College Basketball: Big 12 is Currently the Premier and Most Underrated Conference in America

The Big 12 has lost a tremendous amount of talent in these past three years, as players such as Kevin Durant, Michael Beasley, and Blake Griffin have been drafted within the first two picks of the past three drafts. Yet, this conference has established itself as the preeminent in conference in America this season, as it is strong from top to bottom. In fact, as of Saturday, January 23, every single team in the conference has a winning record, while eight out of the 12 teams have at least eight more wins than losses.

First, the Big 12 is absolutely stacked at the top of the conference, with the Kansas Jayhawks, the Texas Longhorns, and the Kansas State Wildcats all currently ranked in the top ten in the country. Each of these teams presents the rare combination of having an elite guard pairing up with a top-notch forward/center. The combinations of Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich of Kansas, Damion James and Dexter Pittman of Texas, and Jacob Pullen and Curtis Kelly of Kansas State have terrorized opponents all season long. These three lethal duos have helped the Jayhawks, Longhorns, and Wildcats each average over 80 points per game, which rank among the top ten scoring offenses in the nation.

In addition to the superior players on the team, Kansas, Texas, and Kansas State have all beaten quality opponents this year and have a combined four losses up to date. Kansas, while losing to an undermanned Tennessee, has already defeated Memphis, Michigan, California, and Temple. Texas has already defeated two top ten teams (at the time of the victory) in Michigan State and North Carolina. Kansas State, the most surprising Big 12 team, has defeated top-ranked Texas (at the time of the victory), UNLV, and Dayton. With extremely potent offenses and a tremendous mix of size and speed, the Jayhawks, Longhorns, and Wildcats are all poised to make a deep tournament run in March.

While the Big 12 is stacked at the top of the conference, it is additionally strong at the middle of the conference, with the Missouri Tigers, the Texas A&M Aggies, and the Baylor Bears developing into formidable teams. First, the Missouri Tigers, which reached the Elite Eight last year under Mike Anderson’s high octane offense, has improved drastically since the beginning of the season. Following the key losses of DeMarre Carroll and Leo Lyons, the Tigers needed time to develop their new players and establish an identity. After a 5-3 start, the Tigers won nine straight games, including an upset victory over Kansas State. Furthermore, they have become an explosive offensive team, averaging over 82 points per game.

Along the same lines, Texas A&M and Baylor have quietly flown under the radar this season. The Aggies have already defeated two ranked teams in Clemson and Minnesota, while they only surrendered a five point loss to Texas. The Bears, meanwhile, won 13 of their first 14 games, including a 31 point domination of Oklahoma and a 23 point victory at Arkansas, while only losing by six points to Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse. These two teams have shown the ability to compete effectively against the nation’s best teams, with multiple quality wins on each of their resumes.

With six upper-echelon teams, including three of the best, in the nation, the Big 12 should be getting more recognition than it has received. How can there be only three ranked teams in this conference, when multiple unranked teams in the Big 12 have already gathered high-quality, impressive non-conference wins? When every single team in a conference has a winning record at this point in the season, each of these teams should be getting more respect than they are currently receiving

Moreover, while the Big East currently has six ranked teams out of 16 teams, the conference is not as solid from top to bottom as it is in the Big 12. Big East teams like Rutgers, South Florida, and DePaul have very unimpressive resumes and could be considered “easy” wins. In the Big 12, every game is a grind, since every team has double figure wins and quality players on to be reckoned with. Additionally, the Big 12 teams currently have a greater scoring margin of victory than the Big East teams. Therefore, the Big 12 conference as established itself as the top conference in America, yet it is still underappreciated by the general public.