Last week during a halftime interview on a Peacock broadcast, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark admitted what many of us suspected — that the conference backloaded its schedule to make February games more meaningful.
And boy is it backloaded.
As we enter the final month of the regular season, Arizona is about to embark on a gauntlet of ranked games. Every contender in the conference has a tough schedule down the stretch.
And while the teams that dominate the national conversation beat up on each other, the ones one the outside looking in for the NCAA Tournament will beat up on one another. This past weekend was the calm before the storm. The next month will be incredible basketball leading up to the Big 12 Tournament.
Here are this week’s power rankings.
Tier 1
1. Arizona (23-0, 10-0) (Last Ranking: 1)
Arizona has been perfect to this point. It’s the best start in Big 12 history. But, the Wildcats’ next four games are against ranked teams, starting with Monday’s trip to Kansas. Six of their last eight games will come against ranked teams. Gameday is heading to Tucson next Saturday. It’s going to be an epic test for the Wildcats, who look like not only the best team in the Big 12 but the best team in the country right now. But we’ll find out a lot about them the next four weeks.
Tier 2
2. Houston (21-2, 9-1) (Last Ranking: 2)
3. Kansas (18-5, 8-2) (Last Ranking: 3)
4. Iowa State (21-2, 8-2) (Last Ranking: 4)
5. Texas Tech (17-6, 7-2) (Last Ranking: 6)
Each of the top three teams on this tier has at least a four-game winning streak. Kansas will put its streak on the line on Monday against Arizona. Houston walked away with a hard-fought win over BYU in Provo on Saturday. Iowa State appears to have righted the ship after its two-game losing streak in mid-January. The key for the Cyclones has been better offensive starts. Carry that into March and the Cyclones are every bit the Final Four contender they appear to be.
Texas Tech still has all the talent it needs to be a Final Four team. The Red Raiders just need a bit more consistency. Getting Christian Anderson fully back in the mix after a short illness should help. When the Red Raiders are firing offensively, now that their defense has improved, they’re as difficult to deal with as any team in the conference. I’ll be at their showdown with Arizona on Saturday in Tucson. It should be incredible.
Tier 3
6. BYU (17-6, 5-5) (Last Ranking: 7)
I really don’t know what to do with BYU right now. The Cougars are clearly better than every team below them in the power rankings. But I also think after losing four of their last five games, all but one of which were to teams above them in the power rankings, that they deserve to be where they’re at right now.
I think AJ Dybansta has adjusted to how Big 12 teams are defending him. I also think that this team needs to rejuvenate itself defensively. Even in the loss to Houston on Saturday, I felt the Cougars defense played much better than it had the previous four games. That’s something to build on. But if BYU wants to make a serious NCAA tournament run, Dybansta, Richie Saunders and Robert Wright III all have to be firing at the same time.
Tier 4
7. Oklahoma State (16-7, 4-6) (Last Ranking: 8)
8. UCF (17-6, 6-5) (Last Ranking: 5)
9. Colorado (14-10, 4-7) (Last Ranking: 9)
10. TCU (14-9, 4-6) (Last Ranking: 12)
11. Cincinnati (12-12, 4-7) (Last Ranking: 11)
12. West Virginia (15-9, 6-5) (Last Ranking: 10)
Welcome to the most confusing tier in the conference. I fully believe UCF will make the NCAA Tournament, but the Knights can’t have more weeks like last week where they lost both games. Six unranked ties lie ahead in UCF’s final seven games. The Knights cannot falter.
Some of those teams UCF will play are programs that still harbor dreams of getting to the tournament, including West Virginia, TCU and Oklahoma State. Each of those three teams still harbor dreams of getting to The Dance. The Mountaineers, the Horned Frogs and the Cowboys need those wins too. While the ranked teams beat up on each other the next month, the unranked ones will too, and it could eliminate from the race altogether.
Tier 5
13. Baylor (13-10, 3-8) (Last Ranking: 13)
14. Arizona State (12-12, 3-8) (Last Ranking: 14)
15. Kansas State (10-13, 1-9) (Last Ranking: 16)
16. Utah (9-14, 1-9) (Last Ranking: 15)
Baylor is off to its worst start in ages, and the Bears will be lucky to get an invitation to the Crown in Las Vegas in the postseason. The games are trickling down on Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley’s tenure in Tempe. The same could be true for Kansas State coach Jerome Tang, whose behavior continues to puzzle everyone in Manhattan. First-year Utah coach Alex Jensen has his work cut out for him, but at least he has some runway to turn things around.
