Well, the Big Three remained the Big Three, but Oklahoma State is coming on strong. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Cowboys replace Baylor in next week's rankings, especially if they can snap Missouri's streak.
After that is a muddied middle of teams with either two or three conference wins.
That middle will sort itself out eventually, although I still like Mizzou to rise to the top of the pack.
And then there's the Three Northtards, or as I like to call them, Dopey, Shorty and Zero.
Those were references to marijuana, thin rosters and conference wins, in case you didn't catch my esoteric thinking. I think you can figure out the identities from there.
Anyhow, let's at least give the Unholy Trinity a round of applause for trying.
Follow the jump for my early report card on the conference season, as well as my usual analysis and predictions.
| Seed* | Record* | Tourney* | RPI | Pomeroy | Sagarin | Streak | Best Win** | Worst Loss** | Coach | |
| Texas | 1 | 15-1 | NCAA | 9 | 6 | 4 | W-1 | Michigan State | Connecticut | Rick Barnes |
| Kansas | 2 | 15-1 | NCAA | 2 | 1 | 1 | W-5 | Temple | Tennessee | Bill Self |
| Kansas State | 3 | 12-4 | NCAA | 5 | 10 | 7 | W-1 | Texas | Missouri | Frank Martin |
| Baylor | 4 | 11-5 | NCAA | 33 | 21 | 25 | L-1 | Xavier | Colorado | Scott Drew |
| Missouri | 5 | 10-6 | NCAA | 45 | 12 | 21 | L-1 | Kansas State | Oral Roberts | Mike Anderson |
| Texas A&M | 6 | 6-10 | NIT | 35 | 49 | 46 | L-1 | Clemson | Washington | Mark Turgeon |
| Oklahoma State | 7 | 6-10 | NIT | 27 | 45 | 38 | W-3 | Kansas State | Oklahoma | Travis Ford |
| Iowa State | 8 | 5-11 | NIT | 115 | 81 | 81 | L-3 | Bradley | Oklahoma | Greg McDermott |
| Colorado | 9 | 5-11 | None | 132 | 95 | 102 | W-1 | Baylor | Oregon State | Jeff Bzdelik |
| Texas Tech | 10 | 4-12 | NIT | 34 | 83 | 70 | L-1 | Washington | Wichita State | Pat Knight |
| Oklahoma | 11 | 4-12 | None | 82 | 91 | 88 | W-1 | Oklahoma State | San Diego | Jeff Capel |
| Nebraska | 12 | 3-13 | None | 138 | 92 | 97 | L-5 | Tulsa | Colorado | Doc Sadler |
Note: As any of these numbers change, I will bold and color-code them to indicate direction of change.
Team names that are colored indicate a change in seed.
(green = upward, red = downward)
*Predicted
**According to RealTimeRPI
Discussion
Since everyone basically has played 20 games, or roughly two-thirds of the regular season, I thought this might be a good time to hand out some early grades. Clearly, I'm grading on a high curve.
Kansas: A
Single blemish notwithstanding, this is a no-duh pick, right?
Texas: A-
But for last week, this easily would be an A or an A+.
Kansas State: B
Yes, we're having a historic season, but I have very high standards. The OSU loss keeps this from being an A.
Oklahoma State: B-
The schedule has been week, but this team's resume still is surprisingly strong.
Baylor: C+
Things looked good early, but they've hit a slide lately. Not to mention the Colorado loss...
Missouri: C
The good: Beating us. The bad: Losing to OU. The ugly: Losing to Oral Roberts and the Big Monday disaster.
Texas A&M: C-
About as well as could be expected after what happened in Seattle, but man, what a bad loss that turned into.
Texas Tech: C-
Great start, ugly middle, starting to recuperate, then ran into Texas. Uneven is the best word to describe them.
Iowa State: D-
There's something rotten in the state of Iowa...
Nebraska: D-
The German invasion didn't save this talent-devoid team. Today might be their best chance for a win all season.
Oklahoma: D-
Ugly, ugly, ugly. But there have been a few bright moments, such as the consecutive wins over OSU and MU.
Colorado: F
The Buffs are much improved, but go back and look at the non-con losses. This still is a very mediocre team.
GAMER: No changes.
Pomeroy: Now has Oklahoma State and Texas A&M both losing to Texas Tech in Lubbock.
Sagarin: Now has Iowa State beating Nebraska in Ames and losing to Colorado in Boulder.
Self-Evaluation
Our beloved Wildcats once again kept me from completing a perfect segment of game picks.
Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I guess the lesson of the past week is to pick the home team, unless they're playing the Wildcats or they are the Wildcats.
Which leads to my picks: All of the home teams, except the Wildcats. I hate to say it, but the computer numbers for KU are staggering.
Let's hope GAMER is the correct model tonight and that the longest winning streak in the league ends as a result.
And if that happens, then let's also hope that the league's longest losing streak also ends tonight, or else Tuesday in Lincoln could be Oklahoma State II: The Letdowns Continue. The last thing I want to face, either off a loss or a win, is an 0-6 Nebraska team, at home, with its back against a wall.
Cumulative pick record: 26-7 (.788)
Key
Results are plugged into this wonderful tool to generate the predicted records and seed order. Winners are predicted by a best-of-three system comprising three statistical prediction models:
- G — RealTimeRPI GAMER (an advanced statistical prediction model, claiming 76.8 percent accuracy)
- P — Ken Pomeroy's rankings (he predicts a probability outcome for each game remaining)
- S — Sagarin composite rankings (home court advantage is taken into account)
Predicted Outcomes
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