Nick KrugIt’s never been much of a challenge for Kansas basketball coach Bill Self to sing the praises of the conference that he believes is the best in America.
But this year, after the start that the nine other Big 12 men’s basketball teams have jumped out to, it seemed easier than ever.
Asked this week for his early assessment of the league, with the start of conference play up next on the docket for all 10 teams, Self pointed to the conference’s depth as its biggest source of bragging rights so far.
“(There’s) absolutely not one bottom tier team,” Self said. “You knew Texas would be good, you knew Baylor would be good, you knew TCU would be good, you knew Tech would be good. But what makes our league so great is the fact that everybody’s good. It’ll be competitive again.”
The numbers certainly support Self’s claim.
Four Big 12 teams, including Kansas, will enter the start of conference play with just one loss. All four of those losses came to ranked teams. Four other Big 12 teams have only lost twice. And all 10 teams are ranked in the top 52 of the latest KenPom.com rankings, with KU, at No. 5, ranking the highest, and Kansas State, at 52nd, the lowest.
Even the two teams in the Sooner State, which are a combined 17-7 — Oklahoma’s 9-3 and Oklahoma State is 8-4 — both reside in the top 32 in KenPom’s rankings.
Self talked about both teams when examining the league.
“You look at Oklahoma State, the reason I bring them up is they’re (8-4) and they lost to Virginia Tech, who’s in the top 25, at Virginia Tech, on the last possession,” he said. “Oklahoma State’s good. And then you look at, well, Oklahoma lost to Sam Houston State to start the season and what have they done since then? They rattled off seven out of eight (wins) and played a good schedule.”
Self continued: “The one team that I think has been the most pleasant surprise, though, is West Virginia. I think they’re good. I watched a little bit of Huggs’ (Bob Huggins) group the other day. They’re good. And they’re playing the way he loves to play.”
Kansas will open the Big 12 season on Dec. 31 at home against Oklahoma State.
Here’s a quick look at how all 10 Big 12 squads fared during non-conference play, with Associated Press Top 25 rankings used for the breakdown.
No. 4 Kansas, 11-1
Best wins: 69-64 over No. 14 Duke, 84-62 over No. 18 Indiana
Bad losses: None
Loss: vs. No. 8 Tennessee in Battle 4 Atlantis finals
Strength of Schedule: No. 37
KenPom: No. 5
Leading scorer: Junior forward Jalen Wilson at 21.1 points per game
No. 7 Texas, 10-1
Best wins: 93-74 over No. 11 Gonzaga, 72-67 over Creighton
Bad losses: None
Loss: 85-78 in overtime vs. No. 16 Illinois
Strength of Schedule: No. 279
KenPom: No. 6
Leading scorer: Senior guard Marcus Carr at 15.7 points per game
No. 12 Baylor, 9-2
Best wins: 80-75 over No. 13 UCLA, 64-63 over No. 11 Gonzaga
Bad losses: None
Losses: vs. No. 6 Virginia and at No. 24 Marquette
Strength of Schedule: No. 132
KenPom: No. 16
Leading scorer: Senior guard Adam Flagler at 15.7 points per game
No. 20 TCU, 10-1
Best wins: 79-66 over Iowa, 75-71 over Utah
Bad losses: 64-63 at home vs. Northwestern State
Strength of Schedule: No. 359
KenPom: No. 38
Leading scorer: Senior guard Mike Miles Jr. at 17.8 points per game
Kansas State, 11-1
Best wins: 96-87 in OT over Nevada, 61-59 over LSU
Bad losses: None
Loss: 76-64 at Butler
Strength of Schedule: No. 265
KenPom: No. 52
Leading scorer: Senior forward Keyontae Johnson at 17.7 points per game
West Virginia, 10-2
Best wins: 84-55 over Florida, 81-70 over UAB
Bad losses: None
Losses: 80-68 to No. 1 Purdue, 84-74 to Xavier
Strength of Schedule: No. 124
KenPom: No. 21
Leading scorer: Senior guard Erik Stevenson at 14.5 points per game
Iowa State, 9-2
Best wins: 81-79 in OT over Villanova, 70-65 over then-No. 1 North Carolina.
Bad losses: None
Losses: 71-53 to No. 2 UConn and 75-56 at Iowa
Strength of Schedule: No. 274
KenPom: No. 46
Leading scorer: Senior guard Jaren Holmes at 13.8 points per game
Texas Tech, 9-2
Best wins: 64-55 vs. Louisiana Tech
Bad losses: None
Losses: 76-65 to Creighton, 80-73 to Ohio State
Strength of Schedule: No. 335
KenPom: No. 33
Leading scorer: Senior forward Kevin Obanor at 15.9 points per game
Oklahoma, 9-3
Best wins: 62-53 vs. Florida, 77-64 vs. Seton Hall
Bad losses: 52-51 vs. Sam Houston State in season opener
Strength of Schedule: No. 89
KenPom: No. 32
Leading scorer: Senior guard Grant Sherfield at 18 points per game
Oklahoma State, 8-4
Best wins: 65-51 vs. Sam Houston State, 54-49 at Wichita State,
Bad losses: 61-60 vs. Southern Illinois, 60-56 OT vs. UCF
Strength of Schedule: No. 119
KenPom: No. 30
Leading scorer: Senior guard Avery Anderson III at 12.2 points per game
