The Brilliance Of The Big 12

As the 2014-2015 season rolls towards conference play, Kentucky is clearly emerging as the best team in the country. But what conference is emerging as the best overall? The answer is the Big 12, and it’s not even close.

The Big 12 is sporting a gaudy 75-11 record and owns some of the best non-conference wins of the young season. Each of its ten members are above .500 and only Kansas State (5-4) is even close to hovering near that mark.

The Big 12 is deep, talented and boasts some of the game’s best coaches. Who will emerge as the champion? Can someone challenge the ten year reign of Kansas? One thing is for certain, whoever emerges as the winner will earn it.

Any discussion of the Big 12 must begin with the Kansas Jayhawks. Bill Self’s squad has captured the conference title for ten straight years and are the favorite to add to that streak, but a bevy of talented challengers stand in their way.

The nation witnessed the 72-40 pounding Kansas received at the hands of Kentucky. The Jayhawks eked out only 11 field goals on the night and saw shot after shot swatted away by the towering Wildcats. It would be very easy for a team to be demoralized after a beating that thorough, but Kansas has rebounded.

All the Jayhawks have done since the Kentucky loss is defeat Michigan State, Florida, Georgetown (on the road) and Utah in succession to run their record to 8-1. Don’t write off Perry Ellis, Wayne Selden and the Jayhawks just yet.

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Lurking just below Kansas are a trio of teams that have the depth and talent to dethrone the Jayhawks. Texas, Iowa State and Oklahoma have a combined record of 20-4 and will not concede the Big 12 title to Kansas.

Texas (8-1) sports one of the nation’s best defenses. They are fifth in the country in blocked shots per game and lead the country in defensive rebounds per game. They out-rebound their opponents by 14.5 rebounds per game. The Longhorns trail only Kentucky in field-goal percentage defense (30.6%). The Longhorns’ giant frontcourt quartet of Conner Lammert, Cameron Ridley, Prince Ibeh and super-freshman Myles Turner protect the rim and have Texas ranked fifth in the country in scoring defense.

Rick Barnes has coached a plethora of NBA talent during his time in Austin, but this may be his deepest roster yet. The Horns own wins over Iowa (8-3), California (9-1) and defending champs UConn (on the road). The lone Texas loss came in Lexington when they took their shot at Kentucky. The Longhorns fell 63-51 but out-rebounded the Wildcats 42-31 and held Kentucky to 1 of 12 shooting from deep. Texas was undone by 22 turnovers and had trouble finding offense without starting point guard Isaiah Taylor (broken wrist). When Taylor returns, the Longhorns are the main challengers to Jayhawk supremacy.

While Texas may boast the Big 12’s best defense, Iowa State may have the conference’s best offense. The Cyclones (7-1) average a staggering 19 assists per game (third in the nation) and 84.4 points per game. Iowa State point guard Monte Morris has a ridiculous 6.71 assist-to-turnover ratio. The college basketball metrics site kenpom.com rates the Cyclone offense as the sixth most efficient in the country.

The Cyclones have one of the best home courts in the country and Fred Hoiberg‘s club may be the team that can halt the Kansas streak. Whether the Cyclone offense can be as good on the road as it is in Hilton Coliseum remains to be seen, but it has been impressive thus far.

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The Oklahoma Sooners (6-2) have been impressive and have the talent to be great on both ends of the floor. The Sooners trail only Texas in defensive rebounds per game (30.3). Two electric players, Buddy Hield and Isaiah Cousins, have helped Lon Kruger’s squad rack up wins over UCLA and Butler.

West Virginia may be the surprise of the young season. The Mountaineers (8-1) marched through the Puerto Rico Classic defeating national champion UConn to claim the title. Juwan Staten was the preseason Big 12 Player of the Year choice and he has been solid (15.0 ppg).

Bob Huggins has built a team in his tough, gritty image. They are leading the nation in steals per game (14.0) and giving teams fits with full court pressure and defensive intensity.

After losing Marcus Smart to the NBA, Oklahoma State (8-1) was left with holes in its roster, but they appear to have been filled. LSU transfer Anthony Hickey has sparked the Cowboys and Phil Forte has continued his sharp-shooting. Le’Bryan Nash has the ability to lead the Big 12 in scoring.

But it is on the defensive end that the Cowboys have been surprising. The Pokes are sixth in the country in steals per game and Forte ranks fourth nationally with 3.1 steals per game.

Baylor (8-1) was hit hard by graduation but has retooled their roster. Scott Drew’s club does not have the talented NBA prospect that his Elite Eight level teams have had in recent years, but that may be a strength. The Bears are a Top 20 rebounding squad and rank 13th overall in the kenpom.com efficiency rankings. Baylor owns wins over Vanderbilt, Texas A&M and Memphis.

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Kansas State (5-4) may have faced more quality teams than any other Big 12 team thus far. The Wildcats fell to an under-the-radar Long Beach State team on the way to the Maui Invitational. In Maui, they lost to No. 3 Arizona and Pittsburgh. Do not let the 5-4 record fool you, K-State has depth and one of the the league’s best scorers in combo guard Marcus Foster.

Even the conference’s predicted doormats, Texas Tech and TCU, are off to blistering starts. In fact, TCU (10-0) is the league’s lone undefeated squad. The Horned Frogs have not played a tough schedule but they have won games they would not have in 2013-2014 including a road win at Ole Miss in the SEC Big 12 Challenge.

Texas Tech, under the leadership of former Kentucky coach Tubby Smith, is a controversial call on an in-bounds play at LSU away from being undefeated. The Red Raiders (7-1) are young and will have some struggles in conference play. Their two leading scorers are freshmen Devaugntah Williams and Norense Odiase. Smith may be forging a bright future on the South Plains.

When Big 12 play gets underway in January the picture will become clearer. Kansas is a virtual lock at home, but Texas, Iowa State and Oklahoma may have the firepower to go into Phog Allen Fieldhouse and win. Avoiding losses on the road will be hard for everyone; even harder in 2014-2015 with the league-wide improvement.

March, and not the non-conference season, is the time to evaluate which conference is the best. But with six teams in the top 34 of the RPI rankings it is clear the Big 12 has been the best thus far.

There are more December credential-building opportunities remaining for Big 12 squads: West Virgina faces North Carolina State, Kansas faces Temple and UNLV, Oklahoma State hosts Maryland, Texas hosts Stanford, Oklahoma faces Washington, and Kansas State faces Texas A&M and Georgia.

If the trend continues and the Big 12 wins most of those games, the league’s RPI will be through the roof. The league title is up for grabs and the conference could get as many as seven teams in the NCAA Tournament.

While there may be no definitive challenger to Kentucky, the Big 12 will be accounted for in March and will offer the bracket more than one Final Four contender.

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