Big 12 Basketball: 5 biggest takeaways from first month of 2019-20

Big 12 Basketball once again looks like one of the deepest conferences in the nation. What are some of the main takeaways from the first month of the season?

Big 12 Basketball has been arguably the best conference in the country for a handful of years now, ranking first in KenPom’s adjusted efficiency metric every year since 2013. This season was expected to be somewhat different, however, with seemingly less depth behind the juggernaut Kansas Jayhawks.

A number of questions were facing the conference to begin the year. Would Texas Tech be able to reload after losing much of the core that took them to the championship game last season? How would superstar big men Udoka Azubuike and Tristan Clark rebound from injuries that ended their 2018-2019 seasons? Would Shaka Smart finally realize the potential of his roster at Texas and save his job?

There is plenty of time remaining in the season for narratives to change, but the first month has given us a lot to consider for the Big 12. Overall, the depth in the conference still seems really strong with nine teams in the Top 60 in KenPom’s rankings so far. A strong out of conference resumé will be vital for the bubble teams who are unlikely to rack up many in conference wins.

With a month of the season now in our rearview mirror, let’s take a look at five key takeaways for the conference so far.