Winter Storm Fern had her way with a good portion of the United States on Saturday. Most people stayed home. College basketball fans did not.
The entire Big 12 men were in action on Saturday — eight games and 16 teams across the country, with much of that in Fern’s path. There were five women’s games on the slate, too. Only the Baylor women opted out of trying to play this weekend and moved their game with Houston to Tuesday. It was smart and sensible.
For those in Fern’s path, there wasn’t much to do except watch college basketball on TV. And, man, we had a day. College basketball fans were the big winners on Saturday, especially if they caught the early games.
Here are three winners and three losers from Saturday’s action.
Winners: NBA Draft Stock
Kansas guard Darryn Peterson didn’t play due to the ankle injury he suffered against Colorado. But the fact remains the Big 12 could have four NBA Draft lottery picks in 2026 and they all boosted their stock on Saturday.
No. 13 BYU’s AJ Dybansta is going to be selected in the Top 3. He might go No. 1. He reinforced that with an incredible performance against Utah in which he scored a BYU freshman single-game record 43 points. It was quite the video game performance.
No. 6 Houston’s Kingston Flemings is a freshman. Unlike Peterson and Dybansta, he hasn’t had quite the hype nationally. Well, if you “weren’t aware of his game,” he carried Houston in its loss to Texas Tech with 42 points.
College basketball set a record on Saturday. Three different freshmen had 40 or more points in a game on the same day. Illinois’ Keaton Wagler dropped 46 points.
We’re not forgetting No. 12 Texas Tech forward JT Toppin. He scored 31 points and grabbed 12 points as part of an incredible stretch in which he has scored at least 27 points in three of his last four games. In the other he scored 22. He’s had four double doubles in the last five games. And he makes it look effortless.
Toppin is the only non-freshman of the bunch. His coach, Grant McCasland, told CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein this week that he’s not trying to herd Toppin one way or the other when it comes to the NBA. McCasland just wants to let the season play out.
Toppin has a strong case to leave after this season. Big 12 fans are hoping he doesn’t. Heck, I think everyone would love to see all four of these players stick around next season. But, if they don’t, they won’t be ignored on draft night. Saturday did nothing but help their lottery cases.
Losers: Fringy NCAA Tournament Teams
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi updated his Bracketology on Saturday morning amid the backdrop of a huge Saturday. The takeaway for the Big 12 — the conference has four fringy NCAA Tournament teams. Three of them lost.
TCU was the only one that won and it beat Baylor, 97-90. Lunardi had the Horned Frogs just behind the Bears in the “also considered” category at Nos. 77 and 78, respectively. That’s outside the First Four Out and Second Four Out.
Oklahoma State and West Virginia were on that “also considered” list but had it much worse. The Cowboys hosted No. 9 Iowa State and were blown out at Gallagher-Iba, 84-71. West Virginia was in Tucson and was flattened by No. 1 Arizona, 88-53.
We’re creeping up on late January. If any of these four teams wants to make a run at an at-large bid, they need to get to work. TCU had a good week, winning both games. But the Horned Frogs must host Houston on Wednesday. It’s the Big 12 — it never gets easy. Especially when you’re on the bubble. Right now, these four teams look like they’re heading to Las Vegas for the Crown.
Winner: Lovers of Big-Time National Games
Texas Tech’s 90-86 win over Houston is everything you could have wanted in a Top 25 game in conference. United Supermarkets Arena was packed even as temperatures were close to 10 degrees and there was sleet on the ground. ESPN was in town with College Gameday and gave it a prime-time slot, even though it was moved up a few hours due to the weather.
Houston’s Kingston Flemings and Texas Tech’s JT Toppin had phenomenal performances. Tech coach Grant McCasland is now 41-5 in Lubbock and has won 11 straight at home. Houston lost its first true road game since Feb. 3, 2024, against Kansas. That is not a typo.
Neither is this — Houston has lost four true road games since joining the Big 12. All four of those games have been in Big 12 play.
This league is incredible. This game was basically a two-hour advertisement for the quality of the conference.
This might be the most incredible thing to come out of the game. And there was plenty to choose from.
Loser: Winter Storm Fern
When did we start naming winter storms? When did they start getting the hurricane treatment? Is that really necessary? Anyway … when it came to college basketball and the Big 12 she was a big loser on Saturday. I’m down in Texas and when the weather forecasters tell me to stay home, I stay home. We were below freezing with freezing rain and sleet. It was worse in Lubbock, which hosted Houston-Tech. It was 11 degrees. But the USA (United Supermarkets Arena) was packed. It didn’t stop ESPN College Gameday, either.
Manhattan, Kansas, got plenty of Fern’s snowfall. But Kansas had no trouble getting to the Octagon of Doom. Neither did the Kansas State fans. That place was loud. Same with Waco, where TCU traveled to face Baylor at Foster Pavilion. I know the folks in central Texas got plenty of cold and ice. The locals handled business in Stillwater, Okla., too.
If Fern’s goal was to shut down college basketball’s best conference, well, she failed. Miserably. Now stay home and stay safe.
Winner: Bill Fennelly
The Iowa State women seem to have righted the ship after an awful five-game losing streak that swept them the Cyclones out of the Top 25. The 90-65 victory was ISU’s second straight win, and it was a milestone for coach Bill Fennelly.
If the Cyclones beat Texas Tech in Lubbock next week, then Fennelly will assume the top spot in Big 12 victories from Kim Mulkey, who is now at LSU. I doubt few Big 12 fans, outside of Mulkey die-hards, are crying about her preparing to lose her perch.
Loser: Rivalry Games
We had three of them on Saturday — Kansas at Kansas State, Utah at BYU and TCU at Baylor. Rivalry games are fun. All three had great energy. All three failed to give us that rivalry game ending we all want.
All three followed the same pattern, too. Each game was close for about the first 25 to 30 minutes and one had the sense that it would come down to the wire. But none of them did.
TCU’s 97-90 win over Baylor was the closest. But the score is deceptive. The Horned Frogs were up 14 points with less than four minutes left. TCU was in control when it mattered.
BYU beat Utah, 91-78. The Cougars were up just 55-53 with 15 minutes left. They outscored the Utes, 36-25, the rest of the way.
Kansas pulled away from Kansas State, 86-62. KU was without Darryn Peterson. Kansas State was dramatically outmanned. Yet, it was a 59-55 lead for the Jayhawks with 7:52 left. The Jayhawks outscored the Wildcats, 27-7 down the home stretch.
We had great rivalry games to watch. We just didn’t get that great rivalry drama we all love.
