Big 12 Women’s Basketball Power Rankings for Week 6
The Big 12 women’s basketball season is now six weeks old and we’re less than two weeks away from the start of the conference season openers.
This week’s power rankings are going to look a lot like last week’s power rankings, as there wasn’t much movement.
With teams preparing for their final non-conference games and taking on mid-major and low-major teams, one shouldn’t expect much movement again next Monday, which will be the last power rankings before we get into Big 12 action on Dec. 30.
Below we present our sixth Big 12 women’s basketball power rankings for the 2023-24 season.
Tier One
1. Texas (11-0) – Last Week — 1
2. Baylor (9-0) – Last Week — 2
3. Kansas State (10-1) – Last Week — 3
No change here. As I wrote last week, I believe the Longhorns, the Bears and the Wildcats are the three best teams in the Big 12 right now. And, I don’t believe the gap between the three is that significant.
That’s reflected in their NCAA NET ratings as of Sunday. Texas was No. 4, Kansas State was No. 8 and Baylor was No. 10. The NET matrix doesn’t show you their Quad 1 wins (which is dumb). But, all three have beaten ranked teams. Kansas State split with Iowa, and that’s the only loss any of the three teams have absorbed to this point.
Baylor has a tricky little ending to non-conference with games in Florida this week against Providence and USF. Kansas State faces Oral Roberts and Southern at home. Texas goes to UT Rio Grande Valley (to pay back a system school) and then hosts Jackson State before Big 12 action starts Dec. 30.
There’s every reason to believe that Baylor and Texas will be undefeated when they face each other on Dec. 30 in Austin, and that Kansas State will be 12-1 when they host Cincinnati the same day.
Tier Two
4. TCU (11-0) – Last Week — 4
5. West Virginia (9-0) – Last Week — 5
6. Texas Tech (11-0) – Last Week — 6
7. UCF (8-0) – Last Week — 7
8. BYU (9-2) – Last Week — 9
9. Oklahoma (6-3) – Last Week — 8
10. Houston (8-2) – Last Week — 10
One minor tweak as BYU slides ahead of Oklahoma, as the Cougars are playing just a bit better in my estimation. But there is a lot of consistency among this group at the moment. TCU, WVU and TTU remain at the top of the class on this tier.
Tier Three
11. Oklahoma State (6-3) – Last Week — 11
12. Cincinnati (7-3) – Last Week — 12
14. Kansas (6-4) – Last Week — 13
13. Iowa State (6-4) – Last Week — 14
The order holds steady here but there are some good developments for a few of these teams. For instance, Oklahoma State got center Hannah Gusters back and she went off for 21 points and seven rebounds on Sunday against Southern Illinois. OSU coach Jacie Hoyt described Gusters as a “difference-maker” for her team, but she was ineligible until Sunday because she had transferred twice in her career.
For Kansas, the Jayhawks have won three in a row since losing to Texas A&M, and Kansas gets one last shot at a high-major opponent when it hosts Nebraska this week. The Jayhawks have four losses. All have been against high-major teams. It’s a win Kansas sorely needs.
Speaking of sorely needed, the Cyclones got guard Emily Ryan back on Sunday as he played her first game of the season after missing the Cyclones’ first nine games due to a health-related issue. She played nine minutes, scored five points, grabbed four rebounds and dished out two assists. Assuming no setbacks, she should be with the Cyclones when they open Big 12 action on Dec. 30 at Oklahoma State.
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