Big 12 Weekend Rewind

What did we learn:

• That Texas is the toast of the Big 12 (pun intended). 
• I was going to lead off by saying that Texas is really good after its victory against Missouri on Saturday. Then the Longhorns decided to put a historic beat down on their rival's home court. After beating #16 Texas A&M, 69-49, to improve to 7-0 in conference, I think it's time to look at the Longhorns as a legitimate national championship contender. I don't see the Horns losing any of its remaining games with the toughest one being its last, at Baylor. That would put the Horns at 28-3 (16-0) heading into the Big 12 tournament and a legitimate #1 seed come NCAA tournament time. 
• That it is really hard to win on the road in the Big 12, unless you're Texas or Kansas. 
• Before getting punked on its home court, the Aggies were held to two field goals in the final ten minutes in Lincoln, falling to Nebraska, 57-48. Baylor also held serve at home, 70-66, after falling behind by as much as 17 against Colorado to hand the Buffs their fourth straight conference loss after starting off 3-0. Missouri remained winless on the road in conference after losing to the Longhorns in Austin, although no one will fault it for that, and Kansas State was absolutely walloped in Lawrence, 90-66. Lastly, Texas Tech held serve at home as well in an overtime thriller against Oklahoma State; making home teams 5-1 on the weekend with Oklahoma being the lone road team to get a victory in another overtime game at Iowa State.
• That Texas Tech and Oklahoma are not as bad as I thought they were coming into conference play. 
• When Mike Singletary isn't coaching the 49ers he is actually a fairly decent basketball player who makes the Red Raiders a tough team to beat. In all seriousness, before conference play began I really thought the Red Raiders were the worst team in the Big 12 and four games in they didn't do anything to change that opinion. But after a three game winning streak in which Singletary has averaged 24 points, I'm starting to think that getting a win in Lubbock won't be all that easy, unless you're Texas or Kansas of course. Oklahoma is also not as bad as I thought it was after winning its last three as well. The common component between the Red Raiders and Sooners, however, is that both have merely held on at home and the one road victory in the 3 game streak has been at measly Iowa State. 

Big 12 Power Rankings:

1. Texas 
2. Kansas 
3. Missouri 
4. Texas A&M 
5. Baylor 
6. Colorado 
7. Kansas State 
8. Nebraska 
9. Oklahoma 
10. Oklahoma State 
11. Texas Tech 
12. Iowa State 

Big Games of the Week:

• #3 Texas @ #16 Texas A&M: Obviously, I'm a day late on this one, but I thought if the Longhorns could go into College Station and beat A&M then I would label them the favorite to win the conference. Texas did not only win, it flat out dominated the Aggies and seem to me to be the clear favorite to win the league and are a legitimate national title contender after passing its last big test of the conference season. 
• #2 Kansas @ Texas Tech: I type this minutes before these two face off in Lubbock. I'm very interested to see if the Red Raiders are for real, and they don't have to win to prove that to me. If Tech can avoid being blown out by the Jayhawks then I will be impressed. It is going to take huge games from Singletary and John Roberson for them to even have a chance. I don't see it happening. Jayhawks win going away, 82-63.
• #15 Missouri @ Oklahoma State: Pending Missouri is able to arrive in time to play this Wednesday night showdown, this will be a huge game for the Tigers. Missouri is 0-3 on the road in conference and its only real road win of the year came against a lousy Oregon team, and the Tigers barely held on in that one. Missouri is the better team in this matchup and if it wants to be considered a legitimate contender it has to start winning road games like this one. Oklahoma State's Marshall Moses poses the biggest threat to the Tigers and is a double-double machine, but if Ricardo Ratliffe can get involved early and often then the Tigers should have no problems in this game. Lose this one and any thoughts of a top four league finish might go out the window and the Tigers will start to become apart of a conversation they don't want to be involved in; Bubble Watch. I think the Tigers avoid that and win comfortably, 76-64.