Big 12 Basketball Power Rankings: Kansas State begins in the middle of the league

1. Kansas (8-1) 

Kansas defeated Duke in mid-November which is probably the best win in the Big 12 as we move through the non-conference slate. They also have three other high-major victories. Their one loss came at the hands of Tennessee, who is a top 10 program at the moment. And Gradey Dick already looks to be a problem the rest of the season for Kansas State and the rest of the league.

2. Texas (6-1)

The Longhorns just took their first loss of the season. It was an overtime game with Illinois in which TJ Shannon proved to be too much for Texas to handle in the extra period. Prior to that, the Longhorns knocked off a Creighton team that started the year hotter than anybody.

They also almost beat Gonzaga by by 20. Chris Beard has a well-constructed team that could take Texas further than they’ve been in a long time. The addition of Tyrese Hunter and stealing him from Iowa State was also wise.

The matchup between he and K-State guard Markquis Nowell will be a fun watch later this season.

3. Baylor (7-2) 

Baylor isn’t as strong in the frontcourt as we typically see from them. They’re relying a lot on their backcourt to win them games on offense. It could be personnel, but it might also be the absence of longtime Baylor assistant and current Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang.

He was the defensive mind for Scott Drew’s club and his exit may have the Bears a little slow out of the gates.

They fell to Marquette and Virginia. The Cavaliers are a top three team and the Golden Eagles should probably be in the top 25 at this point and probably will be soon. Those were wins for Baylor a couple seasons ago.

It won’t be easy, but I still expect them to finish as a top three team in the league.

4. Iowa State (7-1)

Iowa State took down North Carolina when they were ranked No. 1. That win has lost some luster after the Tar Heels lost four straight games and plummeted out of the top 25. The Cyclones also followed that up with a loss to a really good UConn team.

Iowa State’s best win is versus St. John’s, who they just beat by double digits and they also have a dub over a middling Villanova squad. Most recently, and after these rankings were written, they were also thumped by Iowa by 19 points, so expect the Cyclones to drop a bit.

5. Kansas State (8-1)

K-State has had some close calls and are a little lucky to have just the one loss on their resume. Dropping to Butler isn’t a great look, but the Bulldogs are actually better than I originally thought. They have a dominant big and some length along the perimeter that make them a tough out on both ends.

LSU is probably the most attractive win for Kansas State at this point. Cal, Nevada and Wichita State all gave the Wildcats some troubles, but they battled through for victories. The biggest non-conference test remaining until Big 12 action heats up is a matchup with Nebraska in Kansas City next week.

The Huskers appear good enough to challenge K-State.

6. West Virginia (7-2) 

West Virginia lost by 12 to Purdue and 10 to Xavier. Their best wins are against Florida and Pitt and there isn’t a quality opponent left on the non-conference docket until they play Auburn in the Big 12/SEC challenge which isn’t for another two months or so.

Kansas State and the Mountaineers meet in Manhattan on New Years Eve to kick off Big 12 play, and it will be on the heels of K-State taking on Alabama in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. The matchup between Tang’s and Bob Huggins’ groups will be between two teams with reconstructed rosters.

7. Texas Tech (6-2)

Mark Adams and the Red Raiders have two quality losses but don’t have a good win yet. Louisville and Georgetown are sexy brands but they are far from good enough to give any club some extra cache for defeating them.

Texas Tech should be cruising the rest of the way, as they did not end up scheduling strong out-of-conference opponents outside of Creighton and Ohio State. Both took down Adams’ group in the Maui Invitational.

Another problem is that they most recently needed a second half rally to beat Nicholls by just seven. Texas Tech plays LSU later (which will be interesting to compare to Kansas State), but I don’t think we will really know what we’re going to get from the Red Raiders this season until they play TCU in a couple weeks.

8. TCU (7-1)

The bottom three Big 12 teams all took unacceptable losses early in this season.

TCU fell to Northwestern State, the team that features the incredible story of the athlete with one arm. The Demons are a decent team that have found a way to win a lot of close games this year, but in their debut, they fell to Texas Tech by 24 points.

Had the Frogs just scored one more bucket, they’d be unbeaten right now and in the top half of the initial power rankings. Since that loss, they have been on the winning side against Cal, Iowa and a troubled Providence squad.

Their performance versus the Golden Bears was similar to what we witnessed from K-State.

9. Oklahoma (7-2)

Oklahoma began the year in disastrous fashion by losing to Sam Houston State by one. Over the weekend, the Sooners dropped their second to Villanova. They do at least have some victories over Nebraska, Seton Hall and Ole Miss.

They will have one of their toughest tests of the season this weekend when they face No. 9 Arkansas.

10. Oklahoma State (6-3)

The only team in the league with three losses already is Oklahoma State. They did however just prevail against Sam Houston State by double digits, the team that had already upset the previously mentioned Oklahoma.

But that doesn’t make up for their unacceptable loss from the ‘Pokes that they took at the hands of Southern Illinois two games into to the season. UCF and UConn are their other two blemishes. They can prove a lot to themselves if they come out of the next two games with Virginia Tech and Wichita State with a 2-0 record.