Big 12 Basketball Power Rankings: Enjoy The Christmas Break

SALT LAKE CITY — We’re one week away from tipping off the conference portion of the men’s Big 12 basketball season.

With a 20-game league schedule for the new-look 16-team conference, Big 12 play will begin a week earlier than usual. The action begins next Monday, December 30.

To prepare for the gauntlet of Big 12 play, 15 of the league’s 16 teams are taking Christmas week off. The only team in action is Baylor. And they will host a game against an NCCAA team called Arlington Baptist on December 27.

Safe to say, it’s a light week.

The KenPom metrics currently rank the Big 12 as the third-best conference in college basketball. Big 12 continues to go back and forth with the Big Ten for the second spot.

The SEC is running away with the No. 1 spot as they have 13 teams in the top 45 of the NET rankings.

Local Big 12 teams BYU and Utah enter league play with 9-2 and 8-3 records, respectively.

Despite the strong records, both teams leave some mystery entering conference action as they played weak non-conference schedules. Utah’s out-of-league slate was the third worst in college basketball at No. 362.

BYU’s wasn’t much tougher at No. 350.

Utah opens its inaugural Big 12 season at Baylor on December 31 in Waco. BYU’s Big 12 lid-lifter will be against Big 12 newcomer Arizona State on New Year’s Eve in Provo.

Big 12 Basketball Power Rankings: Week Eight Edition

Take a look at the week eight Big 12 basketball power rankings.

Previous Power Rankings

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 |

1. Iowa State (10-1, 0-0 Big 12)

Last week’s power ranking: No. 1

Last Week

• Iowa State 99, Morgan State 72

This Week

• No Games

2. Kansas (9-2, 0-0 Big 12)

Last week’s power ranking: No. 2

Last Week

• Kansas 87, Brown 53

This Week

• No Games

3. Houston (8-3, 0-0 Big 12)

Last week’s power ranking: No. 3

Last Week

• Houston 78, Toledo 49
• Houston 87, Texas A&M Corpus Christie 51

This Week

• No Games

4. Baylor (7-3, 0-0 Big 12)

Last week’s power ranking: No. 4

Last Week

• No Games

This Week

• Friday, December 27: vs. Arlington Baptist

5. Cincinnati (10-1, 0-0 Big 12)

Last week’s power ranking: No. 6 (Up 1)

Last Week

• Cincinnati 66, Dayton 59 (Neutral)
• Cincinnati 84, Grambling State 49

This Week

• No games

6. West Virginia (9-2, 0-0 Big 12)

Last week’s power ranking: No. 5 (Down 1)

Last Week

• West Virginia 67, Mercyhurst 46

This Week

• No games

7. Texas Tech (9-2, 0-0 Big 12)

Last week’s power ranking: No. 7

Last Week

• Texas Tech 101, Lamar 57

This Week

• No games

8. BYU (9-2, 0-0 Big 12)

Last week’s power ranking: No. 8

Last Week

• BYU 103, Florida A&M 57

This Week

• No games

9. Arizona State (9-2, 0-0 Big 12)

Last week’s power ranking: No. 9

Last Week

• Arizona State 78, UMass 62 (Road Game)

This Week

• No games

10. Arizona (6-5, 0-0 Big 12)

Last week’s power ranking: No. 11 (Up 1)

Last Week

• Arizona 96, Samford 64
• Arizona 94, Central Michigan 41

11. Colorado (9-2, 0-0 Big 12)

Last week’s power ranking: No. 9 (Down 2)

Last Week

• Colorado 79, Bellarmine 55

This Week

• No games

12. UCF (9-2, 0-0 Big 12)

Last week’s power ranking: No. 12

Last Week

• UCF 86, Jacksonville 66

This Week

• No games

13. Utah (8-3, 0-0 Big 12)

Last week’s power ranking: No. 13

Last Week

• Utah 89, Florida A&M 59
• Iowa 95, Utah 88 (Sioux Falls, SD)

This Week

• No games

14. TCU (7-4, 0-0 Big 12)

Last week’s power ranking: No. 15 (Up 1)

Last Week

• TCU 82, Montana State 48

This Week

• No games

15. Oklahoma State (8-3, 0-0 Big 12)

Last week’s power ranking: No. 14 (Down 1)

Last Week

• Oklahoma State 66, Tarleton State 61
• Oklahoma State 86, Oral Roberts 74

This Week

• No games

16. Kansas State (6-5, 0-0 Big 12)

Last week’s power ranking: No. 16

Last Week

• Drake 73, Kansas State 70 (Kansas City)
• Wichita State 84, Kansas State 65 (Road Game)

This Week

• No games

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.

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