You can’t make up for an atrocious loss to TCU in one game, but Kansas (20-4, 8-3 Big 12) came close last night, sweeping its closest competition in #10 Kansas State (19-5, 8-3 Big 12) by a convincing score of 83-62 . Here are five things we learned about both teams.

1) The Big 12 championship still runs through Lawrence. Many Jayhawk fans thought the season was over after Saturday’s loss to Oklahoma, KU’s third loss in a row. Kansas State had sole possession of first place in the Big 12 for 48 hours and gave Manhattan drinking establishments plenty of clever ideas, like the sign below:

Technically, The Wildcats Are Still In First Place. (Holly Rowe)

Now the in-state rivals are tied for first place at 8-3 in the Big 12.

2) The Jayhawks may have solved their point guard problems. It’s still too early to tell, but in the first half, as Elijah Johnson sat on the bench in foul trouble, sophomore Naadir Tharpe ran the offense beautifully. There were fewer forced three-pointers and more penetration, opening up space for guys like Kevin Young, Jeff Withey, and Ben McLemore to have solid scoring nights. At halftime, Bill Self said Tharpe’s role wasn’t any different than before, he was merely filling in for Johnson while he had two fouls. Kansas fans should be hoping that Self was just being politically correct after repeatedly stating that Johnson was his guy last week. The thinking is that after watching the game tape of Tharpe’s eight assists and only one turnover against K-State, Self might be inclined to make a change.

3) If the Jayhawks make a run in March, Ben McLemore will be the reason. On his 20th birthday, the redshirt freshman guard had 30 points on just 13 shots, going 9-of-13 from the field and 6-of-10 from three-point range. He now averages 16.3 PPG on only 11 attempts per game. For Kansas to be successful down the stretch, he needs to raise that to closer to 15 shots per game.

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It’s not too early to call tonight’s game between Kansas and Kansas State the Game Of The Year in the Big 12. Not with first place on the line and a chance for K-State to put the Jayhawks two games back with only seven games remaining. As for our rankings, there was a big shakeup this week with teams #1-#6, as each squad in that group either moved up or down from last week’s list. Most notable was the ascent of the Wildcats, who take the top spot for the first time this season. I decided to hold off on the Bracket Matrix Projected NCAA Tournament Seeds this week because it hasn’t been updated since Saturday’s games.

Rodney McGruder Needs A Big Game Tonight Against Kansas In Allen Fieldhouse (AP)

1) Kansas State (19-4, 8-2 Big 12)
Previous Ranking: 2

Last Week: W 68-59 at Texas Tech, W 79-70 vs. Iowa State

This Week: Tonight at Kansas, 8:00 PM CST, Saturday vs. Baylor, 6:00 PM

• Rundown: They earned the split with Iowa State with a 79-70 win over the Cyclones on Saturday and have now won four in a row and 12 of their last 14. Rodney McGruder carried K-State with 22 points and five assists against Iowa State on Saturday and averaged 20 points per game this week. If he continues on that pace coupled with Kansas’ recent struggles, a road-team split with the Jayhawks isn’t out of the question.
• Reason to be optimistic: They’re playing solid defense as of late, holding three of their last four opponents under 60 points, and any concerns with Frank Martin’s players not buying into Bruce Weber’s system are long gone at this point. Not only has McGruder stepped up offensively, but sophomore guard Angel Rodriguez averaged 16.5 PPG last week as well.

2) Oklahoma State (17-5, 7-3)
Previous Ranking: 3

Last Week: W 69-67 (OT) vs. Baylor, W 72-59 at Texas

This Week: Wednesday at Texas Tech, 6:00 PM, Saturday vs. Oklahoma, 12:30 PM

• Rundown: The Cowboys have been a little unlucky in that their two biggest wins — vs. North Carolina State in November and at Kansas last week — were quickly watered down. North Carolina State, then #6 in the country, lost two games later to Michigan. Kansas dropped two more games in a row, including to dreadful TCU, after losing to OSU. Even so, the Cowboys have won six out of seven games thanks to junior guard Markel Brown, who has averaged 16.7 PPG in that stretch.
• Reason to be optimistic: Oklahoma State has more NBA talent than any other team in the Big 12. Coupled with the confidence they undoubtedly have gained with their recent wins against Iowa State, Kansas, and Baylor, the Cowboys could be quite dangerous in March.

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1. Oklahoma State head coach Travis Ford tried to get his players’ minds off the Kansas win as soon as possible this week, and it seemed to work just fine. They defeated Baylor last night on a last second layup by Markel Brown. According to John Helsley of newsok.com, around 200 fans greeted the Cowboys when they returned to Stillwater Saturday night. “There was no way to shake it,” Ford said of the post-Kansas celebrations. “Every time you turn around, someone’s wanting to talk about it.” Whatever hangover may have existed was gone after the Baylor win, which gives them more wins than all of last season.
2. The only thing wrong with this piece from the Kansas City Star‘s Sam Mellinger is this line: “Might be worse than anybody Roy Williams lost to, too.” I can’t think of a team worse than TCU that Roy Williams lost to while at Kansas, because I don’t think there was a worse loss. Luckily for Self, his team, and Kansas fans, the loss is awful but wasn’t not in March. The actual loss itself, while possibly costing the Jayhawks a #1 seed, doesn’t ruin their season. Whether it ruined their psyche is a different question, however. A question we won’t know until Saturday at the earliest when Kansas travels to Oklahoma. And if their psyche is ruined, Self will have no one to blame but himself. He obviously felt that blasting a 19-2 team in the media after losing to a team with two future NBA draft picks was the way to go. Maybe he was wrong.
3. With Oklahoma State firmly in the top 25 and Oklahoma seven games over .500, the Bedlam rivals are experiencing success together for the first time in a number of years. But as Berry Tramel of NewsOK.com states, the duo isn’t what it once was. And while he is correct, his take on the mediocrity of college basketball compared to 25 or 30 years ago leaves a lot to be desired. “OU’s backups in 1988 were better players than what Kruger is winning with 25 years later,” Tramel said. Well, Berry, besides having no way to prove that, Oklahoma was a national runner-up in 1988. This team is on the bubble. It’s a nice way to make your argument, but anybody can cherry-pick.
4. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has his latest mock bracket up, and Kansas has dropped to a #2 seed in the South Region. The usual five teams -Kansas State, Iowa State, Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State- are included as well. Kansas State (#5), Oklahoma State (#8), and Iowa State (#10) all moved up in Lunardi’s latest bracket.There are a few intriguing matchups in the first round: Former conference rivals Oklahoma and Missouri in the first round as well as UCLA vs. Baylor, which would possibly have more talent on the floor than any other first round game. Another exciting possibility is a second-round meeting between Kansas and Iowa State in Kansas City, possibly the fourth time the teams would meet this season.
5. How much is Oklahoma‘s 74-70 win over Baylor going to help? It will be enough to earn an NCAA Tournament bid, Seth Davis argues in his latest article for Sports Illustrated. The Sooners are in almost every mock bracket I’ve seen lately, for whatever that is worth (probably not much). They are 14-7 (5-4 in conference) and have three games remaining against Texas Tech and TCU, teams that every Tournament-bound team should beat (yes, that was a shot at Kansas). But like Davis notes, the win over Baylor should give the Sooners some breathing room with the Tournament committee.

1. Yes, Kansas did in fact lose to TCU last night, 62-55. Yes, the Jayhawks were held to 13 points in the first half. Many suspected Kansas’ 18-2 record may have been a bit of a fraud, but 13 points in the first half against TCU? Actually losing to TCU, a team that was winless in the Big 12, a team that had lost earlier in the year to SMU and Houston and Texas Tech? It just doesn’t make sense. The Jayhawks shot 29.5% (18-61) and were 3-22 from three-point range. They are losers of back-to-back games for the first time since 2006, ending a streak of 264 games without consecutive losses. In a span of six days, Kansas has dropped from a potential No. 1 overall seed and heavy Big 12 favorites into a tie for first place in the conference and a possible #2 seed. Losses to 200+ RPI teams are a killer for NCAA Tournament Resumes.
2. Elijah Johnson was an easy case to study for the Lawrence-Journal World‘s Jesse Newell on Wednesday morning. As Newell points outs, Johnson is KU’s least efficient player this year and is the least efficient point guard Bill Self has had at Kansas. And that was before his 3-for-12 shooting night with three turnovers and one assist against TCU. Johnson is a two-guard playing the point out of necessity, but that will be nothing but a small footnote in Kansas history if he and his offense continue their slide into March.
3. What a game between Baylor and Oklahoma State in Stillwater last night. After a pair of Pierre Jackson free throws sent the game to overtime, Cowboy forward Michael Cobbins blocked an A.J. Walton shot attempt with around five seconds to play. Markel Brown somehow managed to make it 90 feet to the other basket in that time and beat the clock with two-tenths of a second to spare, giving Oklahoma State the win and putting them in a tie for second place in the conference with Iowa State, both at 6-3. On a night that Kansas was supposed to get its mojo back in a glorified scrimmage in Fort Worth and Oklahoma State would possibly suffer a letdown after the rarest of rare wins in Allen Fieldhouse, the Jayhawks suffered one of their worst losses in 20 years and the Cowboys solidified themselves as a top-25 team and Big 12 contender.
4. When you rely as heavily on transfers as Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg has, you’re bound to get burned every once in a while. Former USC Trojan guard Maurice Jones, who left Southern Cal in September, planned to sit out this semester and the fall semester before beginning his Cyclone career next spring. He was denied that opportunity, the Ames Tribune and an Iowa State spokesperson reported Wednesday. The article states that Jones left USC due to academic issues but Jones is quoted as saying it wasn’t his grades. He isn’t clear about the exact reason, however. But there’s always a reason a player transfers to another school. Whether it was his decision, the coach’s, or academics, it’s not rare to find situations like Jones’. It’s actually quite surprising Hoiberg has had as much success with the transfer route he decided to take early on.
5. It’s true that at Illinois, Bruce Weber actually held a mock funeral for his predecessor, Bill Self. Weber seemed tired of the constant chatter about the former coach and wanted to put an end to the Self era. It backfired, for the most part. Weber struggled after Self’s players left Champagne and he was fired after last season. But nearly a decade later and once again having success with another coach’s team, Weber isn’t running from the previous coach’s shadow. “I’ve given praise to Frank Martin because he created here a culture of toughness and defense and we’ve kind of carried it over, but he started it,” Weber told Ken Corbitt of the Topeka Capital-Journal leading up to Tuesday’s win over Texas Tech. The Wildcats are now tied for first place in the Big 12 with Kansas and face the Jayhawks on Monday night in Lawrence.

It certainly isn’t the worst sports cliche, bur the phrase “I could see them losing in the second round or making the Final Four” we hear this time of year is cringe-worthy. In the age of parity, of Butlers and George Masons, VCUs and Norfolk States, a lot of teams can lose in the second round or make the Final Four.

With that in mind, I’ve been trying to stay away from that cliche regarding these Kansas Jayhawks. They are 19-2 and have won 18 of their last 19 games. They’re first in the Big 12 and, with wins this weekend at Oklahoma and at home against Kansas State (assuming TCU isn’t a roadblock tonight), they should cruise to their ninth straight Big 12 championship. Travis Releford and Jeff Withey are two of the best defenders in the country, and Ben McLemore will be a top five NBA draft pick in June. Bill Self is one of the best coaches in the country. So why is everyone asking what’s the matter with Kansas? Well, for teams like Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, and North Carolina, wins are nitpicked, losses are sensationalized, and seasons are judged by Final Fours and National Championships. A loss isn’t just a loss, it’s a reason to be concerned about possible NCAA Tournament struggles. Most of the time, those concerns are overblown. Over a five-month season, players are bound to lose focus or catch a hot team or suffer a cold shooting night at least a few times. It happens.

A Productive Elijah Johnson May Be The Biggest Key To Another Kansas Final Four. (Getty Images)

Kansas’ 85-80 loss to Oklahoma State last Saturday wasn’t one of those games, but more of a justification of the concerns people have had for most of January. In December, Kansas won all five games by an average of 27.4 PPG, and that included a 12-point road win at then-#7 Ohio State on December 22. But Ohio State wasn’t the only solid team they faced in that stretch. They also beat up on Colorado and Belmont by 36 and 29 points, respectively, two projected NCAA Tournament teams. But then came January and five close wins in spite of sloppy play. They were doing enough to win and keep most of the chatter in the background, but the loss to Oklahoma State was enough to bring the talk to the light. “What’s The Matter With Kansas?”

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1. Talented players waiting their turn at Kansas is not a new thing. Four of this year’s five starters did exactly that before getting a chance to prove themselves, and freshman guard Andrew White is beginning a similar cycle this season. During Saturday’s loss to Oklahoma State, White was called upon late in the game for his sharp-shooting ability, and he delivered with six points in the final minute. But as Austin Meek of the Topeka Capital-Journal points out, there isn’t a spot in the rotation for him. Senior Travis Releford and freshman Ben McLemore provide enough defense and scoring on the wing, thus Bill Self needs a point guard off the bench, not a three-point specialist. Next year, however, with the entire starting five gone (assuming McLemore leaves early) and a number of freshman on the roster, White looks to have a starting spot sealed up.
2. Donald Pepoon of the Kansas State student paper, The Collegian, talks about the lackluster student attendance at recent Kansas State home games, which he calls “embarrassing.” The Wildcats are #13 in the latest AP poll, but as the picture in Pepoon’s article clearly points out, students don’t seem to care. Not only is Kansas State highly ranked, but they are now 7-2 in the Big 12, hold sole possession of second place in the conference, and have a chance to share first place next Monday with a win at Kansas. What else is there to do in Manhattan for a few hours on a random weeknight? The team is good and the fans have shown they can fill up Bramlage Coliseum for big games. Go support your team.
3. Iowa State rolled through Oklahoma Monday night much like they have beaten a lot of teams this season — with three-point shooting. The Cyclones were 40% from three-point range (11-of-27) against the Sooners and won comfortably, 83-64. Bryce Miller of IndyStar.com thinks the Cyclones are now poised for a run in March, and while one game does not a season make, Iowa State’s ability to get hot from three-point land makes them a dangerous team in the NCAA Tournament should they make it. Miller wonders where the team that struggled against Yale earlier in the season and lost to Texas Tech recently was on Monday against Oklahoma, talking up the Cyclones as if they’ve put their struggles behind them. The problem is, teams that rely so heavily on the three can find themselves down quickly in the NCAA Tournament. The team that lost to Texas Tech isn’t gone, it was just hiding for a night. Whether it returns in March remains to be seen.
4. CBSSports.com’s Jerry Palm recently updated his bracketology and the six Big 12 teams — Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, Iowa State, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State — remain in the dance. Kansas is still a #1 seed despite its loss on Saturday, while Oklahoma State has jumped three spots into a #6 seed in the Midwest Region. Kansas State remains a #5 seed, and the other three teams — Oklahoma (#9), Baylor (#11), and Iowa State (#11) — are all on the bubble according to Palm. Iowa State gets the unlucky draw of playing in one of the four play-in games against North Carolina.
5. In what originally looked to be a big game but eventually turned into an afterthought, West Virginia defeated Texas on Monday night, 60-58, in Morgantown. Mountaineers senior forward Deniz Kilicli had 14 points and four rebounds, going 6-of-8 from the field in the win and pleasing his head coach Bob Huggins. “I think the last two games were the best two all-around games that Deniz has played,” Huggins told Geoff Coyle of WVillustrated.com. It’s too little to late for the senior and West Virginia’s season, but any positive momentum Huggins can take into next year has to be a plus.

1. The weekly polls were updated on Monday and Indiana climbed to #1 in both the USA Today/Coaches and AP polls after its big win over Michigan on Saturday. Kansas dropped to #5 in both polls after losing to Oklahoma State over the weekend. Kansas State has been climbing up the rankings in recent weeks, and the Wildcats jumped five spots this week to #13 in the AP poll after wins over Texas and Oklahoma last week. Oklahoma State vaulted back into the polls with its win in Lawrence, landing at #22 this week in the AP poll and #24 in the USAT/Coaches.
2. Did anyone guess Kansas State would be sitting at 17-4 and #13 in the country this late in the season? Relative to the talent at each school, Bruce Weber is having a similar season to his first year at Illinois when he took Bill Self’s players to the Sweet Sixteen. Weber has kept Frank Martin’s defense-first mentality on the forefront and the Wildcats have a chance to claim a tie for first place in the Big 12 next week at Kansas. They completed a season sweep of Oklahoma over the weekend after forcing 14 Sooner turnovers and holding them to 38.8% shooting from the field. A similar performance in Allen Fieldhouse next Monday against the offensively-challenged Jayhawks could spur the upset.
3. Speaking of those offensive-challenged Jayhawks, Bill Self publicly defended senior point guard Elijah Johnson on Monday, 48 hours after telling Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star, “We don’t have a point guard.” Johnson was 3-of-14 from the floor with four turnovers in the 85-80 loss to Oklahoma State on Saturday. On Monday, Self said he’s sticking with Johnson in the lineup even though he thinks his senior is thinking too much while adjusting to a new position. “But that is the horse that we are gonna ride,” Self added. “And I believe that will be the best for our team.” The vote of confidence is nice, but does Self have much of a choice? If there was a Plan B at point guard, we would have seen it by now. Self’s best bet is to pump up Johnson and hope the additional confidence improves his performance by March.
4. It’s not like Kansas lost to TCU, though. Oklahoma State had previously beaten North Carolina State this season, so there’s definitely talent on the Cowboys’ roster. It will be interesting to see if the big win in Lawrence propels Oklahoma State to reach its potential, as John Klein of the Tulsa World suggests. Freshman point guard Marcus Smart (25 points, nine rebounds, five steals) is one of the best point guards in the country, averaging 14.2 PPG, 4.6 APG, and 5.8 RPG this season. Sophomore guard Le’Bryan Nash is talented and capable of huge offensive nights but inconsistent, and we saw what junior guard Markel Brown can do, scoring 28 points in Saturday’s win.
5. Oklahoma is vastly improved from last season thanks to head coach Lon Kruger and a solid season so far from Wyoming transfer Amath M’Baye (10.7 PPG, 5.7 RPG). But the Sooners’ guard play has been inconsistent at times this season, which led to a 52-50 home loss to Kansas State on Saturday. Senior guard Steven Pledger had 20 points in a win against Baylor but sat out the final eight minutes against Kansas State. Sam Grooms almost singlehandedly gave the Sooners the comeback win over the Wildcats, but he couldn’t find the floor for most of the first half because of defensive struggles. Oklahoma has the coaching and talent to make the NCAA Tournament, but more inconsistency on the perimeter and tough losses like Saturday’s could have them on the outside looking in on Selection Sunday.

It was another wild week in the Big 12, starting last Monday with West Virginia’s near-upset of Kansas in Morgantown and ending with the ever-inconsistent Oklahoma State Cowboys dropping 85 points in a rare win in Allen Fieldhouse. It helped push the Cowboys back up the standings while Baylor, who dropped both of its games last week, fell three spots to #5. We still have six projected teams in the NCAA Tournament as of now — Kansas, Kansas State,  Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Baylor, and Iowa State — and the big wins by OSU and ISU look to have pushed them off the bubble for now. Here’s where we stand this week:

Markel Brown led the Cowboys to a rare win in Allen Fieldhouse (AP)

1) Kansas (19-2, 7-1 Big 12)
Previous Ranking: 1
Projected NCAA Seed: #1

Last Week: W 61-56 at West Virginia, L 85-80 vs Oklahoma State

This Week: Wednesday at TCU, 8:00 PM, Saturday at Oklahoma, 3:00 PM

• Rundown: The Jayhawks were due for a loss after winning 18 straight games and walking a tightrope most of January. It finally came on Saturday against Oklahoma State. It also ended the Jayhawks’ 33-game home winning streak and 16-game home winning streak against Oklahoma State, dating back to 1989. Turnovers — especially at the point guard position — have been a problem for KU of late, and Saturday was no different. Elijah Johnson committed four turnovers, including a last-second mishap that prevented Ben McLemore from doing his best Mario Chalmers impersonation.
• Player Stepping Up: Freshman G Ben McLemore: He has scored in double figures every game in 2013 and had 23 in Saturday’s loss. He is shooting an impressive 50% from the field and 45.5% from three-point range.

2)Kansas State (17-4, 6-2)
Previous Ranking: 2
Projected NCAA Seed: #6

Last Week: W 83-57 vs Texas, W 52-50 at Oklahoma

This Week: Tuesday at Texas Tech, 7:00 PM, Saturday vs Iowa State, 5:00 PM

• Rundown: It hasn’t always been the case, but Saturday’s win over Oklahoma in Norman was big for the Wildcats. They have won 10 out of 12 and sit just one game behind Kansas in the Big 12 standings, thanks to Angel Rodriguez’s two free throws with 5.6 seconds left to give them the 52-50 win. It was a rare win in a game where leading scorer Rodney McGruder, who finished with seven points, was quiet offensively.
• Player Stepping Up: Junior G Will Spradling: Spradling averages 8.5 PPG, but has scored in double figures in three of his last five games. He had 15 in the first meeting with Oklahoma and had 12 points in Saturday’s win while shooting 62.5%.

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We will be halfway home in the conference season later tonight, but we’ve had more questions than answers through seven Big 12 games this season. Kansas is still on top, like most years. But we still don’t know how things will play out in terms of the order behind the Jayhawks, who hold at least a two-game lead over everyone else. Here’s what to watch for around the league:

1) Game Of The Day… #18 Kansas State at Oklahoma, 6:00 PM ESPN2: The Sooners are the favorite tonight against the Wildcats in Norman. Oklahoma is 7-1 in its last eight home games, but Kansas State has won three of its last four road games as well. Kansas State won the first meeting in Manhattan a few weeks ago, 69-60, thanks to Rodney McGruder’s 20 points. Head coach Lon Kruger has made the Sooners relevant for the first time since Blake Griffin was on campus four years ago, and while they’re a good bet to make the NCAA Tournament as of right now, a solid win over a ranked Kansas State team would make them near-locks. McGruder had a big game in the first meeting between these teams, but he has been quiet lately, averaging 11 points his last three games. Not surprisingly, the Wildcats are 1-2 in that stretch.

Lon Kruger Is Proving To Be One Of The Better Coaches In The Country.

2) Something to Watch… Kansas has won 18 straight games, but they haven’t been pretty the last month. As Austin Meek of the Topeka Capital-Journal points out here, the Jayhawks have a -8 turnover margin (95-87) in conference play. Bill Self told Meek that the team has been “careless and lazy.” For a team that has had guards like Keith Langford, Russell Robinson, Sherron Collins and Tyshawn Taylor in the lineup over the years, it’s strange watching the Jayhawks struggle at the point. Sophomore Naadir Tharpe has been good at times and awful at others, while senior Elijah Johnson has struggled to take over for Taylor. With lockdown defenders like Travis Releford and Jeff Withey and one of the most talented players in the country in Ben McLemore, strong point guard play could lead Kansas to a national title. Poor point guard play, on the other hand, could have the Jayhawks bounced in the second round.

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Right when we thought a team might overtake Kansas in the Big 12 standings (or our power rankings, at least), Kansas State went out and lost two in a row last week, first to Kansas at home and then at Iowa State on Saturday. Both were close games with the Wildcats losing by a combined 10 points, but they lost two games on the Jayhawks in the Big 12 race and fell into a third place tie with Iowa State and Oklahoma. Baylor has quietly started 5-1 in conference play, but the easier part of their schedule is now behind them. The Bears have already swept TCU and have another win over Texas Tech in Lubbock (but hey, that’s more than Iowa State can say). And about those Jayhawks — they are due for a loss, aren’t they? They have been winning close games for the last month it seems. We’ve spiced up the rankings this week with a team’s projected NCAA Tournament seed from Bracket Matrix. Instead of picking a random bracketologist’s numbers, how about averaging out a bunch of mock brackets? The guys at Bracket Matrix do that so we don’t have to, and as many people have been saying lately, there looks to be six NCAA Tournament teams from the Big 12 this year.

The Kansas Offense Hasn’t Been Pretty In January, But The Defense Has Helped Keep Its Winning Streak Alive.

1) Kansas (18-1, 6-0 Big 12)
Previous Ranking: 1
Projected NCAA Seed: #1

Last Week: W 59-55 at Kansas State, W 67-54 vs Oklahoma

This Week: Tonight at West Virginia, 8:00 PM CST, Saturday vs Oklahoma State, 3:00 PM

• Rundown: The Jayhawks have won 17 straight since losing to Michigan State in November but the offense has disappeared in January. They are averaging 62.2 PPG in their last five games, leading to a KenPom Adjusted Offensive Efficiency of #18. And as we pointed out here, teams that finish outside the top #25 in that category rarely make the Final Four.
• Cause For Concern: The offense, of course. Last season, point guard Tyshawn Taylor was always there to clean up an ugly offensive possession with a drive to the basket. This team has had point guard issues most of the year. Starter Elijah Johnson has been more of an off-guard during his career and backup Naadir Tharpe is trigger-happy. Freshman Ben McLemore averages 16.2 PPG, but with a shooting percentage of 51%, he needs to take over more games than he does. He’s the best player on the team and one of the five best in the country, so an average of 10 shots a game isn’t enough.

2) Baylor (14-5, 5-1)
Previous Ranking: 3
Projected NCAA Seed: #9

Last Week: W 64-54 vs Oklahoma State, W 82-56 at TCU

This Week: Wednesday vs Oklahoma, 6:00 PM, Saturday at Iowa State 7:00 PM

• Rundown: The days of losing to teams like Charleston and Northwestern look to be behind them, but the schedule certainly picks up the rest of the way. Eight of their last 12 games are against teams projected to make the NCAA Tournament. The emergence of freshman center Isaiah Austin will help, though. Austin has scored double figures in each of his last 10 games going back to December 12.
• Cause For Concern: We all know what the Bears are by now, a talented, underachieving squad that could fall on its face in the first round of the Tournament or make the Elite Eight. From where they stand now, the worst thing that could happen to Baylor — or any team for that matter — is to land in the #8/#9 game and play a #1 seed in the second round.

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