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The Big 12 tournament is over and it was Texas, in its final season in the conference, that ultimately came out on top, defeating Iowa State in the championship game.
With the tournament behind us, let’s look at some of the top storylines from the past week of basketball action.
The Big 12’s new additions really struggled
BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF weren’t expected to make much noise in their first season in the Big 12, but the tournament really highlighted just how far behind those teams are in the conference.
During the regular season, BYU had the best conference record of the three, going just 6-12. Houston and Cincy were 5-13, while UCF was 3-15. The three teams from the American going a combined 13-41 is…yikes. Clearly, the jump between conferences was a lot bigger in women’s basketball than on the men’s side, where Houston won the conference.
As far as the tournament goes, it was rough. Houston opened the tournament with a 74-60 loss to Texas Tech. Cincinnati won its first game 67-62 over UCF, but that was against a fellow newcomer. The Bearcats lost to West Virginia in the next round, while BYU fell 77-53 to Kansas. The new teams were 1-4 in the conference tournament, with the only win coming in a matchup of two new teams.
TCU’s bubble has burst
TCU’s chances of getting into the NCAA Tournament were slim coming into the Big 12 Tournament. After a masterful non-conference season, the Horned Frogs were decimated by injury in conference play and went just 6-12. Still, they won four of their last five games and looked to be gaining some momentum.
The bubble started to burst in the season finale though, a 57-49 loss to West Virginia. TCU probably needed a win there against one of the conference’s top teams to build out its resume. The Horned Frogs then snuck by Oklahoma State 68-66 in the conference tournament, but that probably wasn’t enough. A 69-53 loss to Oklahoma in the next round ended their March Madness hopes for good. The team didn’t have a single conference win against a team that’s projected to make the NCAA Tournament.
Still, Mark Campbell’s first year in Fort Worth was a success of sorts. It didn’t end with the results that he might have wanted, but winning 19 games at a school with a combined 24 wins over the past three seasons is a huge accomplishment. If the team hadn’t dealt with severe injury issues that led to multiple game cancelations, maybe we’d have seen this team dancing.
How many Big 12 teams are getting into the tournament?
The Big 12 should get seven teams in, but just like in 2023, it’s going to be close when it comes to Kansas. The Jayhawks just missed out on a tournament bid last year and are right on the bubble again, though it looks like they are on better ground in 2024.
Her Hoop Stats bracketologist Megan Gauer has Kansas in as a 10-seed. ESPN’s Charlie Creme has them as a nine-seed. Mark Schindler also has them as a nine over at The Athletic. So, the Jayhawks definitely should be dancing.
You never know, though. Some people had Kansas as a nine-seed last year in their bracketology, but the team found itself left out. Sitting 38th in the NET feels like a really borderline spot to be right now, as they’re below Arizona, one of Gauer’s last four in, and fairly far below Penn State and Washington State, who are in Gauer’s first four out.
Audi Crooks is a star
Alright, this isn’t really a new revelation that came from the tournament, but more people might have had a chance to watch Iowa State’s Audi Crooks this week and realize how much of a star she is.
Crooks scored over 20 points in all three Big 12 Tournament games, shooting over 60% in the wins over Baylor and Oklahoma. The freshman is just a force on the inside. She shot 70.8% at the rim during the conference tournament, plus 56% on paint attempts that weren’t at the rim. When Crooks gets the ball down low, she has the power to back up any defender and the touch to get any little turnaround or hook or layup to fall.
Can Texas get a No. 1 seed?
Probably not. Despite sitting third in the NET, it looks like the Longhorns are heading to the two-line. South Carolina, Stanford, Iowa, and USC seem pretty set as one seeds, especially after USC defeated Stanford in the Pac-12 title game. The Cardinal felt locked into a top seed before that, and USC’s win propelled it to that line as well.
With that said, I’m going to put on my Hot Take Hat for a second here. USC is a really good basketball team, but they’re 10th in the NET and have four fewer wins and one more loss than Texas. JuJu Watkins is a better individual player than anyone on this Texas team, but seeding is about teams. Among power conference schools, only South Carolina won more games than the Longhorns this season. Texas has the talent and the resume of a No. 1 seed.
That’s the argument for Texas. The argument against Texas on the one line involves strength of victories. Per CBB Analytics, Texas was 10-4 against Quad 1 teams. South Carolina was 14-0. Iowa was 14-4. Stanford and USC were both 13-4.
The Horns will almost certainly land as a No. 2 seed, likely as the top No. 2 seed. That shouldn’t be much of a barrier in their quest for a title, aside from some marginally tougher games along the way.
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