Big 12 Sports Blog by Big 12 Fans

The Texas Longhorns were once again very impressive as they dominated Baylor from the beginning and cruised to a 47-14 victory.  Texas hosts Kansas this Saturday night.  Although positioned at #3, if they win out they will play in the BCS title game against the SEC Championship Game winner - Florida or Alabama.  Oklahoma State moved up 7 slots to #12 following their 24-17 victory over Texas Tech.  The Cowboys host Colorado on November 19th on ESPN. Meanwhile Texas & OSU fans are excited about the recent news that Texas Longhorns Snuggies & Oklahoma State Snuggie blankets are now in stock and available online.

Texas enters the first BCS rankings at #3.  The Longhorns defeated Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry in a hard fought contest on Saturday in one of the highest-rated games of the weekend.  At 6-0, the Longhorns have their sites on the National Title, and if they can remain undefeated it seems that either Florida or Alabama will be waiting.  QB Colt McCoy has yet to get on track in 2009, but he better soon as the Longhorns have two consecutive tough road tests at Missouri and at Oklahoma State.  The Cowboys of Oklahoma State fall in at #15 as the Pokes hold a 5-1 record despite playing without WR Dez Bryant and RB Kendall Hunter.  When all of the pieces are in place, OSU is a very dangerous team.  The Cowboys travel to Baylor on October 24th.  The Jayhawks round out the Top 25 rankings at #25.  Kansas lost at Colorado to a struggling Buffalo team as the Jayhawks will face their toughest test of the season when they host Oklahoma on October 24th.

#2 Texas will resume action after a bye week when they host lowly Colorado.  This is a bit of a trap game as the Longhorns have to avoid a letdown before facing Oklahoma in the Red River Shootout on October 17th.  #15 Oklahoma State will resume action against Texas A&M in College Station after a much-needed bye week.  Oklahoma dropped from #8 to #15 with their road loss to Miami, but the Sooners still have their eyes set on a Big 12 Championship.  Their quest begins with a home game against dangerous Baylor this Saturday.  #21 Nebraska travels to undefeated #20 Missouri on Thursday night and will be played in front of a national audience on ESPN. Overall, the Big 12 was represented by 5 teams in the college football top 25 rankings and the latest 2009 bowl projections where 7 teams from the conference are picked to go bowling this postseason.

Oklahoma comes off of a bye week still not knowing if Sam Bradford will be ready for their huge tilt with Miami in Florida on October 3rd.  Despite not playing, the Sooners moved from 10th to 8th in the Top 25 poll.  Texas walloped UTEP 64-7 meaning the Horns stayed at #2.  Texas will now take a week off and return on October 10th to face a weak Colorado squad.  Oklahoma State destroyed Grambling State 56-6 leading up to their bye week.  The Pokes will return on October 10th to open the Big 12 season against Texas A&M.  The Kansas Jayhawks defeated a tough Southern Miss team 35-28 moving them up the rankings two spots to #18.  Kansas will open the conference season with Iowa State in Lawrence.  Nebraska crushed Louisiana-Lafayette 55-0.  The #23 Cornhuskers will face a tough Missouri squad on October 8th in Columbia.

BIG 12 MEN’S BASKETBALL UPDATE (Feb. 25, 2008): Horns, Wildcats tip off tonight at Kansas State

By Denton Ramsey, NCAA Sportswriter/Big 12 Fans Baylor Correspondent

WACO, Texas – There’s been quite a shuffle in the Big 12 in just a week’s worth of men’s basketball games.

After facing a possible three-way tie for first place after Saturday’s showdowns in conference play, there are now three distinct positions for first through third place – while the Big 12 now boasts a four-way tie for fourth.

With big upsets in weekend contests – including a Kansas loss to Oklahoma State, a Texas A&M loss to Nebraska, and a must-win Baylor victory over Kansas State, the Wildcats second straight conference loss – two teams, Texas A&M and Kansas State, dropped out of top-25 polls.

The Texas Longhorns now sit alone as the Big 12 leader at 10-2 and Kansas, meanwhile, holds a secure spot in second at 9-3 while Kansas State rounds out the top three with an 8-4 conference record.

Tonight’s Big 12 match-up, scheduled to be televised on ESPN beginning at 8 p.m. CT as part of Big Monday, pits Texas on the road at Kansas State – as the Longhorns aim to increase their lead in conference standings.

On Tuesday, Feb. 26, Oklahoma State travels to Missouri for an 8 p.m. hardwood battle slated to be televised on ESPNU.

Eight teams shoot for higher positions in the conference when facing off against Big 12 opponents on Wednesday, Feb. 27, beginning with an ESPN-televised contest as Kansas travels to Iowa State for a 6 p.m. CT tip off.

At 7 p.m., two conference match-ups – Oklahoma at Nebraska (not televised) and Texas Tech at Texas A&M (ESPN+) – will give fans and coaches alike a better understanding of where teams sit in conference standings.

Baylor, sitting amongst a pack of teams in a four-way tie for fourth place, heads to Colorado for a game slated to be televised locally on FSN Southwest at 7:30 p.m. CT to close out a full-slate of Big 12 games on Wednesday.

After a three-day break from NCAA men’s basketball action, all 12 teams return to the hardwood on Saturday, March 1 – Nebraska at Oklahoma State (12:30 p.m., ESPN+), Texas A&M at Oklahoma (1 p.m., ESPN), Missouri at Baylor (3 p.m., ESPN+), Texas at Texas Tech (3 p.m., CBS), Iowa State at Colorado (4 p.m., ESPN Classic) and Kansas State at Kansas (8 p.m., ESPN).

Current Big 12 Men’s Basketball Standings (02.25.08)

                                    Big 12              Overall             National Ranking (ESPN)

Texas                           10-2                 23-4                 5

Kansas                         9-3                   24-3                 7

Kansas State                8-4                   18-8                 –

Texas A&M                 6-6                   20-7                 –

Baylor                          6-6                   18-8                 –

Oklahoma                    6-6                   18-9                 –

Texas Tech                   6-6                   15-11               –

Nebraska                     5-7                   16-9                 –

Missouri                       5-7                   15-12               –

Oklahoma State            5-7                   14-12               –

Iowa State                    4-8                   14-13               –

Colorado                      2-10                 10-16               –

Conference Standings Scenarios

Regardless of Monday’s outcome, the worst case scenario for the Horns would be a half-game lead over Kansas (if Texas falls to Kansas State) in Big 12 standings.

Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s conference contests, meanwhile, will have major impacts on area standings as the results from the college hardwood pour in late Wednesday evening – and based on Big 12 positioning alone the conference standings may not change much, although there will likely be a two-way tie for fourth place come Thursday morning.

Weekly Notes: Big 12 Hoops

Eleven of the 12 conference teams have an overall record of .500 or better, tied with the highly touted Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) for the highest percentage of teams of any conference.

In addition, the Big 12 has six teams with 18 wins or more – with only the Big East (seven teams) boasting a higher number of squads with 18-plus victories.

The conference also leads the nation in victories and winning percentage against 2008 nationally-ranked non-district opponents.

Seven teams also sit amongst the top-65 according to RPI ratings – a major factor in deciding NCAA tournament teams – including Texas (5), Kansas (8), Oklahoma (24), Kansas State (31), Baylor (39), Texas A&M (54) and Texas Tech (63).

Big 12 Weekly Awards

On Monday, Feb. 25, the Big 12 Conference announced the weekly award winners in NCAA men’s basketball action – with Texas and Kansas State both receiving the honors for individual achievements.

This week’s player of the week was awarded to Longhorns sophomore guard D.J. Augustin, who averaged 23.0 points and 6.0 assists in Texas’ two conference victories this past week.

Rookie of the week honors for the week of Feb. 25 once again went to Kansas State’s NBA-bound Michael Beasley – where despite his Wildcats two-game losing streak this past week, the freshman-phenom scored a league-record 44 points in a loss to Baylor (while shooting a picture perfect 15-of-15 from the charity stripe and pulling down 13 rebounds).

Beasley’s rookie of the week honor was also the fifth consecutive time for Kansas State’s young star to garner the award, and the ninth overall for the freshman forward this season – one shy of the Big 12 record for combined honors set by former Texas star Kevin Durant (four player honors and six rookie honors) one year ago.

Denton Ramsey may be reached via email at denton.ramsey@gmail.com