Entire Big 12 Sits in the Top 65 of NCAA's Net Rankings
Despite WVU's current three-game losing skid, it's not the end of the world. Each of those three teams are in the top 25 and are firmly in the NCAA Tournament if the season were to end today.
By the end of the year, there may not be one Big 12 team ranked in the top five, but that's because everyone beats up on one another. This league has been the best in the country according to KenPom over the past four years and that appears to be a trend that will continue through the end of the 2021-22 season.
What makes the Big 12 so unique is that it's the only major conference that plays a round robin schedule. A revenge game is always going to be in place and earning a season sweep is so difficult because of the challenging environments that exist in this conference. Not to mention, the elite talent and coaching that every team has.
Last week, WVU head coach Bob Huggins, who spent time in the Big East, discussed how difficult life is in the Big 12.
"The league is so hard. Think about the coaches in this league. First time I went in there and I looked around the table and I'm thinking, wow. At that time there were six or seven Final Four coaches and several who have been to multiple Final Fours," Huggins said. "It's a great coaching league and the players are good. This league has had more No. 1 picks than any other league. And when you think, this is the smallest league and it had the most first round picks. It also had the most first picks in the draft. It also had the most people drafted. This is a 10-team league and some of those leagues are 20 [teams] and this league continues year after year after year to put more people in the league. We don't have a gimme. There's no gimme's in this league. People say, well, what about Kansas State? Well, Kansas State just beat somebody and they will continue to because Bruce [Weber] can coach and they've got good players."
Huggins is 100% right. There are no easy wins in this league. Other conferences may have a difficult two or three game stretch but in the Big 12, it is truly an 18-team gauntlet. Every team in the Big 12 right now has a winning overall record. On top of that, all ten teams are in the top 65 of the NCAA's Net Rankings which would mean they all would be in the tournament if that was the sole formula for an at-large bid. Unfortunately, that won't be possible due to Oklahoma State being placed on a one-year postseason ban.
Big 12 in NET Rankings - * indicates projected to make NCAA Tournament by ESPN's Joe Lunardi
4. Baylor *
7. Kansas *
13. Texas Tech *
17. Texas *
29. Iowa State *
41. Oklahoma *
45. TCU *
50. West Virginia *
53. Oklahoma State
63. Kansas State *
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