Big 12 Basketball: 2022 Conference Tournament preview and predictions
By Tuck Clarry
Even as the conference saw major shifts and departures both in player personnel and the coaching carousel, Big 12 Basketball remained as consistent and tough as ever. After a national championship, the Baylor Bears were pegged as a team to take a bit of a step back with a new roster, but Scott Drew was able to reload and tie for the Big 12 regular-season championship.
And who else would the Bears share the title with than Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks? Self secured his 16th Big 12 title which matches the 16 total losses he’s experienced at Phog Allen Fieldhouse in his 19 seasons as head coach. But this title was not nearly as easy as some previous. The Jayhawks lacked the personnel of a typical Bill Self title team. Likely All American Ochai Agbaji was asked to carry the Jayhawks as they struggled with their identity of strong point guard play and interior dominance.
The Bears were able to maintain their standing in the conference thanks to solid contributions from transfer point guard James Akinjo, the returning bigs, and freshmen wings Jeremy Sochan and Kendall Brown. The latter freshmen were immeasurable as Baylor dealt with injuries throughout the year (especially Brown as he stepped out while Sochan himself was hurt). It’s still to be determined how the loss of defensive stalwart and rebounder Jonathan Tchamwa Tcatchoua will affect Baylor’s tournament chances. Baylor is 5-1 since losing him for the remainder of the season.
Texas Tech is another team that remained near the top portion of the conference despite head coach Chris Beard leaving for his alma mater Texas. The Red Raiders retained their identity by sliding up defensive-minded Mark Adams from his assistant coach position. But it wasn’t easy by any means. Key contributors Kevin McCullar and Terrence Shannon missed significant time dealing with injuries throughout the season. Luckily, transfer forward Bryson Williams stepped up to the task and ballooned to a player worthy of national recognition. Williams’ offensive rating went from a respectable 104 at UTEP to 122 this season under Adams.
The season was also rocky for Beard and his Longhorns. A sexy preseason pick to do big things, Texas stumbled out of the gates and needed to do some work to round out a team composed of mostly transfers. Utah transfer Timmy Allen led the way, averaging 12.2 points and 6.5 rebounds. Marcus Carr found his footing once conference play began and became the leading scorer on the team. Beard’s No-Middle defense has started coming into its own in conference play albeit without the prototypical rim protection and length.
The tournament appears a bit funky as a nine-team bracket due to Oklahoma State’s ineligibility this year, but the parity as this season showed throughout the conference it should still make for an incredibly exciting week.