70% of the Big 12 conference played in the NCAA tournament last year. 7 out of 10 teams. Percentage-wise, that is an amazing statistic. And you can add to it the fact that all seven NCAA teams were single-digit seeds, with a 2 (Kansas), 3 (Iowa State), 5 (Oklahoma), 6 (Baylor), 7 (Texas), and a pair of 9s (Kansas State and Oklahoma State). West Virginia made it 80% of the conference in postseason play by accepting an NIT bid. That was the good news. The bad news for the Big 12 last season was its actual performance in the NCAA tournament. Three teams fell in the Round of 64, two more in the Round of 32 and the last two fell in the Sweet 16. The Big 12 certainly had the regular season to stake a claim at being called the top conference last year, but it was completely unable to follow-up that claim in the Big Dance. The conference will need to do better in March if it wants to vie for the top spot this season.
The Kansas Jayhawks have won or shared ten consecutive Big 12 regular season championships, and we are predicting that the number will grow to 11 this year. Bill Self simply reloads this team every year, and has the pieces coming in to make up for losing Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins to the NBA draft. The top contenders to knock the Jayhawks off their perch appear to be Texas, Iowa State and Oklahoma. West Virginia is also a team to keep an eye on as the Mountaineers look poised to return to the NCAAs for the first time in three years. On the other side, Baylor and Oklahoma State appear to be in rebuilding mode and will need a lot of things to come together just right to return to the tournament this season.
Predicted Order of Finish:
1. Kansas: Who else? The Jayhawks will look for their 11th straight championship behind the leadership of Wayne Selden Jr. and Perry Ellis. Top recruits Cliff Alexander and Kelly Oubre will help make up for the offseason losses, while Ukranian phenom Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk could be the wild card to push this team over the top if he is ready to compete at this level.
2. Texas: Virtually the entire roster is back for Rick Barnes led by Jonathan Holmes. If Kendal Yancy can step up after a weak freshman campaign and top recruit Myles Turner is all he is hyped to be, the Longhorns could have what it takes to dethrone Kansas.
3. Iowa State: The Cyclones look to have another solid team with UNLV transfer Bryce Dejean-Jones joining Monte Morris, Georges Niang and more.
4. Oklahoma: With Buddy Hield and Ryan Spangler leading the returning cast, the Sooners appear to be strong enough to cruise back into the NCAA tournament.
5. West Virginia: Juwan Staten’s decision to return for his senior season was huge, and when added to a deep team that includes Devin Williams, transfer Jonathan Holton and freshman Elijah Macon, there is no reason the Mountaineers will not be in the tournament discussion in March.
6. Kansas State: Marcus Foster and Thomas Gipson can both play, but they might not be enough to land the Wildcats on the right side of the bubble.
7. Oklahoma State: The Cowboys enter rebuild mode after losing Marcus Smart and Markel Brown, but Le’Bryan Nash, LSU transfer Athony Hickey and Michael Cobbins’ return from injury will help keep them in the hunt for a postseason bid.
8. Baylor: Scott Drew’s teams seem to be on an every other year cycle, and this is the off year. The Bears simply lost too many pieces from last season’s team to be serious about a return to the NCAAs.
9. TCU: The Horned Frogs have a legitimate star in Kyan Anderson. Unfortunately, that appears to be all they have as Trent Johnson may be on the hot seat in Forth Worth.
10. Texas Tech: We have no doubt that Tubby Smith will build the Red Raiders into a tournament team. Unfortunately, he lost three starters off of last year’s 14-18 squad and this year may be the step back before they are ready to seriously move forward.