Welcome to the Big 12 Buzz! Things are going to look a little different during the offseason but that doesn’t mean I can’t share what’s on my mind this week in the Big 12.
The Big 12 Needs UCF
Last week I discussed the top portion of Big 12 Conference. You won’t find a better top six (Arizona, Iowa State, Houston, Texas Tech, BYU, and Kansas) in any other conference. And even though BYU slid a little, any one of those six teams could easily be cutting down the nets in Indy this year.
As great as that is, the conference still had a mid-tier problem. I mentioned that UCF, TCU and West Virginia could likely be the ones to help fill the gap between the top six and the bottom feeders.
But since last week, TCU has dropped two straight games including a 26-point loss to Colorado and have fallen to 3-6 in conference play. Their future looks bleak now when you see that three of their next four games will be against Iowa State, Oklahoma State, and UCF. Speaking of West Virginia, their loss to Baylor earlier in the week didn’t help them at all and I believe they will be floating around the .500 mark if they are lucky.
That means it will be up to UCF to carry the load for this group and while their 6-4 record seems great, that loss 24-point loss to Houston on Wednesday night told me a lot about the conference and the Knights.
While UCF has had some big wins over Kansas and Texas Tech, both of those games were in Orlando. In fact, three out of their four losses in Big 12 play were on the road and in those three games, they lost by an average of 21 points.
I get that playing on the road is tough, but getting blown against good teams on the road isn’t going to cut it. It’s great that they can hang or even beat some of the top six teams in the conference at home but at some point, you have to pick up a few quality road wins along the way.
UCF has eight games left and their four road games remaining are at Cincinnati, Utah, BYU, and West Virginia. Outside of Provo, those are all winnable games. Plus, their home schedule isn’t exactly tough either (West Virginia, TCU, Baylor, and Oklahoma State).
Even if the Knights go 4-4 down the stretch, they will still be a tournament team. However, the gap between the top six and UCF is still fairly large. I am still a believer in UCF but if they are going to close this gap and make a run then it starts by winning games that matter on the road.
Could Oklahoma State Shock the World?
One team that hasn’t been talked about much in Big 12 circles has been the Oklahoma State Cowboys. But after their enormous win over BYU this week, a lot of eyeballs are on the Pokes right now.
Going into the BYU game, Oklahoma State was among the first four out in the CBS Sports Bracketology model. But after securing their best win of the season, they will likely be projected to get in. Keep in mind that they also have wins over Texas A&M and UCF, who are both tournament teams at the moment as well.
As great as the win over BYU was, now the Cowboys have an opportunity of a lifetime ahead of them on Saturday when they face Arizona on the road this weekend. If Oklahoma State can come out of Tucson with a win and knock off the Wildcats, then they will be the headline of every single college basketball story out there.
Leave BYU Alone
I am typically not the guy who tries to police a hostile college crowd simply because I enjoy it. The drinking, the yelling, and the energy inside stadiums are contagious and make the game fun.
However, there are certain lines that I believe shouldn’t be crossed. One of those things is religiously charged chants. Personally, I don’t care what region you are, or what you believe in but there’s no need to make attacks on people for their religion.
There’s no place in sports for things like this and unfortunately it has happened multiple times to BYU between Boulder and now Stillwater. Cheer for your team, yell as loud as you want but can we please leave the religious attacks alone?
