This year the Big 12 will have the best basketball conference in the nation. They will do this even with the best basketball team (Kansas) having a projected down year. You have three maybe four teams that could make it to the final four (Kansas, Baylor, Kansas State, and Missouri). The only threat to the conference will be the NCAA clearinghouse in regards to Josh Selby (#1 player high school player in the country) and Tony Mitchell (#14 ranked player in the country). It does not look good for both of these players to make it to Kansas and Missouri. Even with these two fantastic players not making it the conference will be deep and quite talented. The ESPN rundown of the conference is a great example of what the Big 12 is going to bring in basketball this year.

10 Players to Watch

Jacob Pullen
Curtis Kelly
Josh Selby
Marcus Morris
Kim English
LaceDarius Dunn
Perry Jones
Jordan Hamilton
Cory Joseph
David Loubeau

Jacob Pullen leading the list is a dynamic scorer, good rebounder and passer, and a great leader. The success for the Kansas State team is going to ride on his shoulders. You have two incredible scores in Kim English, Jordan Hamilton, and LaceDarius Dunn. There are rebounding machines in Cutis Kelly, Marcus Morris, and David Loubeau. Rounding out the list are freshmen Josh Selby, Tony Mitchell, Perry Jones,  and Cory Joseph.

Fran Fraschilla Big 12 Prediction

Kansas
Kansas State
Missouri
Baylor
Texas
Texas A&M
Oklahoma State
Texas Tech
Colorado
Nebraska
Oklahoma
Iowa State

The 1-4 are interchangeable as any team can take the top spot a top the big 12 this year. Next we are followed by Texas, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma State. I would consider Texas to be the top of these teams with A&m and OK state to be interchangeable. The only problem is with this bottom tier of teams. While they are talented enough to beat one of the elite teams on any given night they lack the consistency that is required over the season.

UPDATE

The preseason coaches poll for the Big 12 came out and a surprise is that Missouri is picked fifth in the poll. Not a surprise is that Kansas State and Kansas are one and two respectively. I personally don’t agree with this list and with LaceDarius Dunn being suspended that will drop the Baylor Bears down in the rankings. I would have Kansas State, Kansas, and Missouri as the first three teams; followed by Texas and Baylor and then leave the rest as is.

Pl.            Team (First Place)                Points

1.             Kansas State (10)                 119

2.             Kansas (2)                             109

3.             Texas                                      99

4.             Baylor                                    96

5.             Missouri                                82

6.             Texas A&M                            69

7.             Texas Tech                            52

8.             Oklahoma State                   51

9.             Colorado                               46

10.          Nebraska                               31

11.          Oklahoma                             27

12.          Iowa State                             11

Boys
NON-REGION
George Junior 55, General McLane 52

Girls
REGION 1
Kennedy Catholic 55, Farrell 29
Commodore Perry 58, Rocky Grove 38
Jamestown 44, West Middlesex 37
REGION 2
Greenville 31, Mercer 28
Sharon 51, Sharpsville 39
Reynolds 48, Lakeview 29
REGION 3
Linesville 59, Conneaut Lake 35
Conneaut Valley 28, Cochranton 22
Eisenhower 33, Youngsville 11
REGION 4
Northwestern 58, Iroquois 34
Seneca 60, Maplewood 29
Cambridge Springs 60, Union City 35
REGION 5
Meadville 70, Oil City 29
Franklin 70, Grove City 36
Slippery Rock 78, Titusville 51
REGION 6
North East 64, Corry 51
General McLane 63, Fairview 32
Harbor Creek 43, Fort LeBoeuf 29
Mercyhurst Prep 65, Warren 34
REGION 7
East 49, Strong Vincent 30
McDowell 62, Central Tech 37

Click below for Thursday’s state scores:

BOYS
Altoona 56, Williamsport 49
Bartram 66, Abraham Lincoln 60
Bethlehem Catholic 48, Boyertown 45
Bible Baptist 42, Hershey Christian 32
Blue Mountain 45, North Schuylkill 33
Brockway 59, Sheffield 57, OT
Cameron County 62, Austin 38
Central Bucks East 70, Phoenixville 67
Central Dauphin East 48, State College 39
Chester 86, Academy Park 44
Columbia Montour Vo-Tech 66, Bloomsburg Christian 34
Communications Tech 51, Fitzsimons 50
Coudersport 43, Northern Potter 39
Cranberry 66, Moniteau 62
Dobbins 77, West Philadelphia 70
Engineering And Science 55, University City 54
Frankford 64, Fels 54
Friends Select 60, Plumstead Christian 46
George Jr. Republic 55, General McLane 52
Germantown Friends 52, Valley Forge Military 51
Glen Mills 60, Chichester 58
Gratz 68, Overbrook 40
Imhotep Charter 67, Mastery Charter North 26
Latin Charter 74, Roxborough 50
Lititz Christian 51, Carson Long 46
Lower Moreland 63, MaST Charter 36
Marian Catholic 56, Pottsville Nativity 52
Minersville 52, Lourdes Regional 38
North Clarion 80, East Forest 46
Paul Robeson 77, Parkway West 72
Philadelphia Electrical 72, Germantown 55
Philadelphia George Washington 73, Philadelphia Central 48
Philadelphia MC&S 82, Sankofa Freedom 42
Pine Grove 53, Panther Valley 42
Port Allegany 52, Otto-Eldred 40
Prep Charter 46, Del-Valley Charter 44
Shenandoah Valley 68, Weatherly 35
Smethport 59, Oswayo 45
Solebury 55, Camden, N.J. 46
Southern Lehigh 55, Salisbury 42
Springfield Delco 65, Radnor 42
Tamaqua 72, Jim Thorpe 69
Vaux 78, Freire Charter 54
Waynesboro 47, Susquenita 21
Williams Valley 58, Schuylkill Haven 45
World Communications 58, Lamberton 45

GIRLS

Aliquippa 65, New Brighton 47
Archbishop Carroll 68, Little Flower 22
Archbishop Wood 61, Neumann-Goretti 22
Bald Eagle Area 52, Penns Valley 24
Bellefonte 41, Indian Valley 27
Berwick 49, Wilkes-Barre Coughlin 22
Bethel Park 67, Baldwin 50
Bible Baptist 47, Hershey Christian 38
Boyertown 45, Padua Academy, Del. 32
Cambridge Springs 60, Union City 35
Canon-McMillan 47, Peters Township 40
Cardinal O’Hara 64, Conwell-Egan 20
Central Mountain 53, Clearfield 11
Charleroi 51, Bentworth 35
Chester 78, Academy Park 42
Commodore Perry 58, Rocky Grove 38
Conneaut Valley 28, Cochranton 22
Council Rock South 51, Wissahickon 22
Cranberry 50, Clarion 33
Delco Christian 43, New Hope-Solebury 31
DuBois Central Catholic 70, Sheffield 9
Dunmore 38, Valley View 34
Eisenhower 33, Youngsville 11
Everett 50, Northern Bedford 46
Fannett-Metal 52, Forbes Road 35
Forest City 51, Mountain View 30
Franklin 70, Grove City 36
General McLane 63, Fairview 32
Girard College 49, Plumstead Christian 27
Greenville 31, Mercer 28
Greenwood 59, Midd-West 47
Halifax 45, Newport 37
Hampton 45, Highlands 29
Harbor Creek 43, Fort Leboeuf 29
Harmony 41, Ridgway 37
Hempfield Area 60, Latrobe 30
High Point 28, Calvary Baptist 24
Holy Redeemer 53, Hazleton Area 33
Honesdale 68, Scranton 38
Hopewell 58, Central Valley 32
Huntingdon 54, Philipsburg-Osceola 49

Jamestown 44, West Middlesex 37
Kennedy Catholic 55, Farrell 29
Keystone Oaks 65, Carlynton 43
Kiski Area 62, Connellsville 26
Lackawanna Trail 55, Blue Ridge 36
Lakeland 42, Elk Lake 25
Lehigh Valley Christian 50, Salem Christian 27
Lewistown 59, Juniata 32
Linden Hall 34, Lititz Christian 31
Line Mountain 70, East Juniata 31
Linesville 59, Conneaut Lake 35
Lower Merion 49, Haverford 42
Lower Moreland 33, Christopher Dock 29
Mars 42, Knoch 30
Meadville 70, Oil City 29
Mercyhurst Prep 65, Warren 34
Mid Valley 80, Western Wayne 40
Mohawk 53, Shenango 31
Monessen 56, Geibel Catholic 17
Montour 55, South Fayette 31
Montrose 50, Susquehanna 20
Morrisville 42, Bristol 25
Mount Lebanon 83, Upper St. Clair 40
Mount Pleasant 55, Greensburg Salem 21
Neshannock 54, Laurel 28
North East 64, Corry 51
Northern Lehigh 55, Palmerton 41
Northwestern 58, Iroquois 34
Northwestern Lehigh 46, Catasauqua 20
Old Forge 41, Carbondale 24
Penn Charter 58, Academy of Notre Dame, Mass. 45
Phila-Montgomery Christian 31, Jenkintown 24
Philadelphia Bishop McDevitt 57, Hallahan 43
Reynolds 48, Lakeview 29
Riverside 47, Scranton Holy Cross 44
Rochester 49, Cornell 34
Saucon Valley 76, Palisades 54
Scranton Prep 36, North Pocono 28
Seneca 60, Maplewood 29
Serra Catholic 44, Clairton 23
Seton-LaSalle 65, Bishop Canevin 40
Shady Side Academy 61, Springdale 44
Shaler 72, Pine-Richland 56
Sharon 51, Sharpsville 39
Slippery Rock 78, Titusville 51
South Park 50, Thomas Jefferson 45
Southern Fulton 48, McConnellsburg 28
Steel Valley 68, Southmoreland 20
Sun Valley 38, Oxford 24
Susquenita 49, Waynesboro 43
Trinity 54, McGuffey 47
Tussey Mountain 66, Hyndman 26
Union Area 51, Western Beaver 40
Upper Dauphin 59, Millersburg 49
Villa Joseph Marie 35, Merion Mercy 23
Vincentian Academy 53, Pittsburgh North Catholic 48
Wallenpaupack 50, Delaware Valley 43
Washington 57, Burgettstown 31
West Mifflin 45, Ringgold 34
West Scranton 54, Abington Heights 45
Wilson 49, Notre Dame-Green Pond 32
York 63, York Country Day 23