We’ll get the game reaction up by morning, but for now we’ll just be offering up the weekly installment of our Big XII rankings.  As a whole, and especially at the top, the league continues to disappoint in national relevance.  But with some of the middle teams stepping up, the gimme wins are few and far between and really, there are a couple top half spots in play for a few teams that recently seemed out of the mix. 

 

1. Oklahoma (21-1, 7-0).  And the gap really is widening.  Despite rarely putting away the competition, they just keep winning and it’s usually by the same formula: have everyone play alright, one guy step up and let Blake Griffin take care of the rest.  And with Blake Griffin in there, that’s usually plenty.   With two pretty easy games in Norman this week, it’s all but certain that they’ll head to Waco at 23-1, 9-0.  (Previous: 1)

This week: Wednesday v. Texas A&M, Saturday v. Colorado

 

2. Kansas (18-4, 7-0). After a pretty lackluster week that included a gutty, “we had no business winning” type win in Lincoln and just a weak effort of a win over the Buffs, the Hawks went down to Waco and got what was probably their most important win of the year.  They might not have a tabloid list of great wins, but they keep beating whoever is in front of them and that’s all they can do for now.  Tonight was a great start as it’s about to heat up quite a bit. (3)

This week: Won 75-65 tonight @ Baylor, Saturday v. O-State

 

3. Texas (15-5, 4-2).  What started out as a very good week with a win in Waco, ended in disaster with a home loss to Denis Clemente and the Wildcats.  It seems like even the media are starting to catch on that Texas is sans point guard.  And Dogus Balbay is not the option; Jai Lucas can’t get there soon enough.  They’ve still got plenty of talent to be a top tier team in this league, but the sweet sixteen seems like their ceiling and really, they are a prime candidate for a first round upset with the right matchup. (2)

This week: Wednesday v. Missouri, Saturday @ Nebraska

 

4. Missouri (18-4, 5-2).  Like Texas, Missouri was embarrassed by K-State last week, though that one was much more expected as it was in Manhattan.  However, they redeemed themselves by bouncing back and taking it to Baylor in front of their first real home crowd this year.  Chances are they might get another one next Monday.  This is a very dangerous team, but I’m still not sure if it’s a very good one. (5)

This week: Wednesday @ Texas, Saturday @ ISU

 

5. Baylor (15-7, 3-5).  I still think they might be better than the Tigers, but that’s a tough argument to make with a look at a 17-point loss and their respective league records.  They’re reeling a bit after a real tough stretch here, in which they really needed to get a couple wins.  But there’s a lot of talent there and they’ve got time to turn things around and get into the Dance. (4)

This week: Lost 75-65 tonight v. Kansas, Saturday @ Tech

 

(After this is really anyone’s guess)

 

6. Texas A&M (17-5, 3-4).  Amazing how much better a team can look when they aren’t playing the top five teams in the league in succession.  Truthfully, they didn’t accomplish a lot, but they held serve at home and now they’re back in the mix.  Unfortunately, now they head to Norman.  After that, though, there isn’t another game on the slate that they can’t win (Note: Which in no way means they’ll run the table – simply that they could and no single result would stand out much). (7)

This week: Wednesday @ Oklahoma, Saturday v. K-State

 

7. Oklahoma State (13-7, 2-4).  I might still have them a little overrated (and I’m sure it will look that way for a while), but if they played any of the teams below on a neutral court I’d put my money on the Cowboys.  Despite their complete inability to: exercise any type of logical shot selection, guard or score in the post, or employ the use of more than six guys a game. (6)

This week: Wednesday v. Tech, Saturday @ Kansas

 

8. KSU (14-7, 3-4).  They deserve major kudos for circling the wagons after squeaking out the OT win in Boulder in time to hammer Missouri and pull the shocker in Austin.  If they can win this weekend, they’ll really be in business going forward, with their next few at home and plenty winnable.  But as impressive as they were this week, don’t forget (AP voters) that it wasn’t very long ago that they were a basket away from being 0-5 in the league and in these last two games they shot 55 & 67 percent, respectively, from three.  I have a suspicion that isn’t going to last. (9)

This week: Tuesday v. ISU, Saturday @ Texas A&M

 

9. Nebraska (13-7, 3-4).  What was almost a great week turned out to be a good one for the Huskers, ending with a road win in Lubbock. This team is going to be tough to beat for anyone in Lincoln, though. (8)

This week: Wednesday @ Colorado, Saturday v. Texas

 

10. Iowa State (12-9, 1-5).  Tough week for the Clones and a really good effort against the Sooners over the weekend, but they just couldn’t stop Griffin or Warren.  But Brackins can’t do it on his own.  They really become a decent team when Garrett is on his game, but that has been pretty hit or miss through league play.(10)

This week: Tuesday @ KSU, Saturday v. Missouri

 

11. Texas Tech (11-10, 1-5).  Well, at least Pat Knight got them some publicity.  But after a good effort in College Station, they really needed to take care of their floor against a very beatable Nebraska team.  And unfortunately, the wins aren’t going to be much easier to come by in the near future.(11)

This week: Wednesday @ OSU, Saturday v. Baylor 

 

12. Colorado (9-11, 1-5).  Great week for the Buffs as they got their first league win and damn near pull a stunner in Allen Fieldhouse over the weekend.  The emergence of Thorne as another scorer really changes them and Bzdelik actually has them running their offense a lot better and fighting on defense.  They still won’t win a lot of games, but they aren’t quite the same pushover they were a short time ago.(12)

This week: Wednesday v. Nebraska, Saturday @ Oklahoma

 

For now, just enjoy a great win by the Hawks.  They still have a way of frustrating the hell out of you sometimes, but even with Higgins (and of course Shaw & O’Neill) finding a way to call them for 16 second half fouls, they hung in there and took out a desperate Baylor team for their fourth conference road win.  No matter who you’re playing, that’s good stuff – especially when you have a team as young as ours.

 

Rock Chalk!