Big 12 Men’s Basketball Power Rankings for Week 9
The Big 12 men’s basketball season is now nine weeks old and the league just completed its first round of conference play on Saturday.
Moving into league play the Big 12’s 14 teams occupied the Top 14 spots in remaining strength of schedule nationally. So, yes, it’s the toughest league in college basketball. You can debate whether it’s the best. But toughest? There is no question, by any metric.
After nine weeks, we present our latest Big 12 men’s basketball power rankings for the 2023-24 season and one game into Big 12 play.
Tier One
1. Houston (14-0, 1-0) – Last Week — 1
2. Kansas (13-1, 1-0) – Last Week — 2
3. Oklahoma (13-1, 1-0) – Last Week — 4
4. Baylor (12-2, 1-0) – Last Week — 6
5. Texas (11-3, 0-1) – Last Week — 3
6. BYU (12-2, 0-1) – Last Week — 5
In what has to be just one of those “luck of the draw” things, there were no Top 25 matchups on the men’s side.
Houston took care of business and blew out WVU. That was expected. But the tests are coming this week. The Cougars go to Iowa State and then TCU (the latter game I’ll be attending). That’s obviously going to be an upgrade in competition and we’ll see where that goes.
TCU nearly took it to Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse for the second straight year. The Horned Frogs were one flagrant call away from likely winning that game. It’s clear that while there is still a tremendous homecourt advantage in Lawrence, no one in the conference is intimidated playing there. The only way you get blown out in AFH is if you’re just plan bad. Yet, Kansas found a way to win and this team still has Final Four contender written all over it. Frankly, so does Houston.
Oklahoma and Baylor move up, though the Bears needed overtime to outlast Oklahoma State. Texas and BYU move down as both lost at home. This early in the conference season I don’t drop teams from tiers right away. But we could see more of that next week. What’s troubling for me with Texas and BYU is that both lost at home. Home court means a lot in the Big 12. You must hold serve there because winning road games is so tough.
Tier Two
7. Cincinnati (12-2, 1-0) – Last Week — 9
8. Texas Tech (12-2, 1-0) – Last Week — 10
9. TCU (11-3, 0-1) – Last Week — 8
10. Iowa State (11-3, 0-1) – Last Week — 7
Cincinnati impressed me on the road at BYU. Tough place to play and the Bearcats fell behind by double digits at one point. They, frankly, controlled that game in the second half. That level of toughness on the road will serve the Bearcats well. Same could be said for Texas Tech, though the Red Raiders are used to tough road games in Austin. Still, that win was a tone-setter for Grand McCasland’s team as they try to get back to the NCAA Tournament.
You hate to punish TCU after the loss at Kansas, but one must. You could argue that the Horned Frogs are a better team than the two above them on this tier, and they’ll get the chance to prove it.
I won’t sweat Iowa State just yet. But Tamin Lipsey shooting 1-for-10 from the floor is concerning. Teams know he’s their top offensive threat now. He’s going to get attention and he’ll have to rise above that. He has the talent to do it. It was a one-point game late before OU took control.
Tier Three
11. Kansas State (11-3, 1-0) – Last Week — 11
12. Oklahoma State (8-6, 0-1) – Last Week — 13
13. UCF (9-4, 0-1) – Last Week — 12
14. West Virginia (5-9, 0-1) – Last Week — 14
I’m not ready to move Kansas State up a tier just yet. Of the four new Big 12 teams, UCF is the one I believe is the one that will struggle and that was certainly the case against the Wildcats. Tylor Perry had a great game and the Wildcats are waiting to hear more on Ques Glover.
As for the remainder, Oklahoma State moved up one spot for challenging Baylor at home and pushing the Bears to overtime. UCF lost by 25 points to the Wildcats. As bad as that was, West Virginia’s road loss to Houston was worse. Not a single starter was in double figures. I’m not sure where the Mountaineers go from here.
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