STF CONFERENCE PREVIEW: BIG XII
LAST SEASON RECAP: Last year’s NCAA entrants were Kansas, who made it to the Elite Eight, and three of the four Texas teams. That’s a very low four teams in for the Big 12. Okie State and Kansas State won a grand total of one game combined in the NIT.
TEAM TO BEAT: Kansas, Siempre Kansas.
SECOND TIER: Big dogs went to the NBA from Texas and A&M, but the cupboard remains stocked for both. And there’s still Texas Tech and Oklahoma in the south as well. The only north team that might make noise is Missouri, though many favor Kansas State and the remaining Huggins recruits.
SLEEPER: Colorado. Jeff Bzdelik is exactly what they need – he uses defensive intensity to turn teams around fast, and he’s done it at the Nuggets and Air Force before getting this opportunity.
OVERRATED: Texas Tech. Bobby Knight is still a marquee name, but the combination of his temper, his competition for recruits, and the visual appeal of Lubbock will keep Tech perennially middle-of-the-pack. Which is infinitely better than their former position of league doormat, but still...
WORST TEAM: Poor, sad Baylor. They may never fully recover from the depressing Dave Bliss era, which nearly destroyed a program that has never had much success in the first place.
STF PREDICTION: Kansas will romp again – getting Brandon Rush back unexpectedly put them right back on course and gave the Jayhawks the experienced leader that they will need to harness all of the jaw-dropping young talent Bill Self has assembled. The three aforementioned Texas teams will probably be tourney-bound again, and Oklahoma and Missouri could find their stride as well. Six in the tournament? It’s happened before in the Big XII.
1. Kansas
2. Texas
3. Missouri
4. Texas A&M
5. Oklahoma
6. Texas Tech
7. Kansas State
8. Colorado
9. Oklahoma State
10. Iowa State
11. Nebraska
12. Baylor
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
STF Conference Preview: The Big XII
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
This is the worst preview for a conference I've ever seen in my life. You guys obviously didn't do any research whatsoever. KState 10th? What in the world?
I'll give you a mea culpa on that one. That's definitely too low - I docked them too severely for the absence of Bob Huggins. However, I don't think they're going to be great just because they kept some of the hot recruits - I'll move them up a few spaces, because I think you're right that I got carried away.
You'll be happy to know that Marco disagrees with me on K-State, as you'll see when he writes their team preview.
I think that you're way underrating Baylor. They definitely disappointed last season, but have as much talent as anyone in the conference outside of Kansas, A&M, Texas and K State. If they could get anything in the post from Josh Lomers or Mamadou Diene, they will finish in the upper part of the Big 12 and compete for an at large berth.
Post a Comment