Big 12 Anonymous Player Survey: Who Will Win the League?

It’s time for the Big 12 basketball anonymous player survey! 

I talked to around 20 players at Big 12 Media Day in Kansas City and got their choices for Big 12 champion, favorite opposing coach in the league, arena with the meanest fans, and much more. 

Not every player wanted to answer every question, and I respect that, so not every category will have 20 responses. 

After 21 votes from the players, their preseason favorite to win the league is…Houston!

Houston – 7
Iowa State – 4
Kansas – 3
Baylor – 2
Arizona – 1
Colorado – 1
Oklahoma State – 1
Cincinnati – 1
Texas Tech – 1

“Houston. They’re just tough. Toughness wins games.”

“I’ll go with Houston. Defense wins games, and defense travels. You know they’re going to play defense.”

“Probably Iowa State. They have a great defensive scheme, and they’re very underrated.”

“Cincinnati. I just think they brought back a lot of pieces. They added a piece or two. And they have a coach that knows how to put them in the right spots.”

“Oklahoma State. Just random. They’re an underdog. I’m not picking the top seed. I want to pick somebody else.”

“I’ll go with Baylor. I feel like they have some good pieces. Coach Drew knows what he’s doing.”

“It’s hard to say. There’s a lot of talent in the Big 12. I can’t really pick a team. It might not be a team that you expect.”

I’ll continue giving you the rest of the survey over the upcoming weeks. Next up: Which coach would you most like to play for besides your own?

The Big 12 got some good news with the release of the latest College Football Playoff rankings. 

BYU climbed three spots to number six after barely surviving Utah. To be completely honest, I was shocked to see that. It’s led to another wave of national pundits talking down to the Cougars – and the rhetoric is getting stronger.

Here’s how you know the committee did a much better job in week two of the rankings: they reduced Paul Finebaum to near tears on ESPN’s Get Up Wednesday morning. 

Did he really just use a win at Kentucky as ammo for Georgia’s case to be higher than 12th? Just making sure my ears aren’t deceiving me…

Don’t worry, though, Paul. Fellow ESPN pundits are already firing up the propaganda machine to make sure a three-loss SEC team can get in. 

K-State and Colorado each climbed three spots to number 16 and 17, while Iowa State expectedly fell out after losing to Kansas. 

The move suggests that the Wildcats could get on the fringe of the at-large discussion even if they don’t make the Big 12 championship game. It would take a unique set of circumstances, including BYU beating Colorado in the conference title game. 

I don’t think it’s likely, but after seeing the movement this week, I'm more open to the slight possibility. 

The only other real at-large hope is unbeaten BYU losing a very close Big 12 championship game to Colorado or K-State.

Prefer Big 12 news in video form? Ready to take shots at your rival? Subscribe to my YouTube Channel and make sure to join in the live shows on Wednesdays and Sundays. Fans from all across the Big 12 and the college football world mix it up in the live chat while getting my take on the week’s news.

Big 12 Power Rankings

Here are your week twelve Big 12 power rankings! Please note: these are rankings, not power ratings. That means they are primarily based on what a team has accomplished so far this year – not necessarily how good I think the team is. You’ll see their ranking from last week in parentheses.

1. BYU (LW: 1)

2. Colorado (LW: 3)

3. K-State (LW: 4)

4. Iowa State (LW: 2)

5. Arizona State (LW: 7)

6. Texas Tech (LW: 5)

7. Baylor (LW: 8)

8. West Virginia (LW: 11)

9. TCU (LW: 10)

10. Cincinnati (LW: 6)

11. Houston (LW: 9)

12. Kansas (LW: 13)

13. UCF (LW: 12)

14. Arizona (LW: 15)

15. Utah (LW: 14)

16. Oklahoma State (LW: 16)

• You could argue either side of K-State and Iowa State right now, but I’m going with the Cats on the strength of their win over Colorado. Iowa State’s best Big 12 win is a beating Baylor at home, while the Wildcats are the only conference team to get Colorado – and they did it on the road. 

• West Virginia is a big mover after its road win at Cincinnati. I still have them below Baylor, based on the strength of a blowout win at Texas Tech that dwarfs any of the Mountaineers’ victories. Baylor’s three losses are to contenders Colorado, BYU, and Iowa State, with two coming on the road. 

• At the risk of Utah AD Mark Harlan interrupting my typing to tell you how disgusted he is by this, I had to bump Utah down to 15. How wild is it that the two teams I picked to play for the league title are the bottom two in the Big 12 in mid-November?