Big 12 Basketball power rankings: Kansas State soars, Texas Tech falters

4. Kansas State Wildcats – 13-1 (2-0)

There was a point in time in the offseason when the Wildcats were the consensus worst team in the Big 12. After this first week in league play, they’re making a case for a top-3 spot. They fought back against West Virginia to force it into overtime, ultimately winning the game, 82-76. Star guard Markquis Nowell had 23 points and 10 assists, while Keyontae Johnson had 18 points. Abayomi Iyola was an impact player as well, going for 14 points and eight rebounds.

Nowell’s sudden National Player of the Year candidacy took another step on Wednesday, scoring a career-high 36 points and dishing out nine assists in Kansas State’s 116-103 blowout victory over Texas, all in regulation. Johnson had 28 points, while Camryn Carter had 17 and 8 as all five starters were in double figures.

As a team, the Wildcats shot a whopping 60% from the field and 13/24 from three-point range against what’s supposed to be one of the best defenses in NCAA Basketball. For a team that didn’t have a ton of talent on paper, first-year head coach Jerome Tang has done a spectacular job with this team.

The next challenges for Kansas State are Baylor on the road and at Oklahoma State. This is a team that now has realistic NCAA Tournament aspirations and just has to keep winning. A 1-1 spilt in the next week will do just fine for them.