Team of the week

Christian Royston: Houston

It may be easy to pick Houston as the team of the week due to its No. 1 ranking in the Big 12, but with regular season finales being dropped left and right, Houston was one of the top teams that stayed safe in the final week of play.

The Cougars did not just coast through the last week either, they dominated it. First, they got a crucial win on the road against a shifty UCF. The Knights have been home to upsets throughout the season and were coming off a recent game where they nearly took down Iowa State, the No. 2 team in the conference. 

Houston then finished its season with a home matchup with Kansas where it had its most dominant win of the season. Houston’s efforts, and a 30-point win, saw Kansas plummet down the rankings and tournament seedings. The Jayhawks will have to play the Big 12 Tournament without their best players due to the physicality out of Houston.

Putting in that work at the end of the season, and having their best player earn Big 12 Player and Defensive Player of the Year as well as their coach win Big 12 Coach of the Year, is enough to give the Cougars the final team of the week honor.

Logan Shanks: Texas Tech

While Texas Tech may not have wrapped its week up with the amount of Big 12 honors that Houston did, the team looked impressive in its final two games to close out the regular season.

The Red Raiders’ win against Oklahoma State was all you wanted to see from a team trying to prove itself down the stretch. Their defense really shined in this one, holding the Cowboys to 37% from the field and forcing 17 turnovers.

Following a 50% performance from the field on the road against Oklahoma State, the Red Raiders nearly repeated that same number in a 10-point win over Baylor. While the Bears may not have had anything to play for seeding-wise, Texas Tech was focused on ending the regular season with momentum as it looked to make a push in the conference tournament.

Even though the Red Raiders still look inferior to other top teams like Houston, Iowa State and even BYU, they have shown their ability to hang around in games, which could come in handy as they enter the postseason. 

Rankings

Royston

1. Houston (28-3, 15-3)
2. Iowa State (24-7, 13-5)
3. Baylor (22-9, 11-7)
4. BYU (22-9, 10-8)
5. Texas Tech (22-9, 11-7)
6. Kansas (22-9, 10-8)
7. Texas (20-11, 9-9)
8. TCU (20-11, 9-9)
9. Kansas State (18-13, 8-10)
10. Oklahoma (20-11, 8-10)
11. UCF (16-14, 7-11)
12. Cincinnati (18-13, 7-11)
13. West Virginia (9-22, 4-14)
14. Oklahoma State (12-19, 4-14)

Shanks

1. Houston (28-3, 15-3)
2. Iowa State (24-7, 13-5)
3. Baylor (22-9, 11-7)
4. BYU (22-9, 10-8)
5. Texas Tech (22-9, 11-7)
6. Texas (20-11, 9-9)
7. Kansas (22-9, 10-8)
8. TCU (20-11, 9-9)
9. Kansas State (18-13, 8-10)
10. Oklahoma (20-11, 8-10)
11. Cincinnati (18-13, 7-11)
12. UCF (16-14, 7-11)
13. West Virginia (9-22, 4-14)
14. Oklahoma State (12-19, 4-14)

Ranking highlights

Royston

The biggest switch up in the final rankings was the fall of Kansas. It was a long time coming, but the Jayhawks appear to be out of contention for a Big 12 title. They did not just drop their final game, they got demolished in it as Houston cruised to a 30-point win.

Along with Kansas, I continued to drop Oklahoma. The Sooners look more and more disappointing every week and really have not had a sign of life since the first few weeks.

On the other side of the coin, I bumped Kansas State up a bit after a home win to Iowa State. The Cyclones were not necessarily playing for much, but the Wildcats’ defense does look scary and the team is kicking it on at the right time of the year. It still was not enough to raise too much in the rankings, as I cannot put the last few weeks of disappointment out of my mind just yet.

Other than that, not much changed at the end of the season. The Big 12 Tournament seedings do reflect not only where each team sits, but how competitive the conference ended up being.

Shanks

In my final rankings, I decided to get controversial. 

Although its record should make me think otherwise, I’m more confident that Texas would finish the season better than Kansas at this point. The Jayhawks are injured and continue not to look like themselves despite their dominating win against Kansas State. I think the magnitude of that win is erased by the 30-point loss recently against Houston, which shows just how far the team truly is behind other teams.

Despite its recent loss to Kansas State, I have Iowa State moving up a spot, as Baylor did not look great in its win against Texas and dropped a double-digit loss to Texas Tech to end the season. With how close these two teams have been toward the end of the season, I am secretly hoping for the Cyclones and the Bears to have a rematch in the Big 12 Tournament to see who is the second-best team in the conference.

I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but I still think we need to keep an eye on TCU. While the Horned Frogs did not look great against UCF to end the regular season, they are in almost every game they play, and we all know crazy things can happen in March.