NCAA Basketball Preview 2014-15: Big XII
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The Big XII had the highest percentage of teams from a conference make the NCAA Tournament last season as seven of their ten member went dancing. Despite all of the conference realignment the past few years, the Big XII has a chance to be the toughest conference top-to-bottom in the nation this season.
You can take it to the bank that Kansas will win the regular season conference title as they have won each of the past 10. Kansas always seems to challenge themselves in the non-conference slate and will so again this year as they will play Kentucky in the highly anticipated champions classic. While they won't play as tough of a schedule as last year, Florida, Georgetown, and UNLV are all tough opponents.
Just about any other program not named Kentucky would have been crippled by losing by losing two of the top three players taken in the draft like they did with Andrew Wiggins and Joel Emiid. They Jayhawks should absorb the blow well though as Frank Mason and Connor Frankamp in their backcourt. They also have top recruit Cliff Anderson to fill in for Joel Embiid and return plenty of role guys like Perry Ellis and Wayne Selden Jr. Nobody has taken the conference crown from the Jayhawks the past ten years, why start now?
Though everyone else is clearly behind Kansas, Iowa State and Kansas State should both be loaded this year. Iowa State had a team good enough to go to the Final Four last year until Georges Niang went down with a leg injury. Fred Hoiberg is bringing the Hilton Magic back to Ames as well as underrated point guard Clay Cluster. Though the losses of Melvin Ejim and Deandre Kane hurt, Naz Long showed he is a clutch player by hitting game winning threes against Oklahoma State twice. Matt Thomas and Dustin Houge also showed a lot as role players last year. Expect the Cyclones to overachieve this year and be in the top three in the Big XII.
Kansas State saw Marcus Foster have a breakout freshman year, averaging 15.5 points per game. He will have the services of forward Thomas Gipson once again to form a stout low-post with Nino Williams. Foster will likely need to put the team on his back if Kansas State is going to elevate from that eight-nine seed range, but he is the ultimate grinder and has shown flashes of another Kansas State great, Jacob Pullen.
Red River rivals Oklahoma and Texas were both in the middle of the Big XII last season and have young teams that could vie to crack the conference's top-three this season. Oklahoma was stunned in their opening game of the NCAA Tournament by North Dakota State, but have the main pieces from a team that was seventh in the nation in points per game last season. Buddy Hield had a stellar sophomore season that saw his field goal percentage jump from under 40 percent to 44.5 percent. Hield scored 16.8 points per game and took the pressure off freshman point guard Jordan Woodard. If Ryan Spangler and Isaiah Cousins can fill out the backcourt and help Hield in the scoring department, Oklahoma could be a team that battles its way to a spot in the AP Top-10.
Texas was able to out-muscle their opponents last year, ranking fourth in the nation in rebounds per game. Much like Oklahoma, they have a young team and are returning the lion share of their pieces from a season ago. Jonathon Holmes led the team in scoring despite playing just 24.2 minutes per game last season and pair up really well with Cameron Ridley down on the block. Isiah Taylor and Javon Felix is one of the fastest guard duos in the nation and should force teams to pick their poison on whether they get beat by their stellar guard play or their physical big men. With prized recruit Myles Turner bringing his 7-foot frame to Austin, the Longhorns should be a force in the Big XII.
The middle to middle-bottom of the Big XII could see a bit of the shakeup as Oklahoma State and Baylor have lost a lot from last season. Both teams struggled at the beginning of conference play after being top-10 teams, but pulled themselves together to make the NCAA Tournament. Oklahoma State's offense will not be in the top-20 like it was last year with Marcus Smart. Oklahoma State was 0-3 while Marcus Smart was suspended last year and now the team will need to replace both he and Markell Brown.
Baylor is also losing the bulk of it's scoring with Brady Heslip, Cory Jefferson and Isaiah Austin all gone. The bright spot for this team is that Rico Gathers played well at the end of he season and Will Cherry will still be the point guard. Baylor will not get a six-seed in the big dance like last season, but unlike Oklahoma State, they have a chance to return to the NCAA Tournament.
West Virginia and Texas Tech both had a bumpy ride in the non-conference slate, but had solid showings in Big XII play. They looked like a team that could make a serious run this season until Eron Harris decided to transfer to Michigan State and Terry Henderson transferred to NC State. West Virginia fortunately still has the services of Juwan Staten, who averaged 18.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game last season running the point. Bob Huggins is bringing in a pretty good recruiting class incoming and they should be better than the 17-16 record they posted last year, although a trip to the big dance might be asking too much of them.
Texas Tech was just 14-18 last season in their first year with Tubby Smith and should continue to improve. The team will be without their two leading scorers from last year, but the team was very balanced and has a pretty good recruiting class on the way. Texas Tech should essentially be what West Virginia was last season and could make a trip to the NCAA Tournament next season if this young team gels together.
This conference has two guarantees, Kansas being at the top and TCU at the bottom. The Big XII should be the toughest conference from top-to-bottom in the nation this year as they will likely push six teams in the field of 68. There is little separating teams two through five in the conference and should make for an exciting season.
