ASU, BYU, Colorado, and Utah Straggling Behind Arizona

Arizona (6-1, 12-6)

The Wildcats dropped their first Big 12 game of the season on the road to Texas Tech. But the Cats followed it up with a 14-point win over Oklahoma State in Stillwater.

Caleb Love’s shooting efficiency against the Cowboys was a positive development. Arizona is very difficult to beat when Love is a high-volume, high-efficiency shooter.

Facing Colorado in Tucson on Saturday, the stage is set for another big game from UA’s leading scorer.

Iowa State then comes to McKale on Monday for a pivotal matchup in the Big 12 race.

BYU (3-4, 12-6)

BYU’s season is at a critical point. The Cougars are 3-4 in the Big 12 with a NET Ranking of 43.

That puts the Cougars on the Bubble with a winnable two-game homestand upcoming. Beating both Baylor and Cincinnati in Provo would put BYU into the field.

Joe Lunardi currently projects seven teams from the Big 12 will receive bids. The Cougars are currently eighth in the league’s standings.

The upcoming homestand is massive. Dropping one or more of these games would significantly decrease BYU’s NCAA Tournament hopes.

Utah (3-4, 11-7)

Putting aside the 34-point loss to Houston on the road, Utah’s Big 12 season has completely turned around.

The Utes had a tough opening stretch to their Conference schedule, and a more poorly coached team might have collapsed.

However, Craig Smith led his team to three straight wins before this week’s blowout loss to the Cougars.

Still, there’s some momentum in Salt Lake City with a home stand against Baylor and Cincinnati upcoming.

And based on the way both of those teams have struggled at times this year, it’s reasonable to expect Utah to go 2-0.

Arizona State (2-5, 11-7)

Bobby Hurley and the Sun Devils saved their season with a road win over No. 23 West Virginia. The upset changes the outlook for the remainder of the year.

Now back onto the Bubble, ASU must keep winning games.

Freshman guard Joson Sanon has missed five of the last six contests and might be a difference-maker once he returns.

Until then, Arizona State will lean heavily into freshman forward Jayden Quaintance.

Averaging 16.6 ppg and 11 rebounds per game over the last three contests, Quaintance is arguably the key to ASU’s NCAA Tournament hopes.

Colorado (0-7, 9-9)

Is it too early to move on to next season? It’s a fair question to ask after Colorado has opened Big 12 play with seven straight losses.

At 0-7 in the league, the Buffaloes don’t look qualified to play in the Big 12.

It’s still early in the conference season, though, with Tuesday’s game in Boulder against Arizona State easily qualifying as a “must-win.”

If the Buffs can’t beat ASU at the CU Events Center, the possibility of going winless in the conference season becomes more realistic.

Other Big 12 Contenders

Houston (7-0, 15-3)

Kelvin Sampson and the Cougars are the Big 12’s lone remaining undefeated team.

At 15-3 overall, Houston is on track for a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The last time they lost a game was on November 30th. That’s 11 straight games the Cougars have won.

Joe Lunardi only projecting them as a 4-seed is criminal.

In no world should Kansas be projected as a higher seed matched up with the Jayhawks on Saturday. The opportunity for a statement win is here.

Iowa State (6-1, 16-2)

The Cyclones have a key road trip in Arizona this week.

Sweeping the desert schools would be a message to the rest of the league.

Iowa State questionably dropped a game to West Virginia on the road but then followed it up with a blowout win over UCF.

Somewhat of a wash, this week’s games against Arizona State and Arizona could be central to their Big 12 Regular Season title hopes.

Currently tied with Arizona in the standings, beating UA at McKale would separate ISU from Kansas, Texas Tech, and the Wildcats.

Kansas (5-2, 14-4)

Credit to the propaganda machine surrounding Kansas Basketball because this Jayhawks team is not nearly as strong as some say.

Currently projected as a 2-seed by Lunardi, it’s almost as if the actual product on the court doesn’t matter.

The Jayhawks were down by 14 points against TCU and have lost to the only decent Big 12 schools they have played. The league’s schedule itself even seems to favor KU.

With no road games against the Arizona schools, the scales are tipped in their favor in more ways than one.

Texas Tech (5-2, 14-4)

Coming off a consequential win over Arizona, the Red Raiders went into Cincinnati and beat the Bearcats.

Now on a three-game winning streak, Texas Tech must be considered a contender.

Facing Oklahoma State and TCU in Lubbock over the next few days, TTU should advance to 7-2 in league play and increase its projected seed in the NCAA Tournament.