Checking In On… the Big 12
Posted by jstevrtc on December 1st, 2009
Patrick Sellars is the RTC correspondent for the Big 12 Conference.
Power Rankings:
- Kansas (5-0) — After five games freshman Xavier Henry is leading the Jayhawks in scoring.
- Texas (5-0) — Won the CBE Classic in dominating fashion with wins over Iowa and Pitt.
- Kansas State (5-1) — The Wildcats are getting solid production from guards Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente.
- Texas A&M (5-1) — The Aggies went 2-1 at the 76 Classic, and the only loss was to #8 West Virginia.
- Oklahoma State (6-0) — James Anderson is still playing great and helped lead the Cowboys to a win over Utah.
- Missouri (4-1) — The Tigers could not find any offense against Richmond in the final of the South Padre Invitational.
- Iowa State (6-1) — Losing to Northwestern will hurt this team’s resume in March, but I still believe Craig Brackins and Marquis Gilstrap could lead the Cyclones to a good finish in the Big 12.
- Texas Tech (7-0) — We will learn a lot about the Red Raiders on Thursday night when they play host to the Washington Huskies.
- Oklahoma (3-3) — The Sooners finally stopped their losing streak with a win over Nicholls State, but so far OU has done nothing impressive this season.
- Baylor (6-1) — Finishing 5th in the Old Spice Classic is a good sign for Bears fans.
- Colorado (4-2) — The Buffaloes played Gonzaga and Arizona to the wire, but still only came away from Maui with a win over D2 opponent Chaminade.
- Nebraska (4-1) — Defeated USC in the first game of the Pac 10/ Big 12 Hardwood Series.
Team of the Week: Texas A&M Aggies — TAMU defeated two ranked opponents en route to a third place finish in the 76 Classic, and they did it without much production from leading scorer Donald Sloan.
Player of the Week: Cory Higgins (G), Colorado — Higgins only scored 6 points in a dominating win over Chaminade, but in big games against Gonzaga and Arizona, the guard scored 19 and 28, respectively.
Top Stories:
- Pac 10/ Big 12 Hardwood Series Tips Off. With Nebraska defeating USC in the first game, the Big 12 has taken an early 1-0 lead. The series is in its third year and in the previous two seasons the conferences split the series 6-6.
- Four Teams Suffer First Loss. In this past week, previously undefeated teams lost their first game: Baylor lost to Alabama, Iowa State lost to Northwestern, Missouri lost to Richmond, and Texas A&M fell to West Virginia.
Games to Watch This Week:
- Missouri (4-1) at Vanderbilt (4-1), 12/2 — Mizzou tries to bounce back on the road against one of the SEC’s best teams.
- Oklahoma State (6-0) at Tulsa (5-1), 12/2 — Upset Alert: Tulsa has one of the best players that you’ve never heard of in center Jerome Jordan. OSU is going to have trouble trying to contain him.
- Pac 10/ Big 12 Hardwood Series –– The best games this week: Baylor at Arizona State and Washington at Texas Tech on 12/3, Iowa State at California on 12/5, Arizona at Oklahoma on 12/6
