Big 12 basketball will be officially starting this week. Here are five questions concerning the first month of league play.
1. Can Trae Young continue this historic pace?
The superstar for the Oklahoma Sooners is breaking every kind of NCAA record, even before Big 12 play started. He tied the NCAA record with 22 assists in a win over Northwestern State while scoring 26 points.
Young averages 3.9 more ppg than the next best scorer and 1.2 apg more than the next best passer. Now comes the hard part: a conference where there appears to be no awful team, meaning that every night will be tough for him. Also, just about every team has a quality point guard in this league. Things are about to get very tough for the best player in the country.
2. Who is the worst team in the Big 12?
At this point, there’s usually an idea of who the worst teams are in any league. Not only has that not been settled yet, but there may not be any bad teams this season.
Of course, someone has to finish in last after the first 9-10 games. There are a few teams like Kansas and West Virginia that certainly won’t be last, but who will it be?
3. How will the dismissals of Zach Dawson and Davon Dilliard affect OK State’s depth?
The Cowboys dismissed a couple of role players weeks ago who combined for almost 9 ppg. It hasn’t affected the win-loss record, including a win over a ranked Florida State team.
Conference play is different, and rotations tend to get shortened. Oklahoma State does have talented players off the bench such as Yankuba Sima and Brandon Averette, but they don’t have the size like Dilliard and Dawson to guard bigger guards. The losses haven’t been felt yet, but will they be felt later on?
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4. Which guard steps up while Andrew Jones is out for Texas?
With the lead scorer for the Longhorns out for a while with a wrist injury, another guard has to pick up the slack for a team that is one of the worst shooting teams in the country. Junior Kerwin Roach is the likeliest option, while freshmen Matt Coleman and Jacob Young have extended minutes to make a name for themselves. Texas has the frontcourt to compete in the Big 12 but not the backcourt — especially with Jones out.
5. Will Kansas have the best conference record at the midway point?
The Jayhawks have won the past 13 regular season titles and came into this season as the favorite once again. However, a combination of Kansas struggling combined with the emergence of teams like Oklahoma, TCU, and West Virginia (who are just getting their second best player back in Esa Ahmad) that streak is in danger.
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If the streak is going to end this year, it’s important for another team to have the best record after nine games to put even more pressure on Bill Self’s team. The Big 12 was already going to be a must-watch league on any given night, but the potential to witness history makes it even more intriguing this time around.