As we know, the Big 12 is one of the best conferences in college basketball. The conference has been on the rise to the undisputed number-one spot over the past few years. As of this past Monday's rankings, 7 out of the top 25 teams hail from the Big 12. But what makes them extra special this year?
Houston
The notable change is the rearrangement of conferences themselves, and Power Five conferences absorbing teams from “group of five” conferences. The Big 12 added teams from a very competitive American Athletic Conference (AAC). This includes a consistent national title contender: the University of Houston Cougars. Houston is known for their gritty defense and outworking every team they play on the glass. So far this season, it has given college hoops fans goosebumps to see them play in conference games against fellow Big-12 teams. The Cougs are led by head coach Kelvin Sampson but have some minor blemishes on their resume. To be objective, they come from two straight-away losses on the road in conference play (to current #12 Iowa State and #25 TCU).
This details the strength of the conference and how difficult it is to win a conference road game, especially in the Big 12. Houston came into the conference keeping top talent Jamal Shead, Emanuel Sharp, and J'wan Roberts but lost their star Marcus Sasser to the NBA. They also added a few ESPN 100 recruits; most notably Joseph Tugler. The key addition for Houston is Baylor transfer LJ Cryer. Cryer is a great offensive weapon for a top defensive team (#1 in ESPN Power Index by an astounding margin). Cryer's contributions are apparent as he is the Cougs' leading scorer at 15.1 points per game. Houston is almost perfect in their season and currently sits on top of the Big 12 table and #4 in the country.
Cincinnati & UCF
Unfortunately, the other additions from the AAC are less notable (relative to the Houston buzz). The Big 12, which only had ten member universities before this season, added the University of Cincinnati Bearcats and University of Central Florida (UCF) Knights as well. Both are well above .500 on the season but are struggling at the bottom of the conference table. While both are 3-5 in conference play, they have both picked up some big results on the way. The Knights upset then #3 Kansas Jayhawks on their home floor in early January and two games later picked up a win at the Moody Center against the Texas Longhorns. The Bearcats have two notable results as well. The first was a road win in Provo against fellow Big 12 newcomer BYU (ranked 12 at the time), and also a home win against ranked TCU (19 at the time).
BYU
It is the fourth newcomer to the conference that I find intriguing for two reasons. The first is the fact that they did not come from the AAC like Houston, UCF, and Cincy. Second, their success. The Cougars of Brigham Young University played the 2022-23 season as a member of the West Coast Conference. The Cougs seemed to be the only resistance other than the St. Mary's Gaels to provide any sort of resistance against the Gonzaga dominance. Regardless, BYU applied to be a member of the Big 12 and was accepted for admission this season with the rest of the new schools. Just like the other teams that just entered the scene, BYU has been consistently ranked throughout the season and has been very successful, despite being 3-4 in conference play (another testament to Big-12 power).
Star guard Jaxson Robinson leads the team with just under 14 points a game and has lifted BYU to a record of 15-5 on the season. These 5 losses come with a strange pattern. 3 of these losses came to ranked conference opponents (Baylor, Texas Tech, and Houston), a fourth to another conference foe (Cincinnati), and their fifth loss (first sequentially) came on the road in Salt Lake City against their in-state rival Utah Utes. The irony comes with the fact that Utah is going to be a future Big 12 team come next season (look out for more information about this), but it is apparent that there is tons of talent already in the heartland of the United States.
Image Credit: University of Houston Athletics/University of Cincinnati Athletics/UCF Athletics/BYU Athletics
