On Monday afternoon, the College Basketball AP Top 25 was released, and the Big 12 showed up in dominating fashion. Six teams from the league were included after some incredible showings in Week 13.
Arizona remains unbeaten at a perfect 22-0, and with that comes the continuation of their reign at the top. A chunk of the usual Big 12 suspects showed up alongside them, and for some reason, one team that should be ranked isn’t.
Full Big 12 Rankings
- Arizona – No. 1
- Iowa State – No. 7
- Houston – No. 8
- Kansas – No. 11
- Texas Tech – No. 13
- BYU – No. 16
- UCF – Receiving Votes
UCF Should Be Ranked
Let’s not get it twisted. Johnny Dawkins and the UCF Knights have a Top 25 resume and should absolutely be ranked. We even wrote a full piece about it this week at Heartland College Sports! The Knights have looked every bit a Top 25 team throughout the season; still, they currently rank No. 37 in the NET Rankings and No. 45 in KenPom. That makes no sense! If you want to go inside the mind of a voter, the biggest knock against UCF is probably that they are 4-4 in Quad 1 games, but they are undefeated in every other game. Those four losses have come to three teams ranked inside the Top 25 (No. 1 Arizona, No. 7 Iowa State, No. 15 Vanderbilt), and a streaky Oklahoma State team on the road. The Knights take on No. 8 Houston this week on the road. No one wins at Houston, but if they keep it close or even achieve the unthinkable, voters everywhere should feel like crap for overlooking them.
Inching Closer to the Top
One storyline to follow for the Big 12 is the likelihood of the league placing more than one team on the one-seed line. Arizona has basically locked up the top overall seed to this point, though things can change fast in the Big 12. Now, we see more teams creeping toward the top of the poll. Iowa State continues to climb and sits at No. 7, then there’s the previously mentioned Houston team at No. 8, and another team to watch is Kansas, who have been a really interesting watch this winter. With a healthy Darryn Peterson on the court, the Jayhawks have, in my opinion, the best player in college basketball on their squad, and the pieces around him are really nice, too.
When it’s all said and done, the league may have two or even three of the top seeds in the Big Dance if the league can avoid beating up on each other too much.
