Big 12 Preseason Predictions: Standings and First Team Picks
Posted by Brian Goodman on November 13th, 2014With tip-off mere hours away, we enlisted the Big 12 microsite’s contributors — Kory Carpenter (@Kory_Carpenter), Brian Goodman (@BSGoodman), Nate Kotisso (@natekotisso) and Chris Stone (@cstonehoops) — to stake their claims on how the Big 12 will shake out.
Predicted Finish
The unique thing that has separated the Big 12 from other power conferences over the years is the fact that it hasn’t taken more than three seconds to pencil in a winner. The bulk of the work comes in identifying which team is going to finish behind Kansas, and from there, predicting which of those is going to be in the running for NCAA Tournament bids and in which order. Moving toward the bottom of the standings, we always hold out some hope that Texas Tech and TCU can field a roster capable of making us think twice about putting them in the cellar, but their time hasn’t come just yet. Here are our Preseason Big 12 Predicted Standings.
Insights
- No Surprise Here, Kansas is the Team to Beat: Between Bill Self’s track record and yet another top-notch collection of talent arriving in Lawrence, it’s a fool’s errand to bet against the Jayhawks now. It may take some time for Kansas to rise to its ultimate potential, but until proven otherwise, it is the unanimous alpha dog in Big 12 basketball. We’ll leave the bold picks to other outlets.
- Following The Race at the Top is Going to be a Blast: Texas, Iowa State and Oklahoma round out a very good upper tier, with each receiving at least one second-place vote among our group. It’s possible that the top four teams in the conference receive NCAA Tournament seeds of #4 or better; in our estimation, the only other league that can make such a solid case for strength at the top is the ACC.
More newcomers arrive, but the expectations don’t change for Bill Self and the Jayhawks. (KUSports.com)
- Dogfight In The Middle: Kansas State has the inside track on the last spot in our top half, followed by two teams in the Mountaineers and Bears that will face uphill but doable climbs to get to the Big Dance. Will one of the three surprise our voters and crack this season’s top four?
- Oklahoma State Joins The Dregs: We agree with the Big 12 coaches’ selection here, as neither they nor us expect the Cowboys to be a factor this season. We know it’s been a hard fall for Oklahoma State, but the fact that eighth place is a realistic scenario just a year after the Pokes were tabbed to finish second really hammers it home. Can Travis Ford prove us wrong?
All-Conference Selections
Four of the five All-Big 12 First Teamers from last season — Melvin Ejim, DeAndre Kane, Marcus Smart and Andrew Wiggins — are no longer in college, so this season provides a great opportunity for the remaining upperclassmen to step up and become the new faces of the league.
Insights
- The Hyped Freshmen Take a Back Seat: In Cliff Alexander, Myles Turner and Kelly Oubre, the Big 12 has a promising trio of freshmen entering college basketball, but by and large, our staff at the microsite doesn’t expect them to put up numbers worthy of all-conference selection this season. Currently, NBADraft.net projects all three as 2015 lottery picks, yet just one of our writers, Kory Carpenter, picked any of the three to his team. Obviously, all three phenoms are expected to make significant impacts for their respective teams, but their general absence here sticks out, even if justifiable.
- Consistencies Among The Voters: Georges Niang, Perry Ellis, Marcus Foster, Buddy Hield and Juwan Staten are the most widely agreed-upon players among our writers, with each garnering at least three selections for the Preseason All-Big 12 Team. They’ve all proven to be excellent scorers for schools that will or can go dancing next March, and our writers are excited to see how they build on each of their breakout 2013-14 campaigns.
Brian Goodman a Big 12 microsite writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BSGoodman.
