It was a weird week in Big 12 country, and it had nothing to do with basketball. In fact, it feels a little odd to be writing these rankings since so many people are still suffering from the historically cold weather that knocked out power for millions and caused catastrophic levels of disaster in Texas. Three games in the state were postponed, although one of those was because of Baylor’s COVID pause.

1. No. 2 Baylor (17-0, 9-0)

Once again, Baylor couldn’t play due to COVID-19, and the Big 12 announced the Bears might be able to lose their grip on the conference title with just two losses if they can’t play enough games. Then again, it’s hard to imagine Baylor losing even twice, so does it really matter? Allegedly, the Bears will return to action next Tuesday against Iowa State. We’ll see.
NEXT UP: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

2. No. 9 Oklahoma (13-5, 8-4)

The Sooners moved into second place all alone thanks to a hard-fought 91-90 2OT win at West Virginia. Lon Kruger continues to impress and Austin Reaves hit the game-winner to help OU complete a season sweep of the Mountaineers. The Sooners also had a home game against Texas postponed Thursday night due to poor weather in Texas preventing the Longhorns from traveling.

NEXT UP: Saturday at Iowa State.

3. No. 13 West Virginia (14-6, 7-4)

A pair of rallies in regulation and the first overtime went to waste for West Virginia as its five-game conference win streak finally came to an end. The Mountaineers did at least avoid a matchup with Baylor for now, which is always a plus. If it happens, WVU’s game at Texas on Saturday could be very intriguing.
NEXT UP: Saturday at Texas.

4. No. 5 Texas Tech (14-6, 6-5)

Not a whole lot to say here since the Red Raiders saw games at Baylor and a pair of games against TCU postponed. On the plus side, that should give dynamic sophomore Terrence Shannon more time to recover from his injury. TTU faces a tough but winnable test in Lawrence on Saturday.
NEXT UP: Saturday at Kansas

5. No. 23 Kansas (16-7, 10-5)

Sure, the Jayhawks picked up a couple double-dits wins against the dregs of the Big 12, but they hardly looked good doing it. An inability to even score 65 points against both the Cyclones and the Wildcats only underscores the obvious offensive deficiencies for this Kansas team. However, they do have Marcus Garrett and some other tremendous defensive talent, which has been good enough to at least avoid any bad losses this season.
NEXT UP: Saturday vs. Texas Tech

6. No. 13 Texas (12-5, 7-4)

A balanced scoring effort from the starters helped the Longhorns take care of business rather easily in their only game of the week against TCU, giving them their first non-KSU win in more than a month. It’s still not exactly clear just how good Texas is, but we might find out soon with West Virginia, Kansas and Texas Tech all coming up soon on the schedule.

NEXT UP: Saturday vs. West Virginia

7. No. 23 Oklahoma State (14-6, 7-6)

The Pokes also feasted on the Big 12’s worst two teams, and really just giving up a 16-0 run to Kansas State probably should be grounds for dropping a spot. Still, the Cowboys proved they’re still capable even when Cade Cunningham is taken out of the game by the defense and Isaac Likekele is taken out by injury. Despite their youth, I think this could be a very dangerous NCAA tournament team if healthy.
NEXT UP: Monday vs. Texas Tech

8. TCU (11-8, 4-6)

The Horned Frogs really needed a win or two this past week to keep any realistic tourney hopes alive. Instead they got a convincing loss to Texas and a couple of postponed games against Texas Tech. This team just doesn’t have the talent needed to compete with the teams above it in the loaded Big 12, I’m afraid.
NEXT UP: Saturday vs. Kansas State

90. Kansas State (5-18, 1-13)

All that encouraging progress from the last three games went out the window against those dadgum Jayhawks, thanks mostly to some absolutely dreadful outside shooting. At least DaJuan Gordon is back. The Cats would probably need TCU to play poorly, but Saturday’s game is definitely the best chance remaining to pick up a win unless the game against Iowa State is rescheduled.
NEXT UP: Saturday at TCU

100. Iowa State (2-13, 0-10)

At least Iowa State made four threes against Kansas and more importantly, was intelligent enough to only shoot 12 of them. Unfortunately for the Cyclones, they also shot an abysmal 38% from 2-point range and committed 23 turnovers to go with just 7 assists. Things didn’t get a whole lot better three days later against Oklahoma State. But hey, at least the Cyclones might get a rusty version of Baylor back from Covid pause on Tuesday. Nah, just kidding. That won’t matter. Just ask Kansas State.
NEXT UP: Saturday vs. Oklahoma