NCAA Basketball FanHouse

Big 12 Forces Its Way Into Nation's Elite

Terrance Harris — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Texas, Texas Tech, Big 12, Missouri

It seems like every year the usual suspects are lined up as contenders for the best basketball conference in the country.

Big East. ACC. Pac-10. Big Ten.

But the Big 12 never seems to get much love, despite some impressive numbers that suggest the newest of the major conferences deserve to be part of the conversation. No conference has advanced more teams to Elite Eight (13) and Final Four (six) since 2002. The Kansas Jayhawks even cut down the nets in 2008.

Also consider that in the last three seasons, it has been the Big 12, and not the Big East or ACC that has produced the top player in the country: Texas forward Kevin Durant (2007), Kansas State forward Michael Beasley (2008) and Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin (2009).

This season, the Big 12 has the preseason No.1 team in the nation and the squad many predict will likely end as the national champion in Kansas. And oh, the Jayhawks could be playing preseason No.3 Texas in this season's Final Four.

All those are reasons why the Big 12 coaches trumpet their league as one of the best, even if no one else will.

"Years ago people used to say -- or ask the question -- is our league ever going to be considered one of the best leagues in the country, or it can't be until you win the national championship," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "Obviously, Kansas having done that, I don't know what other questions people can ask about our league. If we're not the best league in the country, we've got to be in that discussion every year.

"You go back and look at the success year in and year out, I think also in the tournament, obviously in the recruiting, where there's a lot of games won during those months."

But as special as the Big 12 has been in the past, it could be even more exciting this season with a star-studded lineup of premiere players across the league. Several players such as Texas forward Damion James, Iowa State center Craig Brackins and Oklahoma guard Willie Warren gave up the chance to be instant millionaires as potential NBA first round picks to return to school this past spring.

You combine them with proven commodities such as Kansas' two preseason player of the year candidates, point guard Sherron Collins and center Cole Aldrich, along with Oklahoma State guard James Anderson and you have a league that is certain to produce lots of exciting moments this season.

"When you look at some guys that could have been gone to go make some money and make big money, and yet they choose to stay in the league, that's a credit to those coaches and those relationships they've got with those kids," said Kansas State coach Frank Martin. "It's a credit to the league and just how much fun it is.

"It's not fun when it's late January and you get your brains beat in, but it's tremendous basketball. If you've got any hope at being any good, you've got to be excited about being in such a great conference as this."

Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel agrees.

"Like I've said since I've been here, there's some great coach in this league," said Capel, whose Sooners are picked to finish third in the league race. "Because of the talent level that our league has been able to attract, it makes the basketball a very, very high level.

This season, it all starts with the Jayhawks, who return their top nine scorers from last season's 27-8 Big 12 championship squad that advanced to the Sweet 16. Throw in another highly regarded recruiting class, which includes Top 5 recruit Xavier Henry, and it's easy to see many believe the Jayhawks will be the last team standing come April.

Kansas coach Bill Self, however, has joked throughout the preseason that it's hard for him to even think about winning the national championship when he knows how difficult it will be to win the Big 12 title.

"I really like our team," said Self, whose team is the only one of the Big 12 members to win the national title since the league's inception during the 1996-97 season. I think we have a chance to be a special group. We'll have to be very special because I think the league is the best since I've been in it, and I think it's the best it's going to be since the inception of the league.

"We've had success in the league the last few years, and certainly it will be much more difficult to maintain that because of the quality of teams in the league."

Without question Kansas and Texas will be the two premiere teams in the conference and it could be that the Longhorns could actually break through this season. Their frontcourt of Damion James and Dexter Pittman could be the most formidable in the conference and with the nation's top recruit Avery Bradley expected to add scoring pop, Texas could be the team to give the Jayhawks serious trouble. The biggest question mark for the Longhorns will be at point guard, where Justin Mason has slid over to his more natural two guard spot. Florida transfer Jai Lucas is expected to run the Longhorns offense, but he won't be eligible to play until mid-year under NCAA transfer rules.

"People are a year older, a year wiser, and I think they understand that this team will have tremendous balance," said UT coach Rick Barnes. "We want to be a transition team, and we want to get up and down the floor."

After the Jayhawks and Longhorns, the Big 12 boasts teams like Oklahoma, Kansas State, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State that should make some noise throughout the season and could all end up in the NCAA tournament should the league get six bids again.

But consider this a testament to how truly tough the conference may be this season. The Iowa State Cyclones have a unanimous preseason All-Big 12 player in Brackins and the preseason newcomer of the year in Marquis Gilstrap, yet the league coaches still picked them to finish eighth in the preseason poll.

"I think it is a testament to the league. I think you could argue -- and it's an easy argument -- the seven teams that are picked ahead of us are picked ahead of us for a reason," said ISU coach Greg McDermott. "Generally, preseason polls are based on how you did last year and what you return. There's just a lot returning in our league.

"Some of the newcomers that are entering our league come from very successful backgrounds in high school or junior college, and I think they're going to have quite an impact right away. So we're picked probably about where we should be picked, but I'll be disappointed if that's where it ends up at the end of the day."

http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,localizationConfig,entry&id=515360&pid=515359&uts=1257393450

http://www.aolcdn.com/ke/media_gallery/v1/ke_media_gallery_wrapper.swf

Latest College Basketball Photos

LOUISVILLE, KY - NOVEMBER 04: Jerry Smith #34 of the Lousville Cardinals shoots the ball while defended by Forrest Smallwood #5 of the Bellarmine Knights during the game at Freedom Hall on November 4, 2009 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jerry Smith;Forrest Smallwood

Getty Images

Getty Images North America

Latest College Basketball Images

Northwestern's John Shuma(24) drives to the basket past Robert Morris' Ian Riley during the second half of an exhibition NCAA college men's basketball game in Evanston, Ill., Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

LOUISVILLE, KY - NOVEMBER 04: Peyton Siva #3 of the Lousville Cardinals is pictured during the game against the Bellarmine Knights at Freedom Hall on November 4, 2009 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Peyton Siva

Getty Images

LOUISVILLE, KY - NOVEMBER 04: Peyton Siva #3 of the Lousville Cardinals shoots the ball during the game against the Bellarmine knights at Freedom Hall on November 4, 2009 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Peyton Siva

Getty Images

LOUISVILLE, KY - NOVEMBER 04: Jerry Smith #34 of the Lousville Cardinals shoots the ball during the game against the Bellarmine knights at Freedom Hall on November 4, 2009 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jerry Smith

Getty Images

LOUISVILLE, KY - NOVEMBER 04: Terrence Jennings #23 of the Lousville Cardinals dunks the ball during the game against the Bellarmine knights at Freedom Hall on November 4, 2009 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Terrence Jennings

Getty Images

LOUISVILLE, KY - NOVEMBER 04: Peyton Siva #3 of the Lousville Cardinals puts defensive pressure on Braydon Hobbs #3 of the Bellarmine Knights during the game at Freedom Hall on November 4, 2009 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Peyton Siva;Braydon Hobbs

Getty Images

LOUISVILLE, KY - NOVEMBER 04: Peyton Siva #3 of the Lousville Cardinals puts defensive pressure on Luke Sprague #31 of the Bellarmine Knights during the game at Freedom Hall on November 4, 2009 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Peyton Siva;Luke Sprague

Getty Images

LOUISVILLE, KY - NOVEMBER 04: Peyton Siva #3 of the Lousville Cardinals shoots the ball during the game against the Bellarmine Knights at Freedom Hall on November 4, 2009 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Peyton Siva

Getty Images

The Team That Will Surprise: Iowa State

With the 6-foot-10 Brackins in the post and junior college swing man Marquis Gilstrap, the Cyclones could easily break into the top five of the conference this season and challenge for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

The Team on Decline: Missouri

After Mike Anderson's squad stormed into the Elite Eight last season with its version of 40 minutes of hell, look for the Tigers to take a step back to recover from the loss of leading scorer DeMarre Carroll and Leon Lyons along with Matt Lawrence.

Player of the Year: Sherron Collins

The senior Kansas guard will indeed prove this season he is the best point guard in the nation and the most valuable player to his team.

Best Chance to Win it All: Kansas

The Jayhawks have the experience, depth and explosiveness to win the Final Four. The biggest question coming into the season is which of the five returning starters will come off the bench once Xavier Henry is inserted into the starting lineup?

Big 12 Forces Its Way Into Nation's Elite originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Kansas Is Pick to Win Big 12

Terrance Harris — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:18:00 EST

Filed under: Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Texas, Texas Tech, Big 12, Missouri

The Kansas Jayhawks are the No.1 choice almost every preseason basketball publication, now they are also the unanimous pick to win the Big 12 championship by the league coaches, according to the poll released Wednesday.

The Jayhawks, who return all five starters and pretty much all of their scoring from a season ago, received all 11 possible first-place votes by the Big 12 coaches (head coaches can not vote for their own team). In addition to the retuning starters, which include All-Big 12 First Team selections Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich, Kansas also brings aboard one of the top recruiting classes in the nation.Collins and Aldrich have also been selected the preseason co-Players of the Year.

Texas, which obviously received KU coach Bill Self's first-place, was picked second in the poll and has the lone remaining first place vote. The Longhorns return four starters from last season have been largely regarded as a top five team nationally by most basketball experts.

Following the Jayhawks and Longhorns are Oklahoma (third), Kansas State (fourth) and Texas A&M (fifth).

Team (First place votes) Points
1. Kansas (11)* 121
2. Texas (1) 111
3. Oklahoma 95
4. Kansas State 92
5. Texas A&M 74
6. Oklahoma State 69
7. Missouri 66
8. Iowa State 57
9. Texas Tech 34
10. Baylor 33
11. Nebraska 27
12. Colorado 13

Preseason Co-Players of the Year
Cole Aldrich, Kansas, C, 6-11, 245, Jr., Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson
Sherron Collins, Kansas, G, 5-11, 205, Sr., Chicago, Ill./Crane

Preseason Newcomer of the Year
Marquis Gilstrap, Iowa State, F, 6-7, 215, Sr., Covington, Ga./East Side/Gulf Coast CC [Fla.]

Preseason Freshman of the Year
Avery Bradley, Texas, G, 6-2, 180, Fr., Tacoma, Wash./Findlay Prep [Nev.]

2009-10 Preseason All-Big 12 Team

Name School Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown/Previous school(s)

Craig Brackins, Iowa State** F 6-10 230 Jr. Palmdale, Calif./Brewster Academy [N.H.]
Cole Aldrich, Kansas C 6-11 245 Jr. Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson
Sherron Collins, Kansas** G 5-11 205 Sr. Chicago, Ill./Crane
Willie Warren, Oklahoma G 6-4 199 So. Fort Worth, Texas/North Crowley
James Anderson, OSU G/F 6-6 205 Jr. Junction City, Ark./Junction City
Damion James, Texas G/F 6-7 225 Sr. Nacogdoches, Texas/Nacogdoches

** - Unanimous Selection.
A tie in the voting created six spots on the preseason squad

Kansas Is Pick to Win Big 12 originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:18:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Big 12 Hoops Coaches Say League Will Be Best Next Season

Terrance Harris — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:58:00 EST

Filed under: Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Texas, Texas Tech, Big 12, Missouri

The debate about which conference is the best basketball league usually heats up in December.

But the Big 12 coaches set fire to the debate early by staking claim as the best basketball conference Tuesday, some five months before the 2009-10 season begins. So the Big East, ACC, Pac-10 and SEC will have to just lineup for second best.

"I do think it's going to be the best with what we have retuning and the things that we've done in the last few years," Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon said during the Big 12 summer teleconference call Tuesday. "I've talked to some so-called experts out there and they think we are going to be the best league, too.

"As far as talk goes this season, we'll be No.1 and I think rightfully so. We have some really good teams at the top and we have some good depth so as a coach it's going to be a challenge but it's going to be exciting, You're going to be getting a lot of publicity throughout the year. "

Such bravado is fueled by the league's recent success in the NCAA tournament combined with the uncharacteristic return of NBA-quality talent for next season. Texas' Damion James, Kansas' Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich, Oklahoma State's James Anderson and Oklahoma's Willie Warren all defied the recent trend of early entries into the NBA to remain in school.

During last season's NCAA tournament, the league went 6-0 in the first round, had three teams advance to the Sweet 16, two to the Elite Eight and even Baylor made it to the NIT championship. But the Big 12 coaches insist the proof is in the players next season where they several frontline guys and arguably the best depth of any of the major conferences.

"With those people returning for their junior and senior years for the most part, probably made this league unfortunately for coaches probably the best league that's going to be in the country this next year," said Nebraska coach Doc Sadler. "If the guys from Kansas would have left or James Anderson would have left or Damion James would have left, all of those guys are obviously very very good players that can make a difference in your league and probably some day will be playing in the NBA.

"All that does is add to the depth that everybody in the league wants you to have. It's going to be an interesting year. The league is going to be really fun to watch."

Kansas, which is a year removed from winning the national title and lost a hard-fought Sweet 16 contest with eventual national runner-up Michigan State this past season, returns all five starters and its top nine scorers to go along with a top five recruiting class. Can you say preseason No.1 lock?

But most believe Texas will be in the national contending conversation before the season is out with big man Dexter Pittman and James combining with what most are trumpeting as the best recruiting class in the country.

The loss of national player of the year Blake Griffin and several key players from last year's 30-6 Elite Eight team won't prevent Jeff Capel's Oklahoma Sooners from making some noise next season. OU is bringing in a stellar recruiting class that includes Keith Gallon to combine with Warren.

The Sooners, along with Texas A&M, Kansas State and Missouri could bring Big East-like competition to the Big 12 next season.

"Kansas and Texas are going to be very good, the rich get richer," said Texas Tech coach Pat Knight. "But with those two programs, I think you will see some teams that were struggling last year that are going to be better because they had young players and some teams did a good job recruiting.

"I just think this league is always going to be tough."

But Knight says the key to the national knowing how tough the league is is through exposure. The ACC and Big East seem to be the media favorites, while attention certainly seems destined to return to Kentucky next season with the arrival of John Calipari and a big-time recruiting class.

Not being afraid to say how good your league is, no matter how early, might be the first step in the big 12 getting the recognition it believes it deserves as the best basketball conference next season.

"We were talking about that in the coaches meetings, we have to get better exposure for this league because we really feel, if not the top basketball league it's going to be top two," Knight said. "We just have to do a better of promoting it from a conference standpoint and a coaches standpoint."

Big 12 Hoops Coaches Say League Will Be Best Next Season originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:58:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Random YouTube Magic: Hampton Shocks Iowa State and the Country

Josh Alper — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Iowa State Basketball, March Madness, NCAA Basketball Video

We're about an hour and a half from the first tip of this year's NCAA Tournament, so what better time to remember why we love the damn thing so much in the first place.

Those of you rooting for Belmont to take out the second-seeded Blue Devils this evening, remember, it can happen. Just watch Tarvis Williams beat Iowa State with seven seconds to play to send Hampton to the second round. And even among non-Belmont backers, there's probably a fair number who would like to see Greg Paulus muff an easy one the way Jamaal Tinsley did in 2001.

Random YouTube Magic: Hampton Shocks Iowa State and the Country originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Texas Continues to Be a Second Half Team

Charles Rich — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 19:20:00 EST

Filed under: Texas Basketball, Iowa State Basketball, Big 12 Basketball

Texas does not like to make it easy on itself, even as they improve to 6-2 in the Big 12. In eight conference games the Longhorns have trailed at the half in 5 of them, including all of the past 4. Despite that, they have only lost once in those games. as they pulled out an overtime road win over Iowa State, 71-65.

This time, they had to make a late comeback as the Longhorns were down by 11 with a little more than 10 minutes left and not even 40 points scored at that point. Texas proceeded to outscore Iowa State 25-14, as the Texas defense surged to take away everything inside for the Cyclones.

Jiri Hubalek, who had 22 points in the first 30 minutes for Iowa State, only had 2 for the rest of the game and overtime. Hubalek was completely shut down because the Cyclones could not get him the ball. Hubalek had only one shot attempt in that time.

A.J. Abrams was the big scorer for Texas with 25, via 7-10 on 3s. The rest of the Longhorns were 1-11 outside the perimeter. Texas has to be concerned about the way they play in the first half. They have lacked intensity and focus. Settling for jump shots and only putting defensive effort in spurts.

They may keep winning, but they are forced to play D.J. Augustin and A.J. Abrams huge minutes to do it. Augustin has played 38 minutes or more in all of the conference games and except for one game, the same situation is with Abrams. Both have averaged around 36 minutes for the season. That has to take a toll.

Texas Continues to Be a Second Half Team originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Sat, 09 Feb 2008 19:20:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Big 12 Power Poll: Road Revenge

Charles Rich — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:14:00 EST

Filed under: Texas A&M Basketball, Texas Basketball, Oklahoma Basketball, Oklahoma State Basketball, Iowa State Basketball, Big 12 Basketball

Yes, Kansas still is dominant in the conference. That is probably the one constant in the Big 12 this season. That and Oklahoma State still can't win a road game. Everything else is up for debate.

Last week, I noted that the Big 12 is a difficult conference to notch road wins. Naturally the road teams went 5-7 this past week to make things a little less skewed. Considering the road teams had won 5 games all season until last week, that was a huge swing.

Having a bad week: Missouri and Oklahoma State. Suspensions and extended losing streaks taking the hope out of the fans.

Having a good week: Oklahoma and K-State. Blake Griffin back much earlier than expected to help the Sooners win two big games, and the Wildcats are undefeated in the conference to make tonight's meeting with Kansas that much more dramatic.

Kansas -- Undefeated in conference and out of conference. In 5 conference games, only once have they let a team score more than 59 points. That is more impressive to me than the 81+ points they have averaged in conference play.
Kansas State -- The other undefeated Big 12 team in Kansas. They have been very impressive since the New Year.
Texas -- Not exactly dominant at times, but they are winning.
Oklahoma -- Bake Griffin returns two weeks earlier than expected and the Sooners have two big wins over Baylor and Oklahoma State. Not a coincidence.
Baylor -- The conference's best story this season. Live and die by the 3, though.
Iowa State -- Quietly playing solid basketball. They look like a team that will be right in the middle all season.
Texas A&M -- Rebounded from losing the quintuple-OT game at home to get a road win over the Cowboys. Tonight's home game with Texas will decide a lot about the rest of the season.
Texas Tech -- Undefeated at home, winless on the road and 2-2 on neutral sites. Distinctively average.
Oklahoma State -- Now riding a 5 game losing streak, the Cowboys lack something inside. Sean Sutton sweats a lot during a game, and is probably starting to sweat a bit about his job security.
Missouri -- On the court, a good week. Then they went home and are down to six scholarship players and a couple walk-ons for the foreseeable future. That drops them quickly to the bottom tier.
Colorado -- Actually looked like they might get a second win last night, leading at halftime in Ames, Iowa. Then the second half was a disaster. The inability to score is getting worse.
Nebraska -- They have yet to win in the conference. The only good news is that they have gotten their two games against Kansas out of the way early. That alone, lightens the schedule the rest of the way.

Big 12 Power Poll: Road Revenge originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:14:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Big Twelve Power Poll: Staying With Kansas

Charles Rich — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 22:08:00 EST

Filed under: Kansas Basketball, Texas A&M Basketball, Texas Basketball, Oklahoma State Basketball, Iowa State Basketball, Big 12 Basketball, Kansas State Basketball

Kansas came into conference play as clearly the best team. They've done nothing to dispel that notion. Not that teams aren't trying.

Baylor and K-State have started strong. Texas is always hanging about. Iowa State has gotten off to a nice start. Then it starts getting dicey. The Big 12 is the second toughest major conference to get a road win with the home teams going 13-5 (.722). Only the Big East at .778 (35-10) is tougher. There's going to be a lot of teams struggling to finish 8-8 in conference. Making it difficult for any of the other teams to stay close to the Jayhawks.

Kansas -- Actually challenged on the road by Mizzou, but still got the win. They have 2 of the 5 road wins.
Baylor -- Off to a 3-0 conference start, the Bears have continued to be the feel-good story. They also have their next 3 road games against ranked teams.
Texas -- Texas' defensive effort waxes and wanes. They managed to do just enough to get wins against Colorado and Oklahoma State, but they outside of D.J. Augustin and Damion Jones they have hardly looked like a top team.
Kansas State -- They have looked really good since conference play got underway.
Iowa State -- The good news, they have defended home court and are playing well. The bad news, the next two games are on the road at Kansas and K-State.
Texas A&M -- Complete offensive meltdown in 3 of the last 4 halves. Looking distinctly average.
Missouri -- The Tigers shot 5-28 on 3s and 11-22 from the free throw line in a 6 point loss to Kansas. That's going to haunt them for a while.
Oklahoma -- Just trying to hang around until Blake Griffin is healthy.
Oklahoma State -- It's3 straight losses and, they still haven't won a true road game since February 2006
Texas Tech -- Bobby Knight has win number 900, if the fans in Lubbock don't care why should the rest of us?
Colorado -- Jeff Bzdelik has the team playing smart and hard, but there isn't enough talent.
Nebraska -- Nebraska looked improved in the non-con, but have not won in conference and are the only team with 2 home losses.

Here's how the power rankings looked last week.

Big Twelve Power Poll: Staying With Kansas originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Tue, 22 Jan 2008 22:08:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

The Eastern Round Up: Xavier Rolls On

Josh Alper — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Xavier Basketball, Iowa State Basketball, George Mason Basketball, A-10 Basketball, Mid-Majors Basketball, MVC Basketball

I've already voiced my displeasure with the inclusion of teams like Xavier among the mid-major morass. They have the tradition, the size and the talent to hang with any of the big boys but the Atlantic 10 is still a bit of a redheaded stepchild. The only way they can defy their label is by winning games, something they've done seven out of eight times this season after beating Creighton 79-66 last night. The deep Musketeers got a typically well-balanced scoring night, led by 28 from Drew Lavender. The 5-7 sparkplug usually finds one of his five teammates who score in double figures but took matters into his own hands from the opening tip. He scored 17 in the first half, hit four threes and still found the time to dish out 10 assists.

XU remains under the radar but is a team that can't be slept on. C.J. Anderson, Josh Duncan and Derrick Brown can beat you inside while Lavender, Stanley Burrell and B.J. Raymond control the perimeter. Few teams, regardless of conference, can match that kind of balanced scoring. We'll see who among Tennessee, Kansas State, Auburn, Virginia and Arizona State can, but first the Musketeers will face Cincinnati in a battle for city bragging rights next week.

Elsewhere on the hardwood:

Drake 79, Iowa State 44 - The Cyclones have been meat for several mid-majors this season but none of them beat them so badly as the Bulldogs last night. Drake took advantage of ISU carelessness to the tune of 15 steals and Josh Young continued to dominate from three, upping his season average to 49% en route to a game-high 23 points. Despite their 6-1 mark, Drake takes a back seat to other MVC contenders because of their 6-12 conference mark last season.

South Alabama 75, Southern Miss 68 - The Jaguars led from the first minute to the last one to improve to 6-3 on the young season. Leading scorer Demetric Bennett took a backseat to Daon Merritt and Domonic Tilford, who each topped 20 points, in their most impressive victory of the year. Returning coach Ronnie Arrow has a team that can score in bunches and should battle Western Kentucky for the Sun Belt East crown all year.

George Mason 57, Hampton 54 - The Patriots avoided a second straight loss but needed a late flourish from Folarin Campbell to sidestep the gritty Pirates. 20 GMU turnovers made this game too close for comfort and underscored the need for a more consistent effort from the CAA favorites.

The Eastern Round Up: Xavier Rolls On originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Thu, 06 Dec 2007 10:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Johnny Orr Puts Dick Vitale in His Place

Ryan Wilson — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 12:55:00 EST

Filed under: Iowa State Basketball, March Madness, NCAA Basketball Video

Here's a hilarious clip from the 1992 NCAA Tournament Selection show when then-Iowa State coach Johnny Orr tells Dick Vitale what most of us think pretty much every time we see his mug on television:

According to Wikipedia, "Orr led Iowa State to [five] NCAA tournament berths before retiring from Iowa State in 1994. He remains the winningest coach in Iowa State history with 218 wins and 200 losses." Next to Vitale is Jim Valvano, probably one of the ACC's most charismatic coaches.

Johnny Orr Puts Dick Vitale in His Place originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Mon, 12 Mar 2007 12:55:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Big XII Tournament Preview

Nathan Fowler — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 21:46:00 EST

Filed under: Kansas Basketball, Texas A&M Basketball, Texas Basketball, Oklahoma Basketball, Oklahoma State Basketball, Iowa State Basketball, Big 12 Basketball, March Madness, Texas Tech Basketball

When: Thursday through Sunday

Where: Oklahoma City

Defending Champions: Kansas

Favorites: Kansas, Texas A&M and Texas

Dark Horse: Texas Tech

Storylines: Can Kansas make it to the championship game on Sunday and lock up a #1 seed? Can Kansas State or Texas Tech make a deep enough run (which will likely require winning the matchup against each other in the quarterfinals) to get off the bubble and into the Big Dance? Will Acie Law IV channel Randolph Childress circa 1995 and cary A&M to the title?

Best Potential Games: Kansas State vs. Texas Tech in the quarterfinals and Kansas vs. Texas A&M or Texas in the championship game.

Random Thoughts: The Big XII tournament always seems to be somewhat of a wild ride with more upsets than the other major tournaments, it's very rare the "chalk" holds up. Seeing Oklahoma State make it to Sunday, for example, wouldn't surprise me in the least. For total entertainment value, the Big XII tournament is second only to the ACC for me. This year does feature 3 heavy favorites and "everyone else" - but if one of the big 3 goes down early on this could get crazy in a hurry.

Big XII Tournament Preview originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Wed, 07 Mar 2007 21:46:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Kansas Is Getting Medievil On Folks

Nathan Fowler — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 19:54:00 EST

Filed under: Kansas Basketball, Iowa State Basketball, Big 12 Basketball, March Madness

Kansas entered tonight's game against Iowa State riding a 5 game winning streak where the Jayhawk's average margin of victory was a ridiculous 27 points. Poor Iowa State did nothing in an 89-52 loss but further pad that scoring margin as KU's defense smothered the Cyclones from the opening tip and the Jayhawk offense got white hot after a sluggish start to the game. Kansas' withering defense held ISU to only 8 points in the first 15 minutes of the game, effectively ending the contest before it even started.

Kansas has now won 6 in a row by almost 29 points per game, and looks to be playing as well or better than anyone in the country as they make a push for a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. No one has ever questioned the Jayhawk's talent, but earlier in the year they seemed a bit out of synch and never truly comfortable. As freshman Sherron Collins has emerged as the team's dynamic spark plug, KU has begun to fire on all cylinders and looks ready to take on anyone right now. This very well might be the best team in the nation entering the NCAA tournament.

Kansas Is Getting Medievil On Folks originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Sat, 24 Feb 2007 19:54:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Big XII Power Rankings

Nathan Fowler — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 21:10:00 EST

Filed under: Kansas Basketball, Texas A&M Basketball, Texas Basketball, Oklahoma Basketball, Oklahoma State Basketball, Iowa State Basketball, Big 12 Basketball, Texas Tech Basketball

Every Thursday I pick through the Big XII to put together a power ranking, and I was hoping that it would be easier this week than last. Uh yeah, forget about that. Texas Tech decided to become unstoppable at home, Texas went on the road and looked the bad kind of young and Oklahoma State is starting to show the cracks that were expected of a team with absolutely no depth.

1. Kansas

After they lost to Texas Tech, this spot was all Texas A&M's ... who then promptly went to Lubbock and lost themselves. So Kansas keeps the top spot for now, but this team has to be the most frustrating in the entire country right now. There is not a more unpredictable group than these Jayhawks, who will be the best team in the country one night and then complete no-shows the next.

2. Texas A&M

Tough loss in Lubbock, but this is still a quality squad and will make significant noise before the season is over. It's neck and neck between them and Kansas for the top spot in the league.

3. Texas Tech

When you beat Kansas and A&M in the same week (even if they were both at home), you jump to at least #3. Bob Knight's group is limited in talent, but they play their tails off and Jackson and Zeno are terrific at controlling tempo and running the motion offense with surgical perfection. They aren't going to win the league, but they are going to keep beating some good teams throughout the season. Absolutely no one is going to want to face them in the NCAA tournament.

4. Oklahoma State

OSU won the opening leg of bedlam in Stillwater, but even though I feel Oklahoma is better than most people give them credit for - it was still a very telling effort. This is basically a two man team on the offensive end (see the 49 point effort against Texas A&M), with everyone else feeding off of Curry and Boggan. They play great defense, but there's such little depth one of the Gotti boys are seeing serious minutes.

5. Texas

Texas looked awfully young against Villanova in Philadelphia - with the emphasis being on the "awful" part. That being said, they are still almost certainly a NCAA team this year and the Big XII is shaping up to be a 5 bid league. Durant isn't going to score 30+ every night, and when he doesn't someone else needs to step up and chip in. Asking two freshman, no matter how good, to carry a team is probably too much.

6. Oklahoma

The Sooners play great defense, they hustle and they just don't have top of the league type talent. How much better would this team look with Scottie Reynolds on it right about now? He'd probably make them a NCAA team, but right now they are looking like a good bet to make noise in the NIT. Don't be surprised when they grab their half of bedlam in Lloyd Noble.

Teams 7-12 after the jump

7. Kansas State

The Wildcats are 3-2 in the league, and have won 3 straight Big XII games - Missouri, Baylor and Iowa State isn't exactly murderers row, but two of those were on the road and that's a big step for a squad that's still a year or two away and lost Bill Walker for the season. Bob Huggins is already earning his paycheck in Manhattan.

8. Iowa State

Better than the rest of the teams left. I think.

9. Missouri

They didn't lose to Colorado, which is about all you can say when you play the Buffaloes this year. Missouri just has nobody on the roster who'd get serious minutes for the top half of the league with the exception of Hannah. The Mike Anderson era really begins next year in Columbia.

10. Nebraska

Didn't lose to Colorado either. Aleks Maric is good. The rest of the team? Not so good. Honestly, Nebraska might be the most depressing story in the Big XII this year outside of the complete abomination Colorado's program has become. Big Red football had a good year and the basketball program doesn't even get a second thought. Worse than being bad is when nobody cares you are bad. Nebraska is approaching that level.

11. Baylor

Lost to Oklahoma by 40 and Kansas by 26 in their last two games. And are still not even close to being the worst team in the league. I have no clue how this team beat Texas Tech, but they did.

12. Colorado

The worst major conference team in the country. Of their 10 remaining games, Ken Pomeroy gives them less than 5% chance to win in half of them. Sadly enough, that's hard to argue against. This team is just horrible.

Big XII Power Rankings originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Thu, 25 Jan 2007 21:10:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Big XII Power Rankings

Nathan Fowler — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 23:42:00 EST

Filed under: Kansas Basketball, Texas A&M Basketball, Texas Basketball, Oklahoma Basketball, Oklahoma State Basketball, Iowa State Basketball, Big 12 Basketball, Texas Tech Basketball

The conference season has begun, and the stronger teams in the league are starting to assert themselves ... so time for the first edition of the Fanhouse Big XII Power Rankings.

#1 - Kansas Jayhawks (16-2, 3-0)

Kansas has the Big XII's 3 best wins on the season and completely humiliated Oklahoma State to open league play. The game was played in Lawrence, but it could have been in the Sutton family backyard and it wouldn't have made a difference. It's highly doubtful a squad that lost a home game to Oral Roberts is going to go undefeated in the Big XII, but this KU team has the talent to do that.

#2 - Texas A&M (15-2, 3-0)

Acie Law IV is the best PG in the Big XII, and Billie Gillespie is making a name as one of the better young coaches in the country. It's hard to imagine the basketball team being better than the football team in College Station, but that's exactly the case.

#3 - Oklahoma State (16-2, 2-1)

Sean Sutton has such a thin team that one of the Gotti brothers was on the floor for all 3 OT's against Texas and he's forced to keep running out Byron Eaton despite the fact that he looks he spends each timeout placing bets with the hot dog vendor on how many turnovers he can commit before the next TV stoppage. Oh yeah, there's also Boggan and Curry and a crazy bunch of people in orange cheering them on.

#4 - Texas (13-4, 3-1)

Kevin Durant is the best player in the country, but might not be the most important freshman on his own team (that doesn't make sense, and is a bit of hyperbole - but humor me). D.J Augustin has been nothing short of spectacular at PG for the Longhorns, and is the engine that makes them tick. People talk about how young teams like UNC are, but nobody depends on their freshman more than Rick Barnes does his.

#5 - Texas Tech (13-5, 2-1)

Honestly, positions 5 through 9 could really be placed in about any order you want - but Texas Tech is probably the best of that crew. Jarrius Jackson is playing great this year, and he's carrying a pretty limited Red Raiders team right now.

#6 - Oklahoma (10-6, 2-2)

Some folks will be surprised that I have OU this high, but there's a lot to like about this team despite the record they have right now. First off, Capel has gotten to really defend (#6 in the country according to Ken Pomeroy) and they don't have a bad loss on the season. Every loss has been to a team in the RPI top 60, and they are going to be better during the league season than people expect. Don't be surprised to see the Sooners hanging around "the bubble" near the end of the season.

Bottom Half of the Big XII After the Jump

#7 - Kansas State (12-6, 2-2)

Without Bill Walker for the rest of the year, it might be tough for the Wildcats to stay this high - but there's no question that Huggins has gotten this group playing hard and have shown flashes of better basketball than anything you've seen in the little apple in quite a long time. Next years team is going to challenge for the Big XII title.

#8 - Baylor (11-6, 1-3)

This is probably Iowa State's spot, but they lost to Colorado and there's just no excuse for that - so the Bears get a bump.

#9 - Iowa State (11-7, 2-2)

Lost to Colorado

#10 - Nebraska (11-5, 0-2)

Aleks Maric is probably the best high major conference player you have never heard of, but the rest of this team is just awful. The bottom of the Big XII is really bad though, so Nebraska isn't close to the worst team in the league.

#11 - Missouri (11-6, 0-4)

Yeah, they're 0-4 in league play. They're also a million miles ahead of where Quin Snyder would have had them. There's about 3 Big XII caliber players on the roster and only Stefhon Hannah is "above average", but they play hard and they look well coached - two things you would have never said about a Snyder team.

#12 - Colorado (5-9, 1-3)

Truly awful basketball team. Two losses to teams with RPI's over 200, and two more to teams with RPI's over 100. Colorado might be the worst major conference team in the country (which makes their win over Iowa State even worse for the Cyclones).

Big XII Power Rankings originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Thu, 18 Jan 2007 23:42:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Your Big XII Hoops Weekend

Nathan Fowler — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 12:04:00 EST

Filed under: Kansas Basketball, Texas Basketball, Oklahoma Basketball, Oklahoma State Basketball, Iowa State Basketball, South Carolina Basketball, Big 12 Basketball, Texas Tech Basketball

It's free preview week on College Gameplan, so you've got no excuse to miss any of the action (unless you're a Chiefs or Cowboys fan, then I guess it's acceptable).

Saturday:

Oklahoma @ Texas Tech - 1:30 PM ET

Texas @ Colorado - 4 PM ET

Iowa State @ Missouri - 6 PM ET

Baylor @ Oklahoma State - 6 PM ET

Kansas State @ Texas A&M - 8 PM ET

Sunday:

Kansas @ South Carolina - 4:30 PM ET

The Kansas State at Texas A&M game is probably the best of the bunch, the Wildcats have improved each game out with Bill Walker in the lineup now, and A&M is a legitimate threat to win the league. There's going to be a lot of athletes on the floor and Acie Law and Walker will be providing the star power. This will be Huggins' first trip to College Station, and should be interesting to watch. The Big XII is going to be wide open this year behind Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Kansas, and should provide interesting viewing all season as it shakes out.

Your Big XII Hoops Weekend originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Sat, 06 Jan 2007 12:04:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Bloody Weekend for the Big XII

Nathan Fowler — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 17:56:00 EST

Filed under: Kansas Basketball, Texas A&M Basketball, Texas Basketball, Oklahoma Basketball, Oklahoma State Basketball, Iowa State Basketball, Big 12 Basketball, Texas Tech Basketball

It was an eventful weekend in the Big XII, but for pretty much all the wrong reasons.

Colorado, Missouri, Baylor and Nebraska all lost to unranked out of conference foes this weekend, furthering their quest to wreck the entire conference's RPI rating to the best of their ability.
Oklahoma barely eeked a home win against a 2-8 Coppin State squad (it was 29-24 at the half, yikes)
Kansas State had to come from behind in the second half and hit a 3 with 21 seconds left to beat North Dakota State by 2
Texas A&M lost to UCLA in Anaheim in one of the better games of the year, but that's twice now A&M hasn't been able to get it done against a top 10 foe this season
Kansas looked anemic at times against another inferior opponent

About the only good news for the league was that Bobby Knight passed Rupp and is only a couple behind Dean Smith now, and Oklahoma State continues to look solid with a win at Ball State. Texas has a shot at LSU tonight at 8pm eastern to redeem some conference pride against the Tigers after their win against A&M earlier this year. While it's unlikely that the Longhorns win the game, at least Kevin Durant is giving everyone a reason to watch Big XII basketball. I think most people have realised this is just a down season for the Big XII after several solid seasons in a row, but more was still expected of some of the teams - watching the bottom half of the league play just awful basketball right now is very frustrating.

Bloody Weekend for the Big XII originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Sun, 10 Dec 2006 17:56:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Big XII Breakdown: No Greatness, Some Goodness

Nathan Fowler — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 20:06:00 EST

Filed under: Kansas Basketball, Texas A&M Basketball, Texas Basketball, Oklahoma State Basketball, Iowa State Basketball, Big 12 Basketball

As the conference season approaches, it's time for a quick look at the Big XII and how it appears to be shaping up.

Great Teams: None

Kansas was supposed to be here, but inconsistent effort has marred the early season for the Jayhawks and losses to DePaul and ORU (in Allen Field House, no less) aren't going to be looked on kindly by the selection committee come March. The talk of an undefeated Big XII season and a #1 seed seems a bit silly right now.

Good Teams: Kansas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State

Kansas is still the class of the Big XII, and while the offensive production has been spotty at best, the defensive effort is always there. KU just has too many athletes, too much athleticism, too much depth and too big of a home court advantage for anyone in this league to knock them off. They might drop a couple of games in league play, but they'll take home another regular season title. Oklahoma State is off to a sparkling 10-0 start and the Cowboys certainly have their share of talent on the roster and will be awfully tough inside Gallagher-Iba this year, but if you take a peak under the hood the shine wears off a bit. Heading into Tuesday night's Syracuse game they were only 109th in defensive efficiency once you adjust for the schedule they've played, and that's just not typical OSU basketball. Marcus Dove is one tough dude, but he's not getting a lot of help on that end of the floor right now. Texas A&M is also undefeated and with Acie Law will always be dangerous, but they don't appear to be quite at the level of KU or OSU. Those three teams are certainly at the top of the heap in the conference and I'll be surprised if they don't finish 1, 2 and 3 in the standings.

Teams With Tournament Potential: Texas, Kansas State, Missouri

Kevin Durant and his four assistants (aka Texas) is going to be a very up and down squad this year, mostly because they depend so much on the two talented freshman. Durant is clearly the newcomer of the year in the conference, and Augustin is a beautiful pairing with him but they're going to take their lumps as the season progresses. Kansas State in the spring will have Cartier Martin and Bill Walker, but right now they have Cartier and basically nobody. They've got to keep their heads above water until Walker shows up and then hope he's a stud from the word go, but that's asking a lot. Right now Huggie's boys are probably an NIT team. Missouri has 40 minutes of hell up and running, but there's just not much talent on that roster. Nice OOC record not withstanding, I just don't think they're going to hold up well during the stretch of the conference schedule. Again, probably NIT bound.

Everyone Else: Baylor, Texas Tech, Nebraska, Iowa State, Colorado, Oklahoma

A couple of these teams will be NIT teams (Baylor, OU and ... ?), but the bottom half of the Big XII isn't very good. The league as a whole isn't great (it's just a down year for the conference) and it really shows in the bottom half of the league. Either the teams are just one player (Colorado) or they are a collection of mediocre players (Nebraska, TT and Iowa State). There's going to some dull games as this half of the league slugs it out.

Overall, the Big XII is probably a four-bid league (KU, OSU, A&M and ... Texas?) and that fourth bid might be marginal. The top couple of teams are going to wrack up impressive records in conference play, and games like Oklahoma State's win over Syracuse are huge because the league RPI is really taking a hit in the bottom half of the league. Overall, I suspect only KU will get a top 3 seed, and even that might be tough for them with the two early season losses if they drop more than 2 or so in conference play. It's a down year for the Big XII, much like the ACC had last year, but that doesn't mean it won't be fun to watch. There's a lot of youngsters, a lot of tradition and there's going to be a very volatile league standings.

Big XII Breakdown: No Greatness, Some Goodness originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Tue, 05 Dec 2006 20:06:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments