The Big 12 Conference has quietly taken over the Associated Press Top 25 weekly poll.
In addition to Baylor moving into the No. 1 spot in this week’s rankings — following Purdue’s loss to Rutgers and BU’s 57-36 beatdown of Villanova over the weekend — the conference now has five teams ranked in the Top 25.
Kansas, at No. 7, is the second-highest ranked Big 12 team. The Jayhawks moved up a spot this week, from No. 8, [after drubbing Missouri over the weekend.][1]
But it’s what happened after those two programs that really catches your eye.
Unbeaten Iowa State (10-0) is all the way up to No. 11 in the AP poll, up six spots from their place at No. 17 a week ago.
The Cyclones, led by first-year coach T.J. Otzelberger, are not just some run-of-the-mill program that has beaten up on inferior competition, either.
Last week, ISU pummeled in-state rival Iowa, 73-53, and the Cyclones also held Jackson State to 37 points in a 10-point win this weekend.
Beyond that, the Cyclones also have wins over Creighton, Xavier, Oregon State and Memphis, with those five signature victories coming by an average margin of 13.4 points per win.
“I’d say they’ve probably been as impressive as anybody in our league so far, and that’s including Baylor, Texas and us,” Kansas coach Bill Self recently said of the Cyclones. “They’ve played a good schedule. T.J.’s done a great job. A lot of his personnel is new. (Former Jayhawk, Tristan Enaruna)’s helping them out, without question; we’re all happy for that.”
Joining KU, Baylor and Iowa State in this week’s poll from the Big 12 are No. 16 Texas (6-2) and No. 25 Texas Tech (7-1).
Oklahoma and West Virginia are also both receiving votes, which paints a crystal-clear picture of something that many KU fans — and fans of the Big 12 in general — already knew: The conference is loaded again this year, and when league play rolls around in three weeks, the rest of the schedule will leave no time for breaks.
*Here’s a look at this week’s complete AP poll:*
1 – Baylor, 9-0, 1,525 (61)
2 – Duke, 7-1, 1,429
3 – Purdue, 9-1, 1,319
4 – UCLA, 9-1, 1,312
5 – Gonzaga, 8-2, 1,291
6 – Alabama, 8-1, 1,202
7 – Kansas, 8-1, 1,181
8 – Arizona, 9-0, 1,172
9 – Villanova, 7-3, 924
10 – USC, 10-0, 810
11 – Iowa State, 10-0, 798
12 – Michigan State, 9-2, 707
13 – Auburn, 8-1, 693
14 – Houston, 8-2, 683
15 – Ohio State, 8-2, 656
16 – Seton Hall, 9-1, 635
17 – Texas, 6-2, 583
18 – Tennessee, 7-2, 390
19 – LSU, 9-0, 376
20 – UConn, 9-2, 360
21 – Kentucky, 7-2, 345
22 – Xavier, 9-1, 301
23 – Colorado State, 10-0, 251
24 – Arkansas, 9-1, 241
25 – Texas Tech, 7-1, 164
**Others receiving votes:** Wisconsin 156, North Carolina 85, Providence 57, Oklahoma 46, San Francisco 36, Illinois 31, West Virginia 24, Loyola Chicago 20, Michigan 8, St. Bonaventure 6, BYU 4, Minnesota 3, Creighton 1
[1]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2021/dec/11/quick-recap-no-8-jayhawks-roll-border-showdown-rev/
