Big 12 men’s basketball preview: Conference remains tough as ever, says KU’s Bill Self
Bill Self would not be surprised if a Big 12 Conference men’s basketball team emerges as national champion for a third straight season.
“I’d say there’s absolutely not one bottom-tier team,” Self, KU’s 20th-year coach, said of the Big 12 as the marathon league season is set to begin.
His Jayhawks, who open league play against Oklahoma State at 1 p.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse, won the NCAA title a year ago, while the Baylor Bears took the crown in 2021.
Currently, five Big 12 teams are ranked in the AP Top 25: No. 4 Kansas (11-1), No. 6 Texas (10-1), No. 12 Baylor (9-2), No. 18 TCU (10-1) and No 24 West Virginia (10-2), while three squads — Iowa State (9-2), Texas Tech (9-2) and Kansas State (11-1) — are in the “others receiving votes” category.
Only Oklahoma (9-3) and Oklahoma State (9-4) currently are not mentioned at all in the AP poll.
“I watched Oklahoma State the other day. They had a heck of a win at Wichita State. Not many people are going to win there,” Self said. “They are 8-4 and they lost to Virginia Tech in the top 25 on the last possession (70-65). Oklahoma State is good.”
Coach Mike Boynton’s Cowboys have defeated DePaul (82-78), Tulsa (82-56) and Wichita State and lost to No. 2 UConn (74-64).
“Look at Oklahoma,” Self said of the (9-3) Sooners. “They lost to Sam Houston (52-51 on Nov. 7) to start the season. What have they done since then, rattled off seven or eight (wins in row)?”
Coach Porter Moser’s Sooners won six consecutive games after an opening loss, including wins over Nebraska (69-56) and Seton Hall (77-64). OU has played a tough schedule, losing to Villanova (70-66) and Arkansas (88-78).
“One team I think is the most pleasant surprise is West Virginia. I think they are good. And they are playing the way ‘Huggs’ (coach Bob Huggins) loves to play,” Self said of the Mountaineers (10-2), who have defeated Pitt (81-56) and Florida (84-55). WVU has lost to No. 1 Purdue (80-68) and Xavier (84-74).
“I think we knew Texas, Baylor, TCU and Texas Tech would be good. What makes our league so great is everybody is good,” Self added, not forgetting Kansas State — which has wins over LSU (61-59) and Wichita State (55-50) with its only loss to Butler (76-64) — and Iowa State — which has defeated Villanova (81-79 OT), North Carolina (70-65) and lost to UConn (71-53) and Iowa (75-56).
- Texas has wins over Gonzaga (93-74) and Creighton (72-67) with a loss to Illinois (85-78, OT).
- Baylor has wins over UCLA (80-75) and Gonzaga (64-63), with losses to Virginia (86-79) and Marquette (96-70).
- Texas Tech has a win over Georgetown (79-64) and losses to Ohio State (80-73) and Creighton (76-65).
- TCU has defeated Arkansas (73-72), Iowa (79-66) and Utah (75-71) while losing to Northwestern State (64-63).
“It’ll be competitive again,” Self said of the league race.
Junior Jalen Wilson said he’s eager to start conference play.
“I approach it like a new season, 0-0,” Wilson said. “As far as our record ... we’ve got to come in here and represent not only what we do this year but what teams have done in the past, win Big 12 championships. I’m excited for the new start of the season. Starting off at home on New Year’s Eve will be pretty cool.”
Former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski recently praised the Big 12 during his weekly podcast, one that featured Self as guest.
“Coaching in the last decade, I thought your league was as tough as any and coaches in your league better than most,” Hall of Fame coach Krzyzewski said. “You (KU) have dominated the league in a way no one has dominated a league ever.”
KU, which won the league title last season, has won the conference 16 times in Self’s first 19 seasons in Lawrence. The Jayhawks won an NCAA record 14 straight Big 12 titles from 2005 to 2018.
The Big 12 soon will undergo massive change with Texas and OU set to leave the conference and join the SEC on July 1, 2025 (if not sooner). BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF will join the Big 12 this July.
“I don’t think anybody is happy that we are losing OU and Texas,” Self said on Coach K’s podcast. “I do think from a competitive standpoint getting Houston, Cincinnati, BYU and Central Florida is probably a little bit better than what people think.
- “Johnny (Dawkins, seventh-year at UCF) is obviously doing a great job. That’s a good addition,” Self stated. UCF is 9-3 this season.
- “Cincinnati traditionally would be a good addition,” Self added of the Bearcats who won the NCAA title in both 1961 and ’62 and are 9-4 this season. Wes Miller is Cincinnati’s head coach.
- “BYU to me is one of the highest potential jobs,” Self stated, noting the Cougars (currently led by coach Mark Pope) tended to have experienced rosters.
- “Houston, … to me what Kelvin (Sampson, ninth-year coach) has done the last three to four years, they are not going away,” Self continued. “I think our league will be good. It’s been so good in the past. I don’t think we’ll take a step back.”
Krzyzewski said adding BYU, Cincinnati, UCF and Houston, “expands the footprint of your conference — time zones, areas. I think it’s a heck of a move.”
This story was originally published December 27, 2022 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Big 12 men’s basketball preview: Conference remains tough as ever, says KU’s Bill Self."
