By Jon Wilner | jwilner@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
Welcome to a weekly feature on the Hotline. We'll break down Big 12 basketball using key metrics (NET rankings, KenPom ratings, etc.), our observations and a dose of old-fashioned sarcasm (when needed) -- all in the name of providing fans with the state-of-play in one of the nation's toughest conferences.
(Results listed for games in the past week.)
March is just days away, but the level of madness enveloping the Big 12 should be limited in one notable regard. Unlike the ACC, Big Ten and SEC, the conference is devoid of true NCAA Tournament bubble-sitters. It's hurtling toward a chaos-free experience on Selection Sunday.
Unless there's a collapse in the final weeks, there will be no surprises when the 68-team field is announced March 16.
Houston, Arizona, Texas Tech and Iowa State are contenders for top-four seeds, while Kansas, Baylor and Brigham Young are in the No. 6-to-9 seed range.
West Virginia is closer to the bubble than anyone else. But the Mountaineers, who own five Quadrant I victories and have incurred no bad losses, aren't in jeopardy so long as they win the games they should win down the stretch.
According to BracketMatrix, which aggregates 116 NCAA Tournament bracket predictions from across the internet, the Mountaineers are the highest-seeded team on the No. 10 line -- several spots above the point that the true bubble begins.
They are included in the tournament field on all 116 brackets, receiving a No. 9 seed on many and a No. 11 or 12 seed on only a few.
This Big 12 season has been on brand, with parity and chaos as the co-dominant dynamics. The absence of uncertainty on Selection Sunday would be the most unexpected development of all.
To the power rankings ...
Results: beat Iowa State 68-59, won at Texas Tech 69-61
Best win: at Texas Tech
Worst loss: vs. San Diego State
NET ranking: 3
Comment: The Cougars clinched a share of the Big 12 regular-season championship, thereby securing a spot in rarefied air: They are the first team in more than 100 years to win a major conference title in its first two years in the league, according to the Associated Press. The last team to do it was Idaho, which won the Pacific Coast Conference (the precursor to the Pac-12) in 1922-23.
Results: lost to Brigham Young 96-95
Best win: vs. Texas Tech
Worst loss: at Kansas State
NET ranking: 9
Comment: Credit the Wildcats for being proactive with regard to the derogatory chant by the student section aimed at BYU following the loss Saturday night. Athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois apologized to the Cougars a few minutes after midnight (in Tucson), rather than waiting until the next morning. Many schools would have declined to acknowledge the situation until the morning, a mistake in today's social media environment.
Results: lost at Houston 68-59 and Oklahoma State 74-68
Best win: at Texas Tech
Worst loss: vs. Kansas State
NET ranking: 10
Comment: Good thing for the Hotline and the Cyclones alike that March Madness doesn't start this week, because we would have no idea how to deal with them in the office pool. Plenty about ISU screams Final Four, but there are indicators of a possible early exit, as well.
Results: beat Oklahoma State 96-64, won at Colorado 71-64
Best win: vs. Duke
Worst loss: at Brigham Young
NET ranking: 20
Comment: The Big 12 schedule-makers presumed KU would be in the middle of the conference race when they crafted a finishing stretch that features Texas Tech (home), Houston (road) and Arizona (home). Instead, the Jayhawks are playing the spoiler.