3MW’s All Conference Team:
Player of the Year: Udoka Azubuike, Sr., Kansas
Coach of the Year: Scott Drew, Baylor
Newcomer of the Year: Oscar Tshiebwe, Fr., West Virginia
Freshman of the Year: Oscar Tshiebwe, West Virginia
Season Storylines:
I thought it would be a two-team race atop the league, but Texas Tech fell by the wayside, and Kansas and Baylor absolutely dominated for nearly the entire Big 12 season. Before the Bears dropped two games to TCU and West Virginia in the season’s final eight days, those two were undefeated against the league’s other eight teams.
Meanwhile, Texas Tech and West Virginia both had moments where they looked like the third “elite” team in the conference, but they also both had big swoons in league play that left them in the four-way muck at 9-9. Both the Red Raiders and the Mountaineers have impressive defensive ceilings, but their offenses carry so many question marks that it’s hard to trust them in a postseason setting.
The other two teams mired in that quagmire of mediocrity are Red River Rivals Texas and Oklahoma. Despite injuries permeating through the roster, Shaka’s Longhorns made an impressive push towards an NCAA bid down the stretch, but a late shellacking at home against Oklahoma State put a serious dent in those hopes. The Sooners are safer, though again, not exactly a banner year for them, either.
The newcomers in this league were tremendous, both freshmen and transfers alike. All five of my “all-newcomer” team members made an all-conference squad, and guys like Miles McBride (WVU), DaJuan Gordon (K State), T.J. Holyfield (Texas Tech), Chris Clarke (Texas Tech), and Rasir Bolton (Iowa State) were all quality new pieces, too.
Also, R.I.P. to Tyrese Haliburton’s college career. We hardly knew ye, but we thoroughly enjoyed your mastery of the pick-and-roll.
Tournament Preview
The main question here is whether we’re going to get Kansas/Baylor III in the championship game. Those two have been head-and-shoulders above the rest of the league all season, and it would only be fitting to get a neutral court rubber match after they each won on each other’s home floor.
The bubble battle in the 4/5 game also warrants attention, as neither Texas nor Texas Tech should feel comfortably in the field at this point. I won’t go so far as to call it a “play-in game” or an “elimination game” (Texas Tech might survive a loss), but it’s about as close as it gets to that for the Longhorns.
West Virginia is the dark horse, but the idea of that Mountaineer offense scoring enough points to win three games in three days sounds borderline impossible.
Tournament Predictions
(8) Oklahoma State over (9) Iowa State
(7) TCU over (10) Kansas State
(5) Texas Tech over (4) Texas
(1) Kansas over (8) Oklahoma State
(2) Baylor over (7) TCU
(6) West Virginia over (3) Oklahoma
(1) Kansas over (5) Texas Tech
(2) Baylor over (6) West Virginia
(2) Baylor over (1) Kansas