Big 12 Basketball: Dedric Lawson and Jarrett Culver lead POY race

By Bryan Mauro | Jan 12, 2019

BOSTON, MA - MARCH 23: Jarrett Culver #23, Keenan Evans #12 and Zach Smith #11 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders celebrate their lead over the Purdue Boilermakers during the second half in the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament East Regional at TD Garden on March 23, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 23: Dedric Lawson #1 of the Kansas Jayhawks reacts during the second half of the game against Tennessee Volunteers at the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament at Barclays Center on November 23, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

Kansas isn’t the only Big 12 Basketball team with star players. Here are the top contenders for the 2019 Conference Player of the Year Award.

When talking about the Big 12 Basketball, the conversation stems around Kansas and their 14 consecutive Big 12 regular season championships. Outside of Kansas, the conference is perennially one of the deeper conferences in the country. There are never any easy walkover games in this league. Every single team can beat each other on any given night. Protecting your home floor is a must in the league, especially considering how hard it is to win on the road in conference play.

The Big 12 currently has some of the best teams in the nation. Two of those better teams are two of the most surprising teams in the country as well. Oklahoma and Texas Tech are two teams who were picked near the bottom of the conference. Through this point in the season, those teams appear to be two of the better teams in the country. West Virginia was one of the teams picked to finish near the top of the conference and at least, to this point in the year have been extremely disappointing. Kansas finally looks vulnerable; will this be the year they fall?

If Kansas finally does get knocked off their perch, the following players are going to help unseat the champion. These players are all important to their team, and each one of them is the go-to option for their teams on offense. The race is only going to end up with one player winning, and it may be a unanimous decision, especially if that player continues to play as they have to open the season. These players give coaches nightmares are can change an entire game plan. The five players who have a chance to earn the player of the year in the conference are below.

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