The loudest way to demonstrate how tough Kansas has been in close Big 12 games lies in looking at the standings and then the scoring margin of the 10 schools.
Kansas takes a one-game lead on four schools tied for second. Yet, the Jayhawks are no better than sixth in scoring margin.
That speaks not only to KU’s ability to deliver in the clutch, but also to the depth of the Big 12. But is it the best basketball conference in the country?
“I get a kick out of all coaches saying their league’s by far the best when they haven’t played anybody in the other leagues or been in those games, but I would say,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.
He did say, as have other Big 12 coaches, that the bottom is stronger than any other league’s.
**Big 12 scoring margin standings:**
| School (Record) | Offense | Defense | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Virginia (5-3) | 75.5 | 69.2 | +6.2 |
| Kansas State (5-3) | 78.2 | 75.1 | +3.1 |
| Texas Tech (5-3) | 69.8 | 67.1 | +2.6 |
| TCU (3-5) | 86.9 | 84.5 | +2.4 |
| Oklahoma (5-3) | 85.9 | 84.9 | +1.0 |
| Kansas (6-2) | 78.8 | 77.9 | +0.9 |
| Texas (4-4) | 71.8 | 74.4 | -2.6 |
| Baylor (2-6) | 68.1 | 71.2 | -3.1 |
| Oklahoma St. (3-5) | 78.0 | 82.9 | -4.9 |
| Iowa State (2-6) | 73.1 | 78.8 | -5.6 |
“There are absolutely no guarantees anywhere, home or away,” Self said. “I don’t know if it’s the best. You could make a case for the ACC obviously, but I would say it’s the deepest when you talk about 10 teams, all of them in the top 85 RPI. There is no other league in America that could rival that.”
Computers aren’t smarter than humans yet, but they do generate numbers that can be useful in comparing college basketball conferences.
Kenpom.com and Sagarin predictor are the rankings that seem to come closest to betting lines. Sagarin predictor probably has a slight edge. A look at Sagarin predictor numbers for members of the six power basketball conferences shows that Iowa State is last in the Big 12 and has the highest rating (79.26) of any other school ranked at the bottom of its conference, although Mississippi State (78.75) of the SEC is close.
A look at the average rating for schools in each conference, the percentage of schools in each conference with a rating of 80 or higher and the gap between the school at the top of the conference and the school at the bottom:
| Conference | Avg. rating | Pct. with 80+ rating |
Gap from first to last |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 – Big 12 | 86.10 | 90 | 13.67 |
| 2 – ACC | 84.18 | 73 | 24.05 |
| 3 – Big East | 83.72 | 70 | 19.59 |
| 4 – Big Ten | 83.12 | 64 | 19.25 |
| 5 – SEC | 82.66 | 80 | 8.02 |
| 6 – Pac 12 | 79.37 | 50 | 17.49 |
It’s tough to deny that the Big 12 is the best conference in America, but that doesn’t equate with the toughest in which to win the championship. It does mean it’s the toughest in which to post a high winning percentage.
Sagarin predictor ranks the Big 12 in this order: Kansas (92.93), West Virginia (90.69), Texas Tech (88.02), Oklahoma (87.05), TCU (86.62), Baylor (85.29), Texas (84.75), Kansas State (84.61), Oklahoma State (81.78) and Iowa State (79.26).
Sagarin predictor ranks KU sixth in the nation behind Villanova, Purdue, Duke, Michigan State and Virginia, and West Virginia is ranked eighth.
Per Sagarin, then, the ACC would be the toughest conference to win, the Big 12 the toughest in which to post a winning record.
