Welcome to Tuesday Takes, where I give you four takes from the Big 12. It was a jam-packed week full of exciting news, but there were several things that caught my attention over the last few days.
Iowa State Will Make the Final Four
When the Cyclones lost All-American Joshua Jefferson in their opening game against Tennessee State, I was worried that their season could all come crashing down on Sunday against Kentucky. Well, it turns out that I was wrong.
Instead, the Cyclones crushed the Wildcats by 19 points and ran them out of the gym in the second half. Milan Momcilovic and Tamin Lipsey stepped up while Killyan Toure and Nate Heise chipped in as well.
On top of that, Iowa State’s defense forced 20 turnovers, and they turned into 25 points. When this team is getting help from their role players offensively and plays defense at a high level, they are going to be tough for anyone to beat, regardless of the status of Jefferson. And if he does come back, watch out because I believe they will make a final four with or without him.
BYU Wasted Money
For a school that paid over $12 million dollars to put together a team to get bounced in the first round seems like a waste of money to me. I understand that AJ Dybansta was a superstar and will be a lottery pick. In fact, he brought a ton of attention and publicity to BYU, but at the end of the day, the end result wasn’t there.
It’s not Dybansta’s fault that nobody outside of Robert Wright helped him, and it’s not his fault that Richie Saunders went down either. But for all that money spent, it feels like BYU could have done a better job assembling a supporting cast for their big three.
The Cougars ran into the same problem they have been running into for weeks now without Saunders. Who would step up? Well, it turned out that nobody else really did, and that is why they were bounced by Texas in the opener.
Tech Would Beat Alabama with JT Toppin
This may break the scale when it comes to hot takes, but after watching Texas Tech get blown out against Alabama, it was clear that the Red Raiders needed their star player more than ever.
What’s crazy to me is that Tech didn’t look bad at all, even after JT went down a few weeks ago. They were able to win a few games, including a big one over Iowa State in Hilton, without him.
They were even able to handle Akron with ease before they ran into a buzzsaw in Alabama. Tech was outmanned and outmatched in that blowout loss. And to make matters worse, they didn’t shoot the ball well either. However, I truly believe that if Toppin were on the court, things would have looked a lot different. In fact, I would go as far as to say that they would have beaten the Crimson Tide and advanced to the sweet sixteen.
Three Big 12 Teams Will Make the Final Four
I already know that Iowa State would make it to Indianapolis, but screw it, give me three Big 12 teams to make it to Indy. Alongside Iowa State, Arizona, and Houston will be joining them.
Arizona has played two cupcakes thus far, and they will have to play Arkansas and the winner of the Texas/Purdue game in the Elite Eight. Neither one of those teams would scare me if I were Arizona, and as someone who has the Wildcats winning it all, I have to put them in.
Of course, I can’t forget about Houston, which absolutely dismantled Texas A&M this past weekend. Sampson has his team hitting their stride at just the right time, and with Florida out of the way, their path to the final four just got a lot easier.
