What the Big 12 lost in terms of gridiron strength when Oklahoma and Texas bolted for the Southeastern Conference, it more than made up for that subtraction on the hardwood with additions to the league over the last couple of seasons.
New faces have made the conference deeper than it ever was, which is really saying something coming off a 2023-24 campaign that saw the Big 12 receive eight bids to the NCAA Tournament, tied with the SEC for the most.
The SEC is blowing everybody’s doors off this season with a dozen or more viable March Madness participants, but the Big 12 still has a chance to send eight or more teams dancing, and has a strong presence among the top 20 teams on NCAA futures boards.
Top Big 12 Odds
| Team | Odds at BetOnline |
|---|---|
| Houston Cougars | -175 |
| Arizona Wildcats | +330 |
| Texas Tech Red Raiders | +400 |
| Iowa State Cyclones | +2000 |
| Kansas Jayhawks | +4000 |
| Baylor Bears | +8000 |
*Odds from BetOnline (check our BetOnline Review)
BYU On March Madness Bubble
It was a year prior to the departure of the Longhorns and Sooners that the Big 12 began to grow its basketball depth. The addition of BYU, Cincinnati and UCF didn’t cause any major shockwaves when that expansion was first announced, but the ultimate effect has been positive.
For starters, it expanded the Big 12’s recruiting footprint by getting the league more exposure in areas more normally associated with the Big Ten, SEC and now defunct Pac-12.
Brigham Young has been the best of that trio since joining the league, and 1st-year head coach Kevin Young is looking to take the Cougars back to the NCAA Tournament after going as a No. 6 seed a year ago.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has BYU listed as part of his ‘first four out’ in the latest bracketology. The Cougars stand 15-6 overall, covering the NCAAB odds in 12 of their 21 games and a level 10-10-1 in the totals column.
‘Zona Leads Quartet of Big 12 Newcomers
Landing a quartet from the Pac-12 hasn’t shaped up pretty much as predicted back in October. Top sportsbooks set the bar high for Arizona by listing the Wildcats among the favorites to cut down the Big 12 nets in Kansas City, and the Wildcats have certainly followed through with a shared hold at the top of the league standings with Houston.
Those same oddsmakers didn’t expect much out of Arizona State, Colorado and Utah. With the exception of the Sun Devils flirting on the bubble, that trio has lived up to those expectations.
Arizona got off to a very poor start, malingering to a 4-5 record through its first nine games and wilting to a 1-3 record in neutral-site affairs. Tommy Lloyd, now in his fourth season in Tucson, then challenged his Sun Devils who have responded by winning 11 of 12.
That lone defeat was a disappointing performance at Texas Tech, but the Sun Devils have been at their best against ranked conference foes. Arizona is a perfect 4-0 in those contests, and has made friends with bettors by beating the spread in 7 of the last 9 trips to the floor.
Texas Tech Playing Role of Spoiler
Houston, Iowa State and Texas Tech join Arizona as the crème de la crème of the Big 12. While Auburn and Duke have the chalkiest of futures odds to win the NCAA Championship at +400, Houston and Iowa State are close behind.
Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars actually sit between the Tigers and Blue Devils in the latest Ken Pomeroy rankings. Houston just saw a 13-game winning streak come to an end with an upset loss in overtime to a Texas Tech team that was nearly a double-digit underdog.
The Cougars lead the nation in scoring defense, and are third in the country holding opponents to just 36.7 % shooting from the field.
Iowa State also recently suffered an upset at home to Kansas State, ending the Cyclones’ 29-game winning streak in Ames, and T.J. Otzelberger’s troops are trying to pull out of a 3-game skid that included road losses at Arizona and Kansas before the setback to the Wildcats.
Texas Tech qualifies as the sleeper here, and could really spoil the oddsmakers in the end. Grant McCasland’s gang has upset wins over both Houston and Arizona, lifting the Red Raiders from a 25/1 longshot to win the Big 12 back in October to 4/1 currently.
Kansas & Baylor Lurking in the Shadows
Here we are 700+ words into the piece and only now getting around to a couple of Big 12 squads that have won recent NCAA Championships. That would be the Kansas Jayhawks and Baylor Bears, for those keeping score at home.
Bill Self’s squad had that embarrassing loss in Allen Fieldhouse to West Virginia to begin the Big 12 season, plus another defeat in Lawrence to Houston in double overtime. As inconsistent as Kansas has played, it still draws a top-10 ranking at KenPom.
Scott Drew saw his team register a big win over Gonzaga to open the season, but the Bears have never been able to build off that triumph. Baylor still has two games against Houston, plus matchups against Arizona and Texas Tech to improve upon the 9-seed Lunardi present projects for the Bears.
