against elite talent in hostile environments. Welcome to the gift of a regular night in the Big 12.
The Curse
In the loaded Big 12, with the good comes the bad and although the benefits of playing in this conference outweigh the negatives, there certainly are some downsides to being one of the 10 teams in this group.
When you play extremely talented and well-coached teams with NBA talent on a nightly basis, you’re inevitably going to lose your fair share of games. With the exception of Kansas, every Big 12 team has suffered at least three conference losses. Iowa State and Texas are perfect examples of what playing at such a high level every game can result in.
The No. 14 Cyclones are a mere 7-4 in conference play, but still regarded as one of the most deep and dangerous teams in the country. Texas, on the other hand, began the season as a top 10 team and was even ranked as high as No. 6 before Big 12 play, where they’ve compiled a 5-6 record with five of their final seven games coming against ranked opponents.
Cincy on the Prowl
And with losses comes things like the inability to build confidence and momentum heading into March. Even though the Big 12 features some of the very best teams in the country, it’s also quite possible that a team like Iowa State, Oklahoma, or even Kansas heads into the NCAA tournament on a two or three game losing streak.
Even though the losses could likely be a result of a glaringly difficult schedule, going into the “win or go home” portion of the schedule could become increasingly problematic with some late-season losses.
And then there are teams like Kansas State, who began the season ranked No. 24, but due to the depth of competition that comes with being in the Big 12, their postseason hopes have ended.
We now have just under a month of regular season play and if everything up to this point has been an indictor, we’re in for a terrific finish in what could be seen as the Western Conference of college basketball, in terms of depth and competitiveness.
Only time will tell whether the gift or the curse of playing in the Big 12 wins out when the games start to matter most, but my guess is that it will make the remainder of the season worth that much more exciting to watch.
Next: College Basketball Rankings: Top 25 Teams In America
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