This Week in the Big 12: Yes, Baylor is No. 1. But who is number two?
With four games remaining, second-place is knotted up.
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When Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly was asked a question last week about how, in the Big 12, anyone can beat anyone, he had to interject.
“Except Baylor,” he pointed out with a laugh.
Yep. Except Baylor.
With their 80-40 domination of Kansas on Thursday night, the Bears (14-0 in conference) already wrapped up their ninth straight Big 12 title. And no one in conference has even played them terribly close.
More from Big 12
- Your Day in Women’s Basketball, November 2: Shakeup in the ACC with Bollin commit, UNC retool
- Your Day in Women’s Basketball, October 21: Former Texas Tech coach Stollings files lawsuit
- Your Day in Women’s Basketball, August 9: Taurasi to play again, but when?
- Your Day in Women’s Basketball, August 4: Wubble Trouble for the Liberty
- Baylor adds UCLA transfer Jaden Owens
Baylor is inarguably the best team in the Big 12 and arguably the best team in the country. But what about second place?
Fourteen games through an 18-game schedule, there is a three-team knot for second place at 10-4: West Virginia, Texas and Iowa State.
While you don’t hang banners for finishing second, it’s far from worthless. And it’s worthwhile in one major way — the teams that finish second and third get to avoid the Bears in the Big 12 tournament until the championship game.
Each of the three teams vying for second place has lost their matchup with Baylor and has one more remaining, so they’re on an even playing field there.
ISU and WVU have lost to the usual suspects — to Texas, each other, and at TCU, fifth in the conference. But Texas has been snakebitten by two losses to sixth-place Kansas State. With four games remaining, who is most likely to grab second place? Is it No. 19 Texas? No. 20 Iowa State?
Actually, unranked WVU might be the favorite (or second favorite, rather). The Mountaineers have three quite winnable games against the conference’s bottom half before facing Baylor in their season finale, while Texas and ISU must play each other on March 2. Plus, the Longhorns have to play at TCU.
In the event of a tie for second place, the two team’s head-to-head results will be taken into account. If those results are split (which is likely) then, per the Big 12: “Each team’s record versus the team occupying the highest position in the final regular season standings, and then continuing down through the standings until one team gains an advantage.”
The stakes aren’t terribly high, but when the final stretch affects Big 12 seeding — which could affect NCAA seeding — it means quite a bit. And while the battle for second place is up in the air, one thing is for sure: it won’t be Baylor.