Big 12 Basketball: December Power Rankings
Dec 4, 2015; Athens, GA, USA; Kansas State Wildcats forward Dean Wade (32) goes to the basket between Georgia Bulldogs forward Yante Maten (1) and forward Houston Kessler (24) during the second half at Stegeman Coliseum. Kansas State defeated Georgia 68-66. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
8. Kansas State Wildcats
Record: 6-1
Notable games: lost to North Carolina 80-70
Kansas State has been somewhat of a pleasant surprise so far this season. They took care of business against their first three clearly inferior opponents (Maryland-Eastern Shore, Columbia, South Dakota), beat a power-five conference team (Missouri), then took then number one North Carolina down to the wire. Since then, they’ve won two more games, against South Carolina State, and on the road at Georgia. Not exactly world beaters there, but winning your first true road game against a power five school is a legitimate feat for a team this young.
Not to spite Justin Edwards, who’s doing a terrific job leading these inexperienced Wildcats (and currently averaging a fairly impressive 15-6-4), but Kansas State’s best player just may be a freshman. Dean Wade can score from all over the floor, can defend, and is still just learning the college game. It’s going to be a lost year for the Wildcats, and they’re still a long way from making the tournament. But Wade can sure be one heck of a bright spot.
9. Texas Tech Red Raiders
Record: 5-1
Notable games: lost to Utah 73-63, beat Minnesota 81-68
Texas Tech is a bit similar to Kansas State in that they actually have a fairly impressive “resume” up to this point. The best team they played was Utah, and they actually hung in there for a bit. They also have a pretty impressive win over Minnesota, 81-68, led Devaugntah Williams’ 21 points.
Williams has been a bit of a stabilizing factor for the Raiders up to this point, averaging 18 points per game. Like Kansas State, they’re a very young team, with he and Toddrick Gotcher being the only seniors on the roster. So having Williams as a senior leader isn’t a bad thing. The good news is that he might be good enough for the Red Raiders to win their five Big 12 games. The bad news is that five conference wins is still a very mediocre season, for a team that’s starved for something more.
10. TCU Horned Frogs
Record: 4-3
Notable games: lost to SMU 75-70
There isn’t much to say about this TCU team other than they’re still very mediocre, and the loss of Kyan Anderson and company has taken an even bigger toll on them than I thought. Sure, they hung around against SMU, and while SMU is still a pretty good team, they’re very uninspired considering they can’t participate in postseason play.
So I’ll spend the rest of this raving about Vladimiar Brodziansky. He is a 6’10” sophomore out of Slovakia, and he reminds me a bit of Kyle Wiltjer except he can block shots! Imagine what a weapon he could be down the road. He’s shooting a red hot 65% from inside the arc. He has a back to the basket game with enough crafty, hook-shot moves that Luis Scola would be jealous. He’s deadly from midrange, and is also shooting 40% from three (on only 10 attempts). I’m not sure he’ll ever be the shooter Wiltjer is, but he’s already quite an offensive weapon (15 points per game). His block rate of 8% is also right up there with last year’s Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Jameel McKay. Watch out for this guy.