Busting Brackets
Fansided

Big 12 Basketball Power Rankings: Kansas holds strong at the top

By Jason Kinander

LAWRENCE, KANSAS - DECEMBER 01: Lagerald Vick #24 of the Kansas Jayhawks celebrates after making a three-pointer during the game against the Stanford Cardinal at Allen Fieldhouse on December 01, 2018 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
LAWRENCE, KANSAS - DECEMBER 01: Lagerald Vick #24 of the Kansas Jayhawks celebrates after making a three-pointer during the game against the Stanford Cardinal at Allen Fieldhouse on December 01, 2018 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
6 of 11
Next
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 04: Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lon Kruger claps during the first half of the game against Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Madison Square Garden on December 04, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 04: Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lon Kruger claps during the first half of the game against Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Madison Square Garden on December 04, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

6. Oklahoma Sooners (9-1)

Previous Ranking: No. 8

After losing All-American point guard Trae Young, Oklahoma was fully expected to slip back into the Big 12 cellar in 2018. That has by no means been the case so far, due mainly in part to the heroics of Christian James. The senior guard has taken manners into his own hands in a big way in 2018, as he is averaging 19 points per game, to go along with 6.5 rebounds per game. James has played a big role in Oklahoma’s undefeated December, as the Sooners have picked up solid wins over Notre Dame, Wichita State, and USC.

Despite James’ play, Oklahoma remains a relatively inexperienced team, and a team that will need all the momentum it can get heading into conference play. They’ll have the perfect opportunity to gain that momentum to finish the month as they will host Creighton, another 2018 tournament team before taking on Northwestern on the road to finish off the month,

An undefeated month of December and an 11-1 record heading into conference play would be huge for Oklahoma, who will head to Kansas to start out conference play on Jan. 2.

Christian James has been a huge bright spot for a surprising Oklahoma squad, but it would be of little surprise to everyone if both James and the Sooners fell back down to earth after a few weeks of conference play.

Home/Big 12