Big 12 Basketball: How recent success of conference stems from coaching

Finding their way, but in different ways

Loyola Chicago’s success didn’t happen by accident. Porter Moser is one of the elite coaches in the sport, but he might need some time to show that at Oklahoma. Moser’s rosters in the first two years haven’t been bad by any means, but injuries and the competitive nature of the conference have been a little ahead of the Sooners in his time there. There’s no doubt that Moser can start turning some of these close losses into wins as Oklahoma transitions to the SEC.

Bob Huggins is a legend in college basketball. He’s been to the final four twice, has won nearly 1000 games and last year was inducted into the basketball hall of fame. West Virginia is still very much competitive in the conference, but they have taken a step back since the “Press Virginia” days. While the Mountaineers aren’t the final four threat that they once were, they have still had some good teams in the past couple of years. Whoever replaces Huggins in the following years will take over a program in a good spot.

Mike Boynton’s team hasn’t gotten the results of some of the other teams in the league, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t a threat. After an unfortunate probation year, Boynton has a scrappy team that is excellent defensively. With the way Boynton can recruit (see 2020 and 2023 classes), if he can retain some of his key pieces from this year’s team, Oklahoma State will be a massive threat next season.

How long can the conference stay like this?

One conferences’ run at the top isn’t always fluid. The Big 12 being the best conference in basketball doesn’t mean that they will be at the top every year. However, even when losing Texas and Oklahoma, the future of the conference looks as bright as ever.

Houston, BYU, Cincinnati, and UCF all have coaches that have had success at places. Some of those teams could take some time to get to an elite level in the league, but there’s no doubt that the coaches will be up to the task.