Quick! How many games has Iowa State won this season? You vaguely remember the Cyclones beating Kansas a few weeks ago, so that must mean they’re doing well, right? At this point in the year, you’re probably thinking they have a nice, healthy number of wins. Like 22 or 23. Yeah, that sounds good. You’ll go with that. I’m sorry, however, but you are incorrect. The correct answer is 19. Having 19 wins on February 27 isn’t particularly noteworthy unless you note how Iowa State got to that number in the first place. First, Steve Prohm put together an ambitious non-conference schedule that produced two losses to very good basketball teams (Gonzaga, Cincinnati) and two other losses that he’d like to have back (Iowa, Vanderbilt). Add in a 5-4 start to Big 12 play — not to mention Oklahoma State’s herculean turnaround — and it was pretty easy to forget the Cyclones even existed. Now they’re on a five-game winning streak and, with two more wins, have a chance to clinch the #2 seed in next month’s Big 12 Tournament. I didn’t think I’d be typing that sentence a month ago. Power Rankings time!
Hey you! Remember me? I’m Monte, the preseason All-American dude from Iowa State. You know, I’m still doing All-American type things on the court. You should turn on one of my games some time. You’ll enjoy it! (photo: lanezphotography.com)
1. Kansas — all voted 1st – “The Jayhawks have won seven straight games since their home loss to Iowa State a few weeks ago. Along the way, Kansas also won its 13th straight Big 12 regular season title, one of the most impressive streaks in college basketball history.” – Drew Andrews (@DrewAndrews24)
2. West Virginia — average: 2.4 – “Saturday’s match-up against Iowa State will be the last game in Morgantown for hometown hero Nathan Adrian. Adrian was a sparsely used bench player last year, but he’s taken on Jonathan Holton’s role atop the press this year. He’s been excellent with the additional responsibility and figures to be missed at the Coliseum.” – Chris Stone (@cstonehoops)
3. Iowa State — average: 3.0 (not unanimous) – “The Cyclones’ rotation is not very deep, so it has helped that freshman forward Solomon Young has started to contribute lately. During Iowa State’s current five-game winning streak, Young has had multiple blocks in four of those games.” – Justin Fedich (@jfedich)
4. Baylor — average: 3.6 – “The Bears snapped out of a 3-5 funk by exacting revenge on West Virginia Monday night, and they did so without Manu Lecomte, who has been hampered by ankle issues recently. Since our last PRs were published, Johnathan Motley has averaged 24.7 points, 11.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game.” – Brian Goodman (@BSGoodman)
5. Oklahoma State — all voted 5th – “Kansas’ Frank Mason began conference play as the favorite to capture Big 12 Player of the Year honors and it appears he will probably deliver on that projection. Still, there may not be a player more valuable to his team in this league than Jawun Evans. In Oklahoma State’s recent 10-1 stretch, Evans has averaged 18.1 points and 6.9 assists per game.” – Nate Kotisso (@natekotisso)
Folks are sleeping on Oklahoma State guard Jawun Evans so much, K-State forward Dean Wade doesn’t even consider he’s attempting a shot right behind him at this very moment. But he is. (Bo Rader/The Wichita Eagle via AP)
6. Texas Christian — average: 6.6 – “Over the first 10 weeks of the season, it looked like TCU under Jamie Dixon was well ahead of schedule. That could still be the case in terms of the program’s overall development, but the Horned Frogs’ NCAA Tournament hopes took a big blow on Saturday when Jaylen Fisher received a dubious foul call while defending West Virginia’s Daxter Miles in the closing seconds of a 61-60 loss at Schollmaier Arena.” – BG
7. Texas Tech — average: 6.8 – “The bottom half of the Big 12 is failing to capitalize on its late-season opportunities, with Texas Tech no exception. The Red Raiders had not lost three straight games all season until the last 10 days, and it is not likely that the final two results against Texas and Kansas State will change the Red Raiders’ ultimate fate.” – JF
8. Kansas State — average: 7.8 – “Whatever hopes the Wildcats had of making the NCAA Tournament were seemingly extinguished this week as they fell to both Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. It’s starting to feel more like a question of when rather than if Bruce Weber will be relieved of his duties in Manhattan. ” – CS
9. Oklahoma — average: 8.8 – “Congratulations to the Sooners for making it out of the Big 12 cellar. It’s dark and dreary for anyone who lives there, but if you make it out, you will be richly rewarded… with ninth place in our rankings. It doesn’t matter. They thoroughly beat up on Kansas State on Saturday and in the process gave the great Lon Kruger his 600th win as a college coach. You take the wins wherever you can get them.” – NK
10. Texas — all voted 10th – “The Longhorns suffered their fifth straight loss when hosting Kansas on Saturday. The Jayhawks’ frontcourt doesn’t scare many teams but Texas could not stop Dwight Coleby from a career-high 12 points. As Andrew Jones continues to climb draft boards, Shaka Smart could find himself without his two best players after this season.” – DA
Big 12 Video/GIF of the Week
I’d like one of the legacies of our power rankings to be a place where appreciating Oklahoma State’s Phil Forte III, the player, is plentiful and welcome. We won’t have many more of these moments to share with Forte, so we’ll do our best to point them out when apparent. Below is a clip of a three-pointer Forte cans from the “O” in the OSU logo at midcourt of Gallagher-Iba Arena on Saturday. I think I share the sentiment of many when I say to Forte, “FOUR! MORE! YEARS! FOUR! MORE! YEARS!”
Four Big 12 Games to Watch This Week
- Tuesday: Oklahoma State at Iowa State (8:00 PM CT, ESPN2)
- Wednesday: Kansas State at TCU (8:00 PM CT, ESPNU)
- Friday: Iowa State at West Virginia (8:00 PM CT, ESPN2)
- Saturday: Kansas at Oklahoma State (5:00 PM CT, ESPN)