Big 12 Basketball Week 8: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Week 8 is officially in the books as the Big 12 Conference continued both the men’s and women’s basketball seasons for 2023-24.
The women tipped off Big 12 action on Saturday and the men will tip off Big 12 action on this coming Saturday. So, it’s all about to get real. With the women playing more meaningful games this past weekend, we’re tipping more to the women’s side this week.
Here are the good, bad, and ugly from Week 8 in Big 12 men’s and women’s basketball.
The Good
Mark’s Mountaineer Magic
Mark Kellogg got his first taste of Big 12 women’s basketball when his West Virginia Mountaineers faced the Kansas Jayhawks in Lawrence, Kan., on Saturday.
It was a reunion of sorts. Kellogg led his Fort Lewis Skyhawks into the 2010 Division II national title game against the Emporia State Hornets, coached by Brandon Schneider, who now coaches Kansas.
Schneider won the game and then took the job at Stephen F. Austin. When Schneider took the job at Kansas, Kellogg — then at West Texas A&M in Canyon, Texas — succeeded him.
WVU won the game, 85-60, and Kellogg and his Mountaineers remained undefeated and 12-0 (1-0 in Big 12 action). He’s trying to get them back to the NCAA Tournament after last year’s first-round exit and he has things humming in Morgantown.
Meanwhile, Kansas continues to struggle in spite of having most of its key pieces back from last year’s WNIT title run.
For now, it’s Kellogg 1, Schneider 0 in the Big 12.
Reinforcements for the Cowgirls
It’s the rare midseason signing where a player can go immediately. Oklahoma State signed former Kansas State forward Emilee Ebert last week.
Ebert went into the transfer portal last spring and got her degree from K-State. But she never found a school to land at. But, with injuries racking up at OSU, the Cowgirls needed someone to help out.
OSU coach Jacie Hoyt cited her own familiarity with Ebert’s game, as she tried to recruit her when she was the coach at Kansas City.
Now, Hoyt will finally get the chance to coach her. And they need Ebert to come through, as the Cowgirls got off to a slow start in Big 12 play.
You Know You Want To Go
It’s not Pop-Tarts, but it’s gonna be fun.
The 2024 Wiener Dog Race is coming to Lubbock 🐶
— Lady Raider Basketball (@LadyRaiderWBB) December 28, 2023
Register your pup at the link below for the big race ⤵️https://t.co/LXhJLiH5ZW pic.twitter.com/PPDG4gamja
Is it wrong that I want odds on which dog is gonna pee on the floor? Probably. But, still, I want them.
The Bad
Losing Rori
Texas guard Rori Harmon is out of the season with a torn ACL. That’s about the worst news Texas — or any women’s college basketball fan — could hear. There are few guards that can do what Harmon can do, which is everything.
Big 12 fans have seen her play her last game with Texas. She’ll recover, but next year the Longhorns will be in the SEC.
Texas did what I expected it to do and that was put Shay Holle in the starting lineup. Whenever a starting guard gets hurt, Holle goes in, and she always seems to respond. She scored 13 points in 40 minutes against Baylor.
Texas is still one of the best teams in the Big 12. But this does alter the race. Losing a Top 5 player in the conference will have that sort of impact. This coming week is huge. Road games at Texas Tech and West Virginia. Let’s see how Texas responds before we write them off.
Will The NET Drag Them Down?
Later this week I’ll do my Big 12 men’s postseason projections. One thing I am curious about is how the additions to the conference will change the league’s overall NET perception.
Last year, with 10 teams, the entire league was in the Top 100 in NCAA NET throughout the year. At times, the entire league was in the Top 75, making every game a Quad 1 game.
That will be less the case this year. Leading into this weekend’s Big 12 openers, two teams are outside the Top 100, but they’re holdovers from last year — Oklahoma State (hanging at No. 138 as of this writing on Dec. 30) and West Virginia (No. 181).
Oddly, the new teams are pulling their weight, most specifically Houston and BYU, who are in the Top 10.
Now that the league is stretched to 14 teams, there is no double round-robin. Will that impact the number of postseason bids for the Big 12? Will it increase? Will it stay the same?
It’s worth noting that the Big 12 has eight bids in the most recent ESPN Bracketology, with three teams among the First Eight Out.
It will be interesting to see if that holds or changes and whether the NET ratings have something to do with it.
The Ugly
The World Outside College
Big 12 fans probably know Marcus Sasser’s name, even if he’s no longer with Houston. Before the Cougars joined the Big 12, Sasser helped them reach the Final Four in 2021 the one where Baylor won the national title.
Well, Sasser is with the Detroit Pistons now. He was their first-round pick, coming two years after the Pistons selected Cade Cunningham out of Oklahoma State.
If you’ve paid attention, you know the Pistons are in the midst of doing something epic — and not in a good way. After Thursday’s loss to Boston, the Pistons had lost 28 games in a row, tying Philadelphia for the all-time record. The 76ers did it at the end of the 2014-15 season and the start of the 2015-16 season.
Sasser is learning the hard way why one should stay in college as long as they can — and Sasser played out his eligibility, too.
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson spoke recently with Marcus Sasser, who is a rookie on Detroit team that has lost NBA record 27 in a row. Some of what Sampson shared: "The last time you ever play on a team where they actually love you and are excited for your success is the last game…
— Joseph Duarte (@Joseph_Duarte) December 27, 2023
That’s a rough sentence — “The last time you ever play on a team where they actually love you and are excited for your success is the last game you ever play in college.”
But it’s also accurate. Once you hit the pro ranks everything changes. This is tough for Sasser and his Pistons teammates. Hopefully better days are ahead soon.
For context, here’s one way to look at their streak:
Since October 28, the Texas Rangers are 3-0 and the Detroit Pistons are 0-28.
— Greg Tepper (@Tepper) December 29, 2023
Oof. But, good news for the Pistons — they beat Toronto on Saturday, 129-127. The streak ends at 28 games. Cunningham blew up for 30 points and 12 assists. Sasser didn’t play.
iframe src=”https://app.e2ma.net/app2/audience/signup/1986400/1964875/” width=”510″ height=”500″ frameborder=”0″>You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
