Big 12 Basketball Power Rankings: West Virginia falls, Iowa State surprises to start out season

Some notable results have occurred in the opening weeks for Big 12 Basketball teams. How do they rank against each other to start out the season?

Last season, the Big 12 Basketball Conference arguably had the best collective non-conference performance. Altogether, there were few, if any bad losses from any of the teams. That allowed constantly ranked matchups throughout conference play and in the end, nine out of the 10 teams were in clear contention for an NCAA Tournament spot in early March.

In the first couple of weeks of the 2018-19 college basketball season, there have been a couple of missteps. Baylor fell to a SWAC program to open the season, while preseason ranked West Virginia has already lost twice to a pair of mid-majors. The most notable has to be the second-half collapse of Oklahoma State to a team that may not win double-digit games this season.

But the rest of the Big 12 managed to avoid those pitfalls and even managed to get a couple of good wins. Texas won a neutral site game against an SEC opponent, while Kansas was victorious in the Champions Classic against Michigan State.

Several of these teams are currently dealing with major roster absences, whether it’s from suspensions or injuries. The goal for the programs is to survive without losing a bad game, while for certain role players it’s an opportunity to be part of the main rotation for the rest of the season. In fact, several Big 12 players have stepped up to the equation.

Even though it’s early and not too many big impact games have happened yet, there are still some takeaways within the Big 12. Here are my early thoughts on each team, as well as where they currently stand in the conference.