The top of the Big 12 is unchanged this week, as Kansas and Oklahoma State extended their winning streaks to seven and three games, respectively. The rest of the conference is still a cluster, however, and two teams who were supposed to challenge for the conference title — West Virginia and Texas — did nothing this week to silence their critics. Kansas State and West Virginia were the only Big 12 schools to play anyone of note this past week, and both teams lost convincingly. The Big 12 isn’t getting any better. With only a few weeks left in the non-conference schedule, teams are running out of time to prove themselves as NCAA Tournament prospects.

1) Kansas (8-1, 0-0)
Previous Ranking: 1

Ben McLemore and Kansas prepare for Saturday’s matchup with Ohio State (Getty Images)

Last Week: W 89-60 vs. Belmont

This Week: Tuesday vs. Richmond, 6:00 PM CST, Saturday at Ohio State, 3:00 PM

• Rundown: Kansas continues to win after losing its only game of the season over a month ago to Michigan State. They’ve won six of their last seven games by at least 13 points and have set up a great top 10 match-up on Saturday against Ohio State in Columbus, whom the Jayhawks beat twice last season (once in Lawrence and again in the Final Four).
• Reason to be Optimistic: Freshman guard Ben McLemore is as good as people thought he could be, leading the team with 16.1 PPG. He is shooting up NBA Mock Drafts and it’s becoming clear that this will be his only season in Lawrence. His ability to take over a game offensively makes the Jayhawks legitimate Final Four contenders just a month after the team faced plenty of personnel questions.

2) Oklahoma State (8-1, 0-0)
Previous Ranking: 2

Last Week: W 91-63 vs. Central Arkansas

This Week: Wednesday vs. Texas-Arlington, 7:00 PM, Saturday vs.Tennessee Tech, 12:00 PM

• Rundown: Last week’s win over Central Arkansas didn’t help the Cowboys in the weekly polls or this week’s power rankings, but they continue to pile up wins leading up to the New Year’s Eve home game against Gonzaga. This week’s action should be another pair of scrimmages.
• Reason to be Optimistic: Outside of the 10-point loss to Virginia Tech, the Cowboys have beaten the teams they were supposed to beat. That sounds simple enough, but too many teams lose focus some nights and drop head-scratching games this time of year. It will pay off come Selection Sunday.

3) Baylor (7-3, 0-0)
Previous Ranking: 4

Last Week: W 85-68 vs. Lamar, W 73-57 vs. South Carolina-Upstate

This Week: Friday vs. BYU, 8:00 PM

• Rundown: Baylor is back in the No. 3 spot this week, mostly by default. Senior point guard Pierre Jackson is still playing like a conference player of the year, averaging 19.3 PPG and 6.0 APG through 10 games. The offense is averaging 76.7 PPG but its been slowed down in each of the Bears’ three losses, when they scored just 62.3 PPG.
• Reason to be Optimistic: Like Kansas, Baylor is getting significant contributions from one of its highly touted freshmen. 7″1′ center Isaiah Austin is averaging 13.9 PPG and 8.6 RPG this season.

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The NCAA may be butchering another investigation, but they did something right on Tuesday. They are celebrating 75 years of March Madness with a list of all-time greats: the best players, teams, and moments in NCAA Tournament history. They aren’t ranked (wouldn’t that be a fun argument?) but there are plenty of arguments to be had by fans, and plenty of memories — good and bad — brought back to life in the lists. This note isn’t Big 12 related but I thought the same thing as our own editors said when I read the list for the first time:

“Shelvin Mack, really?”

Um, no.

With that out of the way, here’s how the Big 12 was represented:

Players

• C Bob Kurland, Oklahoma A&M 1943-46 (now Oklahoma State): Kurland played in the 1945 and 1946 NCAA Tournaments, winning the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award in 1946. He was a three-time All-American (1944-46) and led Oklahoma A&M to back-to-back NCAA titles in 1945 and 1946, also winning two gold medals as a player.
• F Clyde Lovellette, Kansas 1949-52: Lovellette tells a story about his recruitment in high school. Kansas coach Phog Allen told the Indiana native that if he came to Kansas, the Jayhawks would win the 1952 national title and a gold medal in the Olympics. In 1952, Kansas beat St. John’s for the NCAA title then won a gold medal a few months later. Lovellette was an All-American and led the Big 7 in scoring each of his three seasons.
• C Wilt Chamberlain, Kansas 1956-58: He averaged 29.9 PPG in two seasons in Lawrence and is considered one of the greatest players of all time, making this one of the easier choices for the committee. Chamberlain was named the 1957 tournament’s Most Outstanding Player even though Kansas lost a three-overtime championship game to North Carolina, 54-53.
• F Danny Manning, Kansas 1984-88: Manning’s injury-ridden NBA career sometimes overshadows how great he was in college. He was the 1987-88 Player of the Year as well as the 1988 tournament MOP. He left Kansas as the Big 8’s all-time leading scorer with 2,951 points.

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Kansas State jumps into the third spot in this week’s ranking and the top three teams remain at one loss for the year. Texas continues its free fall without Myck Kabongo, the middle of the pack teams played like middle of the pack teams this week, and Texas Tech and TCU are still looking up at the rest of the Big 12 from a deep, deep hole.

1) Kansas (7-1, 0-0)
Previous Ranking: 1

Last Week:  W 90-54 vs. Colorado

This Week: Saturday vs. Belmont, 6:00 PM CST

Bill Self’s Jayhawks are Atop the Big 12 Power Rankings for the Second Straight Week. (AP)

• Rundown: The loss to Michigan State is getting further into the rear view as the Jayhawks have now won six in a row. They struggled 10 days ago against Oregon State but a week of practice seemed to help, and they ran Colorado out of the gym Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse. Finals are over this week, and these next few weeks of winter break are usually when Bill Self implements most of his offense and prepares his teams for their annual Big 12 title runs.
• They Could Use Help From: Freshman F Perry Ellis: Ellis is averaging 5.9 PPG and 3.6 RPG. He’s only a true freshman and expectations aren’t high this season, but another reliable scorer next to Jeff Withey would be a boost for a Kansas offense that has struggled at times.

2) Oklahoma State (7-1, 0-0)
Previous Ranking: 2

Last Week: W 61-49 vs. South Florida, W 62-42 vs. Missouri State

This Week: Sunday vs. Central Arkansas, 3:00 PM

• Rundown: Oklahoma State rebounded from its loss to Virginia Tech to beat South Florida and Missouri State last week, but the loss to the Hokies is a bit of a head-scratcher. Junior guard Markel Brown continues to impress, though, averaging 14.0 PPG and 4.9 RPG. The Cowboys should clean up with their next three games: Central Arkansas, Texas-San Antonio, and Tennessee Tech.
• They Could Use Help From: Senior G Jean-Paul Olukemi: With the additions of Le’Bryan Nash and Marcus Smart the last two seasons, it’s not shocking that Olukemi’s offensive numbers have dipped. But he’s capable of scoring at a better clip, and the Cowboy offense (158th in the country with 69.4 PPG) could certainly benefit from.

It isn’t natural watching a Bill Self team struggle at the point guard position, but that’s exactly what’s happening this season. It doesn’t help that Kansas has had great point guard play for most of Self’s nine seasons at the helm, raising expectations and magnifying mistakes for whomever is running the Kansas offense. Sophomore point guard Naadir Tharpe looked to be the replacement this year for four-year starter Tyshawn Taylor, but  that hasn’t been the case. Tharpe, who watched most of last season from the bench, is averaging 4.0 PPG and 2.1 APG in 16 MPG, pushing the responsibility of running the team to senior guard Elijah Johnson. The problem is, though, that Johnson has played off the ball during his three years at Kansas. He hasn’t adapted to the position change yet, and it has hurt the Jayhawks offense. “It’s not Elijah,” Self said on Thursday. “as much as it is the pieces around Elijah.”

Bill Self is Looking for a Point Guard, Whether On His Bench or in His Next Recruiting Class.

With Tharpe not taking the step up that people may have expected and freshman guard Rio Adams still adjusting to the college game, the Jayhawks are in unfamiliar territory. Self even practiced with senior forward Kevin Young at the point earlier this week, although he said it only lasted about 10 minutes. The problems this season can be traced all the way back to the 2011 recruiting class. Self landed five-star point guard Josh Selby, a huge get at the time. But Selby barely had time to unpack his bags before he declared for the NBA Draft. Self’s other commitment that year was Royce Woolridge, a three-star guard who later transferred to Washington State. A year later, Self offered scholarships to a number of guards, eventually landing Ben McLemore  — a prototypical two or three guard — and Tharpe. In last year’s class, Self went after several potential point guards, from Marcus Smart and Marcus Paige to Archie Goodwin and Gabe York, eventually receiving a commitment from Rio Adams.

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1. West Virginia students chanted “Not our rivals” near the end of the Mountaineers’ 69-59 win over Marshall Wednesday night. Bob Huggins agreed after the game, and forward Deniz Kilicli took it a step further. “This happens all the time,” He said. “(Marshall’s) talking all the time. I like it. I just laugh at them.” He added, “We are West Virginia, and we are the state’s team. We prove it over and over again. We are the ones playing big time schools; we have high recruits. We can’t get into all that pushing and shoving and talking trash.” I’m not sure what’s more amusing, that Kilicli didn’t consider that trash talk, that he felt the need to remind people West Virginia basketball is superior to Marshall, or he had the gall to make those statements after the season his team has had so far. In case he has forgotten, the Mountaineers were embarrassed by Gonzaga last month. They then lost back-to-back games against Davidson and Oklahoma. They beat Marshall by 10 points, a team that has lost to Hofstra and South Dakota State already this season. Kilicli is right, West Virginia does play big-time schools. But they sure aren’t playing like one.
2. Sometimes when a player his hot, there isn’t much a defense can do about it. On Tuesday against Oklahoma, Arkansas forward Marshawn Powell had 33 points, going 4-6 from three-point range in the Razorbacks’ 81-78 win. Sooners head coach Lon Kruger wasn’t happy at all with his team’s defensive performance after Arkansas shot 52.6% from the floor. Without watching the game, it’s hard to say how many of Arkansas’ nine three-pointers were contested or just the product of a hot night, but the Sooners also gave up 34 points in the paint. That’s not a good combination, regardless of whether it’s the product of a little luck or not.
3. Could Texas be playing in one of four simultaneous games in Cowboys Stadium next year? Michigan State Athletic Director Mark Hollis, the same guy who came up with the idea to play on aircraft carriers, has come up with another idea to have four games at once on the gigantic floor of Cowboys Stadium next season like an AAU Tournament of sorts. The idea is far from finalized and only Michigan State is confirmed to be playing if it goes through, but the Longhorns aren’t far from Dallas and have played multiple times in Cowboys Stadium. Whether you think this is a terrible idea or not (I’m somewhere in the middle right now), it’s guaranteed to have great ratings, meaning it’s probably going to happen.
4. Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber was pleased with the production he got out of senior guard Martavious Irving in the Wildcats’ 72-53 win over South Carolina Upstate on Sunday. “We settled down with a great run as we finished the half, led by (Irving),” Weber told the Topeka Capital-Journal. Injuries nagged much of the rotation Sunday and the bench, led by Irving, picked up the slack. Irving played 20 minutes, which is more than he’s accustomed to. He had four assists and zero turnovers in the win, and the Wildcats are 6-1 as they head to Washington, DC to play George Washington on Saturday afternoon.
5. Whether it’s been Thomas Robinson, Blake Griffin, Kevin Durant, or Michael Beasley, there is usually a Big 12 player in the discussion for National Player of the Year.  That doesn’t look to be the case this season, although ESPN’s Jason King at least listed Kansas center Jeff Withey as “on the cusp” of Player of the Year candidates, along with nine others. And while it looks to be Mason Plumlee or Cody Zeller’s award to lose right now, Withey’s defense has been better than any other player in the country. He’s leading the country in blocks and blocks per foul and is keeping the Jayhawks near the top 10 while they figure out their guard situation.

1. As a five-star recruit, Oklahoma State freshman point guard Marcus Smart received plenty of fanfare before beginning his college career last month. But as Ryan Fagan of The Sporting News points out, Oklahoma State’s 20-point win over then No. 6 North Carolina State last month in the Puerto Rico Tip-off is when Smart’s name really became known across the country. Last night, he helped the Cowboys improve to 6-1 with a win over South Florida in Stillwater, a game in which Smart had 15 points, six rebounds, five assists, four steals, and two blocks. In just six short weeks, all of the “potential” is gone. Smart is great. He’s one of the best, if not the best, freshmen in the country and one of the best point guards, too. And with an easy schedule the rest of December leading up to a New Year’s Eve home game against No. 10 Gonzaga, Smart may soon be leading a top 10 team when Big 12 play begins in January.
2. For every Marcus Smart, there are usually about 10 Perry Ellises. Ellis won four consecutive Kansas state titles in high school and was a McDonald’s All-American last year, but he has been lost in the shuffle of the Jayhawks’ lineup a bit early on this season. It’s not a surprise that senior forward Kevin Young is starting at the four spot ahead of him, not in Bill Self’s system. Self loves having experience on the floor, and Ellis as a young first-year player is still adjusting to the college game. He’s playing 16 MPG this season and averaging 6.4 PPG and 4.0 RPG, and he reminds me of former Jayhawk forward Wayne Simien, a great four-year player at Kansas. Ellis and Simien’s freshmen numbers aren’t far off each other right now, either. Simien averaged 15.3 MPG, 8.1 PPG, and 5.3 RPG as a freshman in 2001-02.
3. Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com unveiled another 2013 NBA mock draft, and four Big 12 players made his first round predictions: Baylor forward Isaiah Austin (7th), Kansas guard Ben McLemore (15th), Oklahoma State guard Le’Bryan Nash (16th), and Kansas center Jeff Withey (21st). Baylor point guard Pierre Jackson led off the second round at 31st, followed by West Virginia center Aaric Murrary (41st), Oklahoma State guard Marcus Smart (47th), and Texas guard Myck Kabongo (53rd). It’s hard to imagine Murray leaving a year early if he is indeed projected that low, but a year struggling in a new system could sway his decision. I don’t see a scenario where two underclassmen like Smart and Kabongo leave to be picked in the second round, not with the potential to climb up these sort of lists in the next few years. Isaiah Austin looks like a bust at No. 7, and Jeff Withey and Pierre Jackson are NBA wildcards in my mind. But McLemore and Nash both look like solid picks, especially in the middle of the first round. Both players have the size and speed to excel at the next level.
4. Jeff Eisenberg at Yahoo! Sports made a list of teams who have failed to live up to expectations this season, and not surprisingly, two Big 12 teams are mentioned: West Virginia and Texas. Making its debut in a new conference, it was hard to judge just how much of an impact the Mountaineers would have this season, but I didn’t think they’d be this bad. Losing on the road to Gonzaga isn’t terrible. Getting ripped by 34 to Gonzaga, or anyone, for that matter, is terrible. And as Eisenberg writes, that still isn’t as bad as losing to Davidson and Oklahoma. For Texas, at least they have somewhat of an excuse while awaiting the return of sophomore point guard Myck Kabongo. But if the Longhorns want an NCAA Tournament invitation, they better hope Kabongo is really, really good this season, because he has a lot of holes to fill. Teams who are only missing a single piece typically don’t put up 41 points against Georgetown.
5. If you like second-level stats, Sport’s Illustrated‘s Luke Winn is your guy. Yesterday, Winn updated his weekly power rankings. Unfortunately for every Big 12 school not named Kansas, Winn only discusses his 16 best teams in the country, in which Kansas stayed at No. 9 on his list. Wynn rounds out his top 32 at the bottom of the column, however, and Oklahoma State and Kansas State come in at 25th and 26th. I’m not sold on Kansas State, but with Oklahoma State’s schedule this month, they should climb in every poll until that meeting with Gonzaga, with a win in that game vaulting the Cowboys to the top 10 early in 2013.

1. Here’s to hoping Oklahoma State will make things interesting with Kansas in the conference race this season, because Baylor and Texas don’t appear to be up to the task. Texas lost to Chaminade and USC in the Maui Invitational and scored a whopping 41 points in last night’s loss to Georgetown. Getting Myck Kabongo back from his suspension will certainly help, but he’s not that good — he won’t cover up all of the holes in this Longhorns team in time for Big 12 play, and that’s assuming he even returns for Big 12 play. Baylor had a nice win over an (overrated) Kentucky team in Rupp Arena, but the losses to the College of Charleston then Northwestern last night at home more than cancel that win out.
2. Speaking of Myck Kabongo, the Austin American-Statesmen was told by sources that they believe Kabongo will receive a 10-game suspension stemming from his trip to Cleveland last spring which may have been paid for by an agent. It would be similar to the Josh Selby situation at Kansas a few years ago, who was suspended until mid-December before finally stepping on the court for Bill Self. If their sources are correct, Kabongo would be eligible on December 19 against North Carolina at home.
3. West Virginia center Aaric Murray isn’t playing up to his potential right now and it is hurting West Virginia through five games as the team sits at 2-3. He called himself a “6” on a scale of 1-10, which sounds about right. He’s averaging 10.2 PPG and 7.0 RPG for the Mountaineers, which isn’t bad at all, but it’s not quite the numbers most people (including myself) thought he would put up this season after transferring over from La Salle. From what appears to be a stamina problem, he hasn’t been able to regularly stay on the court. He has played over 25 minutes just once this season, which came in the opening night loss to Gonzaga last month.
4. Iowa State is rebounding the ball better than any team in the country, but the Cyclones are having trouble holding onto the ball after grabbing those rebounds. Fred Hoiberg’s team is second to last in the conference in turnover margin (-0.29) and they have committed 130 turnovers through nice games. In their two losses to Cincinnati and UNLV, they averaged 15 turnovers, but even in victories over small schools they’ve also struggled to protect the ball. Last night, they committed 19 turnovers in their 83-72 win over Florida Gulf Coast. With the talent, depth, and rebounding ability in place at Iowa State, they have the potential to finish in the upper half of the Big 12 and make the NCAA Tournament — but not if they continue to turn the ball over at this alarming pace.
5. Yesterday, Jesse Newell of the Lawrence Journal-World delved deeply into the effect Jeff Withey‘s shot blocking prowess has had on the Kansas defense. If you like second-level stats, it’s a great piece to read. In short, Kansas is holding opponents to the worst field goal percentage on layup attempts (40%) in the country. 31% of opponents’ layup attempts have been blocked, also first in the country. It’s stats like these which are probably behind Bill Self’s current frustrations with his perimeter defense. When you have an All-American shot-blocker behind you, you can take more chances on the perimeter. You can play up tight on your man knowing there’s a good chance a guy like Withey will stop him if you can’t. Now they just have to do it.

1. Sports Illustrated‘s Andy Glockner wonders if Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber can be successful in Manhattan after being fired from Illinois after nine seasons there. Weber proved he can win with another coach’s players, as he took an Illinois team full of Bill Self’s talent to the 2005 national championship game. He didn’t inherit the kind of talent at K-State that he walked into at Illinois, but former Wildcat head coach Frank Martin left enough pieces on the roster for his team to be competitive in the Big 12 this season. Senior guard Rodney McGruder is averaging 12.6 PPG and the Wildcats rank seventh in the country with 44.4 RPG. Whether Weber can find any success when on the recruiting trail remains to be seen.
2. Texas Tech interim head coach Chris Walker was as upbeat as anyone could be in his position at Big 12 Media Day in October. He didn’t seem to care about the precarious situation that former coach Billy Gillispie had left him in Lubbock, and if he did, he hid it well. So it wasn’t a surprise to read this article by Nick Kosmider in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal after the Red Raiders were blown out by Arizona at home on Saturday, 85-57. Walker was rather upbeat after the loss. “It gives me a chance to get my players’ attention,” Walker said of the lopsided loss, adding, “If you hang your head, now Tuesday could become a worse loss.” The Red Raiders are 4-1 but have only played one decent team at this point. Wins will be hard to come by this season and anything higher than a ninth place finish in the Big 12 would be shocking, but don’t expect Walker to change his positive tune throughout.
3. Iowa State junior forward Melvin Ejim had a funny quote in this article from Rob Gray of the local Ames ABC affiliate, something you’d normally only hear from a coach. “Going into the season I thought, ‘Man, we’d better rebound or we’re going to get killed,” Ejim said. Well, after seven games, the Cyclones lead the nation with 46.9 RPG and Ejim is spearheading the way with 8.9 RPG of his own. The most surprising part of those stats is that Ejim is listed at only 6’6″, meaning he’s probably much closer to 6’5″ and severely undersized at the collegiate level. Additionally, his 10.6 PPG nearly give him a double-double average and he has grabbed double figure rebounds in four games this season.
4. Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star had a good writeup on Kansas center Jeff Withey yesterday. Withey’s defensive dominance has been well publicized so far this season, but an impressive stat that might have been overlooked is his corresponding lack of foul trouble. He leads the country with 6.66 blocks per foul and has committed two fouls in just one game this season, in the 67-64 loss to Michigan State last month. You’d think Withey’s presence down low would encourage the Kansas guards to pressure the perimeter more, but Bill Self isn’t happy. “If we haven’t figured it out, we’ve got a pretty good guy behind blocking shots,” Self told the Lawrence Journal-World‘s Tom Keegan recently. “So why wouldn’t we get out and pressure our guy?” The perimeter D is still a question mark, but Withey should continue to put up All-America numbers.
5. The Battle 4 Atlantis preseason tournament wants to be big time and knows exactly how to get there: cash. What started as a double-header in 2010 grew to an eight-team field in 2011 featuring Connecticut. It then became one of the only preseason tournaments to offer prize money, with teams receiving up to $200,000 towards their school’s athletic scholarship fund. It worked, as this year’s field included Memphis, Missouri, Louisville, and Duke, among others. Next year, Bill Self will take Kansas to the island. Watch out, Maui, as the Bahamas are coming strong.

Monday’s AP Poll confirmed what most Big 12 fans already knew: The conference isn’t very good right now. Kansas entered the top 10 and Oklahoma State sits at No. 23, and that’s it. Baylor’s win at Kentucky on Saturday should inch the Bears closer to the Top 25, but their overall resume isn’t there yet. As for Oklahoma State, its 81-71 loss last week to Virginia Tech drops them to No. 2 in our weekly power rankings, with Kansas taking its familiar spot atop the Big 12.

1) Kansas (6-1, 0-0)

Ben McLemore Has Helped Kansas Regain the Top Spot This Week (Lawrence Journal-World)

Previous Ranking: 2

Last Week: W 70-57 vs. San Jose State, W 84-78 vs. Oregon State

This Week: Saturday vs. Colorado, 1:00 PM CST

• Rundown: The Jayhawks have won five in a row since losing to Michigan State in Atlanta and look to be getting better, albeit slowly. Freshman guard Ben McLemore is making his case to be the third one-and-done player Bill Self has had at Kansas, and senior center Jeff Withey is playing the best defense in the country with 5.7 BPG. Saturday’s game at home against Colorado (who beat Baylor last month) should give fans a good gauge on the team’s improvement before winter break.
• Danger Zone: Point guard play. Bill Self isn’t happy at all with his perimeter defense, and he shouldn’t be. Opposing guards have been lighting up the Kansas D all season. On offense, senior guard Elijah Johnson is playing the point for the first time in his career. He played off the ball for most of last season, deferring to Tyshawn Taylor. Now it’s Johnson’s job to lead the offense and get the ball inside when Kansas needs it, and come March, Johnson’s play could be the difference between consecutive Final Fours or another Tournament flameout.

2) Oklahoma State (5-1, 0-0)
Previous Ranking: 1

Last Week: L 81-71 at Virginia Tech

This Week: Wednesday vs. South Florida, 8:00 PM, Saturday vs. Missouri State, 3:00 PM

• Rundown: Freshman point guard Marcus Smart continued to impress against Virginia Tech last week (18 points, 11 rebounds, six assists), but it wasn’t enough to make up for the team’s putrid night from deep. The Cowboys went 4-23 from three-point range and the Hokies eventually won, 81-71. The schedule softens now, though, and the wins should pile up this month until a New Year’s Eve meeting with Gonzaga in Stillwater.
• Danger Zone: It’s never a good thing when your freshman point guard leads the team in rebounding. Smart is averaging 7.7 RPG and while it complements the rest of his game nicely, the Cowboys need to find more consistent post play. Smart and sophomore guard Le’Bryan Nash are great, but being 135th in the country in RPG (36.5) won’t lead to sustained success this season.

1. Did Baylor’s 64-55 win over Kentucky Saturday in Rupp Arena say more about the Bears or Wildcats? The short answer is yes. Winning in Rupp Arena isn’t easy. Kentucky had a nation-leading 55 straight wins at home and the Wildcats entered Saturday’s game at No. 8 in the country. Baylor point guard Pierre Jackson reminded people why he was chosen as the Big 12’s Pre-Season Player of the Year, though, with 17 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and four steals, but it wasn’t exactly a clinic they put on in Lexington. They shot just 40 % with 19 turnovers. Luckily for them, Kentucky shot 29% and played like a bunch of freshmen. So, while beating a top-10 team on the road in an environment like Rupp Arena is impressive, Kentucky is proving to be less than stellar this season. Also, great teams don’t lose to the College of Charleston.
2. Bill Self has had some great point guards at Kansas, from Aaron Miles and Russell Robinson to Sherron Collins and Tyshawn Taylor. It’s a big reason why the Jayhawks have won eight consecutive Big 12 regular season championships. Now its senior guard Elijah Johnson’s turn at the point, except Johnson has never had this responsibility while at KU. He has been a shooting guard up until this season, and the position switch has seemed to affect his game early on, especially on defense. “He got whipped,” Self told ESPN’s Jason King after Kansas’ 84-78 win over Oregon State, a game in which Beaver guard Ahmad Starks had 25 points. San Jose State guard James Kinney put up 30 points on the Jayhawks last week, and Chattanooga freshman guard Farad Cobb went 7-9 from three-point range a few weeks ago in Allen Fieldhouse. “That’s something that’s got to improve or we’ll have to change how we play,” Self told King. “We’ll have to play some zone or whatnot.” The fact that Bill Self is even considering playing a zone — something he has rarely played — says a lot about his confidence in the team right now.
3. Dave Behr of the Austin-American Statesmen wrote a column Saturday on the early struggles of the Texas Longhorns. Motivation seems to be the problem, with head coach Rick Barnes yanking players at the drop of a hat recently in an attempt to grab players’ attention. After losing to Chaminade and USC in the Maui Invitational and beating Texas-Arlington by just 16, motivation isn’t the only thing Texas fans should worry about. Of course, getting sophomore point guard Myck Kabongo back would solve a lot of problems. Kabongo has been suspended by the NCAA while being investigated for possibly receiving improper benefits.
4. Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg had nothing but good things to say about former Utah transfer Will Clyburn this offseason. Clyburn averaged 17.1 PPG in his one season at Utah and it was good enough to earn him a scholarship in the Big 12. In seven games for Iowa State this season, he’s averaging 17.3 PPG and 8.6 RPG, his best two games coming recently against then No. 18 UNLV and BYU where he finished with 21 and 32 points. As a 6’7″ guard, Clyburn will be a tough match-up for any team he plays against this season. He could also be the key to Cyclones not suffering too big of a dropoff this season with the departure of do-everything guard/forward Royce White
5. The CBSSports.com crew updated their Top 25 (and one) ranking on Sunday night, and only two Big 12 teams made the cut. Kansas climbed from 13th to 10th while Oklahoma State dropped from 16th to 23rd after losing to Virginia Tech Saturday, 81-71. There doesn’t seem to be any Big 12 teams close to making this list, either. The conference is one Cowboy loss away from having a single team in the (unofficial) Top 25 next week.