This Big 12 basketball season is only two games old, at most, for most teams, and it's already getting crazy.
Last night, the No. 9 Texas A&M Aggies got blown out by Bob Knight's Texas Tech Red Raiders, 68-53. In case you've been living under a rock for an extended period of time, the win was the 900th of Knight's career.
I watched the game very passively at a bar last night, so I have little analysis to offer. Mostly, the Aggies looked putrid on offense, scoring only 17 points in the first half. For more from a Texas Tech perspective, hit up Double T Nation.
In other action, Mizzou killed its momentum from last week's win over Texas by falling on the road to Iowa State, 72-67. Check out Rock'M Nation for more. Also, on Tuesday night the supposedly improved Nebraska Cornhuskers lost to Colorado in front of 25 fans at the Coors Events Center. The surprising Baylor Bears moved to 2-0 in conference play with a home win over Oklahoma (State).
I'm not really sure what this means for K-State. It probably would have been better to have A&M win against Tech, because now we can be sure we will get the Aggies' best shot in Manhattan this weekend. I have a feeling Coach Turd will have the boys from College Station very ready to play, hoping to avoid a disastrous 1-2 start in conference play.
This should have been posted earlier, but here it is anyway. Ken Pomeroy projects a 10-6 conference record for the Cats this year, with the following breakdown:
Wins (chance of winning):
Texas A&M (55%)
@ Colorado (86%)
Iowa State (94%)
Nebraska (79%)
Oklahoma State (85%)
@ Texas Tech (63%)
Missouri (69%)
@ Nebraska (52%)
@Baylor (58%)
Texas (62%)
Colorado (95%)
@ Iowa State (81%)
Losses (chance of winning):
KU (20%)
@ Missouri (38%)
@ KU (6%)
You may have noticed that doesn't add up to 10-6; actually, it equates to 13-3. But Pomeroy's predictions take into account the possibility that teams will lose some games they "shouldn't" and win some games they "shouldn't." Several of our favored wins are pretty close calls (especially A&M, @ Nebraska and @ Baylor), while none of our projected losses are particularly close, although I would argue (non-scientifically and non-statistically) that we have an even chance to win at Mizzou (just like last year).
Anyway, those are just projections. Right now, the players and coaches (I hope) are focused on Texas A&M, and the fans should be too. We get former 'beaker Mark Turgeon (the A&M coach) back in Manhattan this weekend, let's make sure to welcome him appropriately.
Good article in the KC Star today about Jacob Pullen's maturity. The last few games he has started to play more like a true point guard, and with him and Clent Stewart at the controls of this team, I feel much better about moving into Big 12 play. We need the experience of Stewart and the fearlessness of Pullen to go up against the best point guards in the Big 12, especially Mizzou's Stefhon Hannah, KU's Russell Robinson/Mario Chalmers/Sherron Collins, and Texas' D.J. Augustin.
Austin Meek of the Topeka Capital-Journal brings up some points I've been thinking about for a while in an article today about the spotlight following Michael Beasley to K-State. All the times that Beasley is on national shows like ESPN2's First Take, or featured in a seven-page spread in Sports Illustrated, or plays with his fellow Wildcats on national TV, help increase the exposure of K-State to a wider basketball audience.
Beasley said in the SI article that he "couldn't find Kansas on a map" before Dalonte Hill brought him out to Manhattan. Obviously he was (sort of) joking, but the fact is K-State basketball fell into oblivion, and the top basketball players of today's generation know nothing about the school's historical accomplishments. Let's hope that players like Beasley and Bill Walker and Jacob Pullen will show good players in Washington, D.C., and New York City, and Miami, Fla., and Houston, Texas, and other places that you can come to K-State, play on a good team, and get as much media exposure as you need.
The K-State women's basketball team moved to 3-0 against Texas Big 12 teams by beating Texas Tech, 71-45, last night. Yes, that's the same women's basketball team that the KC Star pronounced last week was falling behind KU.
By the way, Baylor destroyed KU last night, 59-35, to drop the 'beakers to 0-3 in conference play.
We'll have a look at A&M sometime tomorrow, although I have no idea when I'll get it posted. Enjoy the beautiful weather!