While most Texas Tech basketball fans were keeping a close eye on what happened for the Red Raiders in their dominant win over the Kansas State Wildcats, that wasn’t the only result that mattered in the Big 12 on Saturday.
Interestingly enough, the Kansas Jayhawks fell 84-68 against the Cincinnati Bearcats while the Houston Cougars also managed to lose against the likes of the Arizona Wildcats, which all helped reshape what the top tier of the Big 12 standings look like as we get closer and closer to the Big 12 tournament.
And of course, that 16-point Jayhawks loss to the Bearcats actually helped Texas Tech out a little bit when stacking the Red Raiders up against the rest of the conference. It is absolutely worth mentioning that Texas Tech has snuck into a tie for third place in the Big 12 standings with that win over the K-State Wildcats and KU’s loss to the Bearcats.
Big 12 standing updates: Where is Texas Tech stacking up in the Big 12 after a 28-point crushing of Kansas State?
Here’s what things look like after an eventful weekend for the Big 12:
- Arizona Wildcats - 25-2 overall, 12-2 Big 12
- Houston Cougars - 23-4 overall, 11-3 Big 12
- Iowa State Cyclones - 23-4 overall, 10-4 Big 12
- Kansas Jayhawks - 20-7 overall, 10-4 Big 12
- Texas Tech Red Raiders - 20-7 overall, 10-4 Big 12
- BYU Cougars - 20-7 overall, 8-6 Big 12
- UCF Knights - 19-7 overall, 8-6 Big 12
- TCU Horned Frogs - 17-10 overall, 7-7 Big 12
- West Virginia Mountaineers - 16-11 overall, 7-7 Big 12
- Cincinnati Bearcats 15-12 overall, 7-7 Big 12
- Colorado Buffaloes - 15-12 overall, 5-9 Big 12
- Arizona State Sun Devils - 14-13 overall, 4-10 Big 12
- Oklahoma State Cowboys - 16-11 overall, 4-10 Big 12
- Baylor Bears - 14-13 overall, 4-10 Big 12
- Kansas State Wildcats - 11-16 overall, 2-12 Big 12
- Utah Utes - 10-17 overall, 2-12 Big 12
It’s not surprising that Arizona has gotten to this point where the Wildcats now stand alone at the top of the Big 12. They’re in the driver’s seat and have bounced back nicely after losing to the Red Raiders. Which, speaking of bouncing back, I don’t think enough can be said for how dominant Texas Tech looked as it worked to respond to losing JT Toppin for the rest of the season.
Truly, Texas Tech is in a decent position if the Red Raiders can continue to perform at a high level as they did against one of the worst teams in the Big 12. Should Texas Tech show up against the likes of Iowa State and play to its full potential, then the Red Raiders might just be just fine. We’ll see soon enough though.