Final Big 12 Men’s Basketball Power Rankings
The regular season of basketball has come to an end. The Big 12 tournament gets set to begin. And many of the teams in the league are dreaming of some postseason dancing. How many? Depending on how teams do in Kansas City this week, it looks like the Big 12 will send 6-7 teams into the NCAA tournament.
For the last two months, our panel of fans representing most of the schools has been ranking the teams in the league. We now know how the final standings turned out and how the seeding went for the tournament. Our fans voted one last time, and for the most part, these power rankings came relatively close to the actual final standings.
Here are how this week’s final rankings look:
Power Rankings
10. West Virginia (15-16, 4-14), last week #10
Sure, the Mountaineers got the win in the season finale over TCU. But at the end of the day, they won only two of their last 16 games after having such a great start to the season. Oh yeah, that was primarily nonconference play.
9. Kansas State (14-16, 6-12), last week #7
The Wildcats had one wild ride this season. They started out looking like they’d be at the bottom, then they won a few big games, then there was hope they may even finish in the top 4-5 and go dancing. Then they lost some more and now have the play-in game with West Virginia in the tournament.
8. Oklahoma (17-14, 7-11), last week #9
Oklahoma finished strong winning their last three games. They are a bubble team. With an impressive performance in Kansas City, they might squeak by with a tournament bid. Or they may end up representing the league in the NIT. Stay tuned.
7. Oklahoma State (15-15, 8-10), last week - #8
OSU’s season has come to an end. They are banned from the postseason this year. They did get to go out in glory, beating a ranked Texas Tech team by one point in Stillwater. They end the year with a .500 record.
6. Iowa State (20-11, 7-11), last week #6
With 20 wins, the Cyclones should be an easy at-large bid in the NCAA tournament. All their losses this year were to formidable Big 12 foes. They did lose their last two games, but after going on a 4-game winning streak.
5. TCU (19-11, 8-10), last week #5
Last week, the Frogs had a good few days beating both Tech and Kansas at home. Then they traveled to Lawrence and almost pulled off the upset again. Then they went to Morgantown, and it was as if all had been drained from them. The wins over Tech and Kansas should have punched their dance cards, but they will have to wait and see. A win in the tournament over Texas will undoubtedly help their postseason bid.
4. #22 Texas (21-10, 10-8), last week #4
Texas had to play to the two conference champions to end the season, but they still ended up the 4-seed in the tournament. They’ll be going dancing for sure, but they must play a TCU team that’s an improved team over the first meeting back in January.
3. #14 Texas Tech (23-8,12-6), last week #3
Tech was hoping for a piece of the regular season conference pie. But they lost by one point in Stillwater. But now they have their eyes set on Kansas City. If they can get past Baylor and then possibly Kansas and win the conference tournament, they could end up as a 2-seed in the big dance.
2. #6 Kansas (25-6, 14-4), last week #1 (tie)
Kansas ended up being tied with Baylor for the conference championship. And due to tiebreaker rules, they are the 1-seed in the tournament. However, our panel of fans this week gave Baylor the edge, breaking the tie the two teams had in last week’s power rankings.
1. #3 Baylor (26-5, 14-4), last week #1 (tie)
It’s an excellent time to be a Bear. Baylor is the current Big 12 champion in football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball – a feat that’s only occurred four times. The Bears are hot, having won their last five games. They look to go into the dance and defend their national championship from last year.
Our panel has been ranking the teams for the last two months. Here is a how the teams did over the course of the Big 12 regular season:
Note: Power Rankings are determined by fans representing most of the ten schools currently in the Big 12 Conference.
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