Big 12 Power Rankings: Kansas Was Better Than We Thought

How about them Jayhawks, folks? The Big 12 regular season and tournament champions were left for dead earlier this season after losing three games at Allen Fieldhouse — something KU had never done under Bill Self — but they have now proven their championship mettle when it mattered most.

Self’s a Hall of Famer for a reason, but even taking this Kansas team to a Final Four by beating Duke is an accomplishment I didn’t expect. And yet, this Kansas team is two wins away from winning the whole thing.

That’s why Kansas sits atop our final Big 12 power rankings of the season. Maybe next time when we say the Big 12 is KU’s until proven otherwise, people will really believe it.

1. Kansas (31-7)

If you’ve followed the Power Rankings this season, you’ll know that I never lost faith in Kansas being the top team. I’ve seen the program struggle relatively speaking under Self, but never underachieve in the regular season. So excuse me while I stick my ? out and say told ya soooooo.

Kansas will own the league until Kansas doesn’t own it. And I highly doubt that relinquishment of power happens anytime soon.

2. Texas Tech (27-10)

Texas Tech struggled down the stretch of the regular season, but we finally got a chance to see how it could play against national competition in the NCAA Tournament. Three wins and a program’s first Elite Eight showing later, the rest of the country realizes how tough this Red Raiders team is.

Even despite some nagging injuries!

Texas Tech senior Keenan Evans confirms that he played at the end of the season and through the NCAA Tournament with a broken big toe. Looking at surgery soon.

— Chuck Carlton (@ChuckCarltonDMN) March 25, 2018

3. West Virginia (26-11)

I legitimately thought West Virginia was going to beat Villanova for about eight minutes last Friday.

The Mountaineers end their season with a 26-11 record and 13 top-50 wins, including Virginia! (which suddenly doesn’t look all that impressive.) Jevon Carter will be missed by some, but not by opposing teams in the league.

4. Kansas State (25-12)

Kansas State is the perfect example of what can happen when a regional bracket breaks in your favor. Instead of facing 1 seed Virginia in the second round, Bruce Weber’s Wildcats faced 16 seed UMBC — which they won, in addition to a Sweet 16 showdown with Kentucky before falling to Loyola-Chicago.

K-State showed glimpses of a team that will be uber-talented next season. Like, really good. And all five starters will be back in 2018.

5. TCU (21-12)

Maybe I was wrong about TCU all season or maybe it fell curse to what Syracuse can do in postseason play, but the Horned Frogs’ one-and-done showing in both the Big 12 and NCAA Tournament was pretty surprising to me.

Fortunately, TCU has a thing called a Jamie Dixon and I suspect it will have plenty more opportunities for postseason success in the near future.

6. Texas (19-15)

This is a footnote in history, but looking back at NCAA Tournament resumes, I’m still a little baffled as to how Texas was firmly in but Baylor and Oklahoma State were firmly out.

In any case, Texas lasted all of one game in the Big Dance, losing to Nevada in OT to cap a 19-win season in Austin. I’m sure Longhorns donors will be thrilled about paying more money per win than Kansas paid Charlie Weis.

7. Oklahoma State (21-15)

In a single elimination format tournament, give me Oklahoma State over just about any of the field. This team was tough as nails and finished the season winners of five of its last seven — including over Kansas, OU, and mighty Dunk City!

8. Baylor (19-15)

Baylor couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn over the final month of its season. Five losses in its final seven games will leave a nasty taste in the mouth of Bears fans, too, and this team is turning over a lot of its roster. This was a relatively disappointing season in Waco given its talent.

9. Oklahoma (18-14)

I feel dirty even putting Oklahoma at number 9, but even OU wasn’t as bad as Iowa State in the final stretch of the season.

Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean OU was good. Sure, the Sooners got an NCAA Tournament bid. But they lost 10 of their final 12 games, and seeing them as a tourney team is, and will forever be, moronic.

10. Iowa State (13-18)

Iowa State lost its last seven games and nine of its final 10. Things did not end well, nor did they particularly start well, either. Steve Prohm, though, has a roster that could easily go from last to top half of the league next season.