POSTSEASON AWARDS
BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jarrett Culver, Texas Tech
Culver is the Player of the Year in the Big 12, and I honestly don’t think there is really all that much argument here. He is the best and most talented player on the Big 12 co-champions, a 6-foot-6 sophomore guard that went from being an under-the-radar prospect to a likely top ten picks come the 2019 NBA Draft.
And if a way, he is the quintessential Chris Beard player. He’s a hometown kid, having gone to high school in Lubbock. He was not someone that was recruited by the likes of Kansas or Kentucky or Duke. He stayed home, outworked everyone that he went up against and found a way to win in the end. That’s more or less the mantra of this Texas Tech program under Beard ...
BIG 12 COACH OF THE YEAR: Chris Beard, Texas Tech
... and it’s why he is the easy pick for Big 12 Coach of the Year.
The Red Raiders were picked to finish seventh in the conference heading into the season, and that’s because they lost their leading scorer from last season (Keenan Evans), a one-and-done freshman that wasn’t expected to be one-and-done and four senior rotation players. In total, six of the top eight members of last year’s team are gone.
And Beard still found a way to share the title in the first season that Kansas was not the Big 12 regular season champion in 15 years. Coaching jobs don’t get much better than that.
FIRST TEAM ALL-BIG 12
- JARRETT CULVER, Texas Tech
- BARRY BROWN, Kansas State
- MARIAL SHAYOK, Iowa State
- DEAN WADE, Kansas State
- DEDRIC LAWSON, Kansas
SECOND TEAM ALL-BIG 12
- MATT MOONEY, Texas Tech
- DEVON DOTSON, Kansas
- DESMOND BANE, TCU
- TARIQ OWENS, Texas Tech
- JAXSON HAYES, Texas
BIG 12 TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
WHEN: March 13-16
WHERE: Kansas City
FINAL: March 16, 6:00 p.m. ET, ESPN
(All odds courtesy DraftKings Sportsbook.)
FAVORITE: Texas Tech (+175)
There has not been a hotter team in the conference than the Red Raiders over the course of the last month. Hell, I don’t know if there has been a hotter team in college basketball. Texas Tech has won nine in a row and 11 of their last 12 games, going from being a team that ranked outside the top 100 in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency metric to No. 34 in that ranking. They also happen to have the best defense in all of college basketball this season.
Another reason to consider Texas Tech the heavy favorite: They are healthy while everyone else in the league is seemingly losing players left and right. Kansas State (+400) is not expected to have Dean Wade available for the conference tournament. Kansas (+350) is not getting Lagerald Vick back. Iowa State (+650) and Baylor (+1100) have both dealt with injuries all season long. This tournament being in Kansas City means it will be a home game for Kansas if they play in the semifinals and a home game for Kansas State if they play in the finals, but Texas Tech fans travel better than you think and get loud.
SLEEPER: Iowa State (+650)
My love affair with Iowa State is well-documented this season, and I can fully admit that I may be the wrong guy to ask this question to. I know they’ve lost three in a row, five of their last six and six of their last eight games. I know that there was some kind of fight in a practice and that there was some kind of an argument between players during the loss at West Virginia. But I just cannot quit this team, because I still believe that they are the most talented team in the conference.
There is a very real chance that Iowa State loses their first game of the tournament to No. 5 seed Baylor. But their path isn’t really all that difficult. The Cyclones, if they can get past the Bears, would then draw either No. 1 Kansas State -- who they beat by 14 points in Manhattan and who will not have Dean Wade playing -- or someone from the 8-9 game. The Cyclones also have wins over both Kansas and Texas Tech, the top two seeds on the other side of the bracket. At 6.5:1 odds, that’s great value.
I also think that Oklahoma State (+10000) is worth a look at well. The Cowboys have won two in a row, and prior to that they lost by five against Kansas and took Texas Tech to overtime on the road. They’re the No. 9 seed, which means they’re on the right side of the bracket as well.
BEST VALUE: Kansas (+350)
I still think the best value here is the Jayhawks. Much has been made of the issues that have plagued Kansas this season, but I do think that it is important to note than Kansas has completed yet another season undefeated at Phog Allen Fieldhouse. Playing at the Sprint Center will not be the same as playing in the Phog, but it sure is going to feel like a Kansas home game. The Jayhawks were (+450) when I started writing this, and the odds have since adjusted, so if the book you use still have Kansas getting better than 4:1 odds, that’s might be the best bet to make here.
BUBBLE DWELLERS
TEXAS (NET: 39, SOS: 6): The Longhorns suffered a disastrous loss at home on Saturday, getting drubbed by fellow bubble-dweller TCU. They’ve now lost two in a row and four of their last five, dropping them to 16-15 on the season. They do have five Q1 wins -- including North Carolina (7) on a neutral and Purdue (11) at home -- with just one Q3 loss, and they have played the No. 6 SOS in all of college hoops. But at some point, you have to win games to get into the tournament, and Texas lost at home to VCU (31), Providence (74) and Radford (143) and also dropped roadies to Oklahoma State(82) and Georgia (112). They are currently one of the Next Four Out in our most recent bracket projection, and they likely have more ground to make up than that. I think they need to beat Kansas and Texas Tech en route to the finals to be an at-large.
TCU (NET: 47, SOS: 26): The Horned Frogs put themselves in a pretty good spot by knocking off Texas (39) by 17 points on Saturday, their third Q1 win of the season. All told, they are 3-8 against Q1, 8-12 against Q1 and Q2 and have no bad losses. I think they will be fine as long as they avoid an opening round loss to Oklahoma State (82), but thats assuming that there aren’t a number of bubbles burst this week.
OKLAHOMA (NET: 40, SOS: 9): The Sooners are a team that is going to rile some people up, seeing as they are 19-12 on the season and 7-11 in the Big 12, but they have just two losses outside Q1, four Q1 wins and an SOS that checks in at ninth nationally. They have just one loss to teams outside the top 40, a win over Wofford (14) and a 10-12 mark against Q1 and Q2. How wild is it that Wofford is going to be a difference-making win for the Sooners?
WHAT ELSE IS ON THE LINE?
I’m not sure that anyone in the Big 12 has a real chance at getting a No. 1 seed. If Texas Tech wins the Big 12 tournament, there’s a chance, but that will likely require Kentucky, Tennessee, Duke, North Carolina, LSU and both Michigan school to take bad losses.
To me, the most interesting thing to track in Kansas City this week is going to be Shaka Smart’s job status. His buyout is massive and the Texas fanbase barely fills the Erwin Center when the Longhorns are good, so the pressure isn’t really there. But this may be a chance for them to land someone like a Buzz Williams or a Chris Beard, and a first round loss means that Shaka will end his fourth season with a 16-16 record. That’s not ideal.
PREDICTION
I think that Kansas makes a run that reminds us all just how good they can actually be, playing and beating Iowa State in the title game.