Big 12 Mens Basketball News

[bearcatbret]

No. 13 Arizona beats No. 3 Florida. Arizona had a comfortable lead with less than a minute but Florida made it interesting. No. 2 Houston is doubled up on Lehigh early in the second half. No. 16 Iowa State and No. 19 Kansas cruise to easy wins.

A side note, Bethune-Cookman and No. 20 Auburn are in OT. Bethune had the lead with less than a minute left in regulation. Too many fouls on Bethune during OT to overcome.

[GoBearcats31]

TCU — preseason 10th in Big 12 media poll — falls at home to New Orleans

[swilsonsp4]

TCU — preseason 10th in Big 12 media poll — falls at home to New Orleans

Not only that, but the Horned Frogs also lost their starting center, Malick Diallo, for the season (ACL).

[bearcatbret]

Number 19 Kansas loses to No. 25 UNC 74-87.

[bearcatbret]

CBS Sports website from Nov. 9 has the following:
2 - Houston
3 - BYU
5 - Arizona
7 - Texas Tech
14 - Iowa state
22 - Kansas

What this says is that the Big 12 is going to be tough to navigate through. It will provide UC the opportunity to make several statement wins throughout the season. Also, the top two rated teams just a few years ago were not in a "power conference" and the third team came from the PAC.

College basketball rankings: Purdue jumps to No. 1, St. John's falls in Top 25 And 1 after loss to Alabama - CBS Sports

[GoBearcats31]

CBS Sports website from Nov. 9 has the following:
2 - Houston
3 - BYU
5 - Arizona
7 - Texas Tech
14 - Iowa state
22 - Kansas

What this says is that the Big 12 is going to be tough to navigate through. It will provide UC the opportunity to make several statement wins throughout the season. Also, the top two rated teams just a few years ago were not in a "power conference" and the third team came from the PAC.

College basketball rankings: Purdue jumps to No. 1, St. John's falls in Top 25 And 1 after loss to Alabama - CBS Sports

Chad Brendel mentioned on the radio with Mo Egger before the season opener something to the effect of UC's roster seems better/there is a better fit than last year's pieces and they could be more successful -- but if they can't win against these top teams like in years' past it's still going to be tough to make the NCAA Tournament.

They have 7 games against the above (including road contests at Houston, Arizona, Texas Tech, Kansas). If they go 2-5 or worse against these teams, they really have to hold their own against the bottom of the conference / can't lose some of those games they've dropped the last couple years (e.g. at WVU, home versus Oklahoma State two seasons ago; got swept by Kansas State, WVU plus lost at Oklahoma State last year).

[GoBearcats31]

Big 12 power rankings from Jacob Unruh of The Oklahoman (looks like an Oklahoma State beat writer)
https://www.cincinnati.com/story/spo...4007/?tbref=hp

#7 Cincinnati

This week: vs. Dayton (Tuesday); vs. Mount St. Mary’s (Sunday); vs. Louisville (Nov. 21)

What to know: Florida Atlantic transfer Baba Miller is off to a great start. But his name might be even better, keeping the Bearcats’ run of elite names going. Consider his full name: Papa Ababacar Bartolome Miller. That’s elite.

[bearcatbret]

A summary on the top 8 teams. Eight Big 12 Teams Featured in Andy Katz’s Latest Power 37 Rankings

[GoBearcats31]

Kennard Davis Jr., who is a starter for a top-10 BYU squad this season, was arrested on suspicion of DUI following a crash in Provo, Utah, on Thursday, according to a release from local police. The arrest comes before No. 7 BYU is set to face No. 3 UConn on Saturday in one of the biggest nonconference games of the year.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...cion-dui-crash

[bearcatbret]

Kennard Davis Jr., who is a starter for a top-10 BYU squad this season, was arrested on suspicion of DUI following a crash in Provo, Utah, on Thursday, according to a release from local police. The arrest comes before No. 7 BYU is set to face No. 3 UConn on Saturday in one of the biggest nonconference games of the year.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...cion-dui-crash

That is huge for BYU if they continue to enforce their code of conduct.

[swilsonsp4]

That is huge for BYU if they continue to enforce their code of conduct.

They will. The code is non-negotiable. I don't know what the range of penalties would be. I'm sure expulsion would be on the table.

[leeraymond372@gmail.com]

Chad Brendel mentioned on the radio with Mo Egger before the season opener something to the effect of UC's roster seems better/there is a better fit than last year's pieces and they could be more successful -- but if they can't win against these top teams like in years' past it's still going to be tough to make the NCAA Tournament.

They have 7 games against the above (including road contests at Houston, Arizona, Texas Tech, Kansas). If they go 2-5 or worse against these teams, they really have to hold their own against the bottom of the conference / can't lose some of those games they've dropped the last couple years (e.g. at WVU, home versus Oklahoma State two seasons ago; got swept by Kansas State, WVU plus lost at Oklahoma State last year).

I have now seen some of the past BIG XII bottom feeders from last year; namely Oklahoma State, Kansas State, and West Virginia (was WV they really a bottom feeder team? Debatable). All three of those teams are going to give the top half of the league a very hard way to go. West Virginia is holding teams to 53.7 points / game, 36.7% shooting from the field and 26.4% shooting from 3. Very good defensive team. Kansas State, which is listed in the top 8 in the league this preseason by some media outlets, is scoring 96.7 points / game. You read that right! They have a 19.7 scoring margin, plus 8 rebounding margin, and 5 players score in double figures. This is a very good offensive team. Oklahoma State is good both offensively and defensively. It is holding teams to 35.4% shooting from the field, 26.8% from 3, and outrebounding teams by 13.7 / g. Oh yeah, did I mention that OSU is scoring 92 points / game? What about the 5 players that score in double figures? I saw OSU beat Tex AM by 24 points (1st year coach at TAM).

So, there it is. The funny thing about college basketball, we really do not find out who is who until conference play starts. Teams that are going through the non-conference beating up on teams may not be able to beat up on the stronger conference opponents. Look at what happened to UC last year.

If the listed teams above continue to play well, the BIG XII is going to be a *&@# monster of a league to navigate for UC. Cincinnati better wake-up fast. It appears that the BIG XII is not messing around this year.