STILLWATER – The Big 12 Conference basketball season begins this weekend and it gets started with a list of intense and critical match-ups that start the league campaign. It also is a new year gift with the 2023 portion of the hoops schedule bringing a so many competitive match-ups.
The opening weekend has Oklahoma State at Kansas and after non conference play many would say this is the Big 12’s top team hosting the bottom team in the league with Kansas 11-1 ranked No. 5 (NET and KenPom) and the toughest strength of schedule (31 according to NET). Oklahoma State is 8-4 with the worst record in the league but ranked No. 30 (KenPom) and No. 48 (NET). The strength of schedule is not great at 172 (NET). The game will be nationally televised at 1 p.m. on CBS.
Other match-ups for opening weekend have:
Texas Tech (10-2) at TCU (11-1) 11 a.m. on ESPNU
Baylor (10-2) at Iowa State (9-2) 1 p.m. on ESPNU
Texas (11-1) at Oklahoma (9-3) 1 p.m. on ESPN+ and Big 12 Now
West Virginia (10-2) at Kansas State (11-1) 6 p.m. on ESPN+ and Big 12 Now
Okay, so who will win the Big 12? We have out picks and they don’t match the preseason. They don’t exactly match the standings now. They don’t even match up with the latest NET or KenPom rankings.
Pokes Report Big 12 Projections for Conference Play and March Madness
| Predicted Finish | Team | Current Rankings | SOS | Postseason |
| 1. | Kansas | #5-KenPom/#5-NET | 31 | NCAA |
| 2. | Baylor | #15-KenPom/#18-NET | 102 | NCAA |
| 3. | TCU | #37-KenPom/#49-NET | 161 | NCAA |
| 4. | West Virginia | #21-KenPom/#10-NET | 155 | NCAA |
| 5. | Texas | #6-KenPom/#9-NET | 104 | NCAA |
| 6. | Texas Tech | #32-KenPom/#52-NET | 103 | NCAA |
| 7. | Iowa State | #46-KenPom/#33-NET | 116 | NCAA |
| 8. | Oklahoma State | #30-KenPom/#48-NET | 172 | NIT |
| 9. | Oklahoma | #33-KenPom/#51-NET | 170 | NIT |
| 10. | Kansas State | #51-KenPom/#31-NET | 176 | NIT |
It would appear we used strength of schedule more than any indicator ot ranking, but we didn’t. We used our own observation from games we’ve seen and how we feel each team will fare with the way the schedule lays out. There is so much determined in basketball by momentum and confidence.
Yes, Joe Lunardi may have had nine Big 12 teams in his NCAA projections recently. We have seven going into the big dance and the other three going to junior prom.
