Following an exciting matchup between Kansas State and No. 16 Cincinnati, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein made a bold statement about the Big 12 Conference in 2024-25.
Rothstein mentioned that every single game in Big 12 Conference play feels like an NCAA Tournament game.
“Every single conference game in the Big 12 feels like an NCAA Tournament game, and we say that tonight,” Rothstein said. “Cincinnati goes on the road to Kansas State, and K-State wins a close game. Then, tonight in Boulder, we saw a Colorado team, a team that was picked to finish 15th in the Big 12 Preseason Poll, take Iowa State to the brink without Andrej Jakimovski, who was the hero when Colorado beat UConn in the Maui Invitational.”
The Big 12 Conference, largely viewed as the nation’s premiere college basketball league, is the quintessential definition of parity. Every single team in the league has the opportunity to pull off an upset, even with multiple teams in the AP Top 25. On opening nights, that was the Kansas State Wildcats who took down No. 16 Cincinnati after losing three straight games.
Rothstein finished his comments by saying, “There are no moral victories when you lose. There are no silver linings, but considering the fact Colorado was without Jakimovski, I think there’s real encouragement for this team in the conference.”
As it sits in December, eight teams from the Big 12 Conference were listed in the tournament field in Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology update, but with a league like the Big 12, that could change on any given night.
