STF Conference Reports: The Big 12 1/24/2008

What a week, topped by the epic five OT battle between Baylor and Texas A&M earlier this week. As much as we complain around here about the tangled standings in the Big East and CAA, watching a league that is clearly dominated by one or two teams can have drawbacks of its own. Fortunately, this week, we got to see a great game in which Baylor proved they belonged, and next week we'll get to see what should be an epic battle between Kansas and Kansas State.

Team of the Week: Baylor. We believed in them all the way, but if you told us they'd win a 5OT slugfest in College Station, we might have raised an eyebrow. Every time I checked the score of this game (online - way to go, TV folks), I saw more and more Baylor players on the bench with fouls, and figured there was no way the remainder could possibly win. Talk about grit. These guys could build an indoor beach volleyball court.

Close - After a rough non-conference season, the K-State Wildcats are coming on strong, and sit in easy striking distance at 3-0 in league play.

Player of the Week: Baylor's Curtis Jerrels. As noted before, the guy played 53 minutes at A&M and only committed two fouls. Oh, and he also shot 20-24 and led all scorers with 36 points. Then there were the eight assists and two steals. We're very disappointed by the 2-8 shooting from three land, though. OH, HA HA, THAT IS RICH. He's awesome.

Close - Colorado's Reggie Roby is finally heating up, and of course Michael Beasley makes awesomeness look easy.

Team with the Worst Week: Nebraska. The Cornhuskers are flat-out wasting Aleks Maric's senior season. The talented Aussie is working his butt off, but the team cannot back him up. Losses to Kansas and Baylor are acceptable, but to a rebuilding Colorado squad? It's just not done. Nobody seems to take over the second scorer's spot on a consistent basis. If I didn't hate them for their former football prowess, I would probably feel really bad for them.

Games to Watch:

Honestly, the B12 schedule for Saturday is divided almost perfectly to feature top teams playing bottom teams - it is like a preview of the conference tourney out there. The better teams even have the home advantage in all but one case:

Texas A&M at Oklahoma State - 2pm Saturday, ESPN. Can the Aggies salvage this season? Here's where the rubber meets the road.

Oklahoma State at Oklahoma - 9pm Monday, ESPN. This game is always wild, with in-state bragging rights on the line.

Kansas at Kansas State - Wednesday, 8pm. I find it absolutely monkey-scratching absurd that this game is not nationally televised. Any fool could see from outer space that this would be one of the key games of the Big 12 season. Where's the love?