At first glance, the Big 12 is off to a great start in basketball and seems to be poised for a much stronger season than we saw in football. Eleven of the twelve teams are above .500. Upon further review, only half the league can claim wins over other teams from power conferences. Most teams are piling up wins just not quality ones.
We've ranked the top 25 teams in college football based on a resume methodology. Let's take a first glance at each basketball resume through 12/12. Quality wins in basketball are much tougher to define than in football. There are far more quality opponents in non power conferences (Memphis, Gonzaga, Wichita State) but for now I am just looking at opponents from BCS conferences. Teams are listed based on overall resume strength. As always, your input is appreciated.
Oklahoma State 11-0
Against BCS Opponents: 2-0. Wins over Syracuse and Auburn.
Kansas 8-2
Against BCS Opponents: 2-1. Wins over Florida and USC. Loss to DePaul. Bad loss to Oral Roberts.
Texas 6-2
Against BCS Opponents: 2-1. Wins over St. John's and LSU. Losses to Mich. State and Gonzaga.
Missouri 9-1
Against BCS Opponents: 1-1. Win over Arkansas. Loss to Purdue.
Kansas State 6-3
Against BCS Opponents: 1-1. Win over Rutgers. Loss to Cal. Bad losses to New Mexico and Colorado State.
Iowa State 6-3
Against BCS Opponents: 1-1. Win over Minnesota. Loss to Iowa. Bad losses to Northern Iowa and Drake.
Texas A&M 8-2
Against BCS Opponents: 0-2. Losses to LSU and UCLA.
Baylor 6-2
Against BCS Opponents: 0-1. Loss to South Carolina. Also lost to Gonzaga.
Nebraska 5-2
Against BCS Opponents: 0-2. Losses to Rutgers and Oregon.
Oklahoma 5-3
Against BCS Opponents: 0-2. Lose to Purdue and Villanova. Also lost to Memphis.
Texas Tech 8-3
Against BCS Opponents: 0-2. Losses to Marquette and Stanford. Also lost to Air Force.
Colorado 3-6
Against BCS Opponents: 0-0. Lost to Air Force and New Mexico. Bad losses to Wyoming, Pepperdine, Colorado State, and UNC-Wilmington.
It is very early in the season, probably too early to rank teams this way, but this a blog and it's worth a glance. Based on their undefeated mark and their neutral court win over Syracuse, Oklahoma State currently sits atop the rankings. Kansas definitely has the most talent but already has two black eyes on their resume to go along with their win over #1 Florida. The young Longhorns are highly ranked as well based on their tough non-conference schedule. Texas still has games with Arkansas, Tennessee, and Villanova. A&M, while highly ranked in the polls, hasn't beaten anyone. They get one more chance to beat a team from a power conference when they visit Auburn next week.
--AW--