Coming into the season, many people thought that this was going to be a top-heavy race, and boy were they right. With All-American Hunter Dickinson returning and a Hall of Fame Coach at the helm, the Kansas Jayhawks demanded nine of the sixteen 1st place votes in the preseason poll. Now that we are eight games into the conference slate for each of the teams in question, let's take a look and see who has the most realistic shot at winning the conference.
Big XII teams atop the pack:
After what was deemed the game of the week in the Big XII, the Houston Cougars separated themselves from the top of the pack with a 2OT win against Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. Regardless of the situation, it seems Houston finds a way to keep themselves in games late. In Kansas, they were down by as much as six with just under 20 seconds remaining and somehow sent the game to OT. After the thrilling victory, the Cougars are 8-0 in conference, with that being said, they still have Baylor, Iowa St, Texas Tech, and Arizona on their schedule in February. To say that they have yet to see the gauntlet would be an understatement. Luckily for them, three of those four games against top-tier opponents are in the Fritas Center in front of their home fans. Can we expect total domination down the stretch from Kelvin Sampson or will the Cougars slip up?
The Iowa St Cyclones and the Arizona Wildcats round out the Top Three of the Big XII as we come around the turn to head down the stretch. Both the Wildcats and the Cyclones face all of the teams in the top five in the conference down the stretch, similarly to the Cougars. The difference though, is the Cougars already hold a one-game lead over these two squads AND Arizona/Iowa St have to face most of these squads on the road. Now with that being said, Iowa St has seemingly always found a way to win road games against tough competition, but is it going to be enough down the stretch?
For the Wildcats, it is going to take all but a miracle to come out on top this season. They have shown flashes of light since conference play started, but it seems like they still have yet to put it all together since the season started. It is the fourth season under head coach Tommy Lloyd and the team seems nervous at times. If you want to be a top team in the conference, let alone a top team in the country, you simply cannot play nervously against the top squads.
For the Cyclones, with the likes of Curtis Jones and Keshon Gilbert, you can never count this squad out. When one guy is missing, the other seemingly is hitting from everywhere on the floor. Knowing that Houston already has a game in hand against them, they certainly have an uphill battle, but I think that they have the best shot at finishing in the top spot given the overall talent, coaching success, and clutch factor on this team. They have had seven games this season where they were within three points late in the game and won by double digits. This team simply knows how to win basketball games.
Big XII Disappointments:
The Cincinnati Bearcats come into conference play 10-1 with wins over Dayton and cross-town foe Xavier this team looked poised to make a deep run. Ranked No. 17 in the country headed into conference play, the Bearcats looked like they could beat anyone, that was until their weak non-conference schedule caught up to them. The Bearcats only played two teams ranked better than No. 150 in KenPom and only three teams ranked in the top 250. While they were beating all odds from a metrics standpoint, beating up on lowly teams in the non-conference is not going to prepare you for a gauntlet like the Big XII. At 2-6 in conference play and currently on the outside looking in at the bubble come March, it is going to take some sort of resurgence from the Bearcats to find themselves playing in March. Can Bearcats fans hope for the best or should they prepare for another letdown?
Recap:
All in all, the conference seems to be in a "down year" compared to what some fans hoped for this season. Many thought that the Big XII was the best conference in basketball again this year. Sorry fans, that trophy is going to the SEC this season. The Houston Cougars and the Iowa St Cyclones are the teams to beat after being picked to finish 2nd and 4th respectively. Kansas is currently 5th in the conference with no shot at winning the conference and Arizona who earned 0 votes has an outside shot if the stars align.
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