Now, more than ever, the Big 12 Conference needs a deep run in this NCAA tournament after last year’s debacle in which no teams from the conference made it past the Sweet 16.
Those headlines carried over to this year as the Big 12 went from being the king of college hoops to being rated as just the third best conference this year — despite the fact the conference has been the strongest conference from top to bottom over the past decade.
One bad tournament can wipe away years of success and reputation and that was evident this year as West Virginia was left out of the tournament, despite the Mountaineers having better metrics than all the teams who were on the bubble. Even all the national prognosticators and bracketologists had West Virginia safely in.
However, the committee, led by North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham — who served as the chairperson of the 12-person selection committee — gave the final spot to North Carolina (shocker) which went 1-12 in Quad 1 games and was part of the ACC Conference which had one of its worst years in two decades.
In addition, with the Big Ten and SEC Conferences doing all they can to take the power away from everyone else, the Big 12 Conference needs a very strong showing to help take the narrative back.
At this time last year, the Big 12 Conference was heading into the NCAA Tournament as the flagship conference, boasting a conference record eight teams in the tournament. Remember, this was the conference that reached the national title game in three consecutive seasons (2019-2022).
So just how bad was last year?
Despite sending a conference-tying 8 teams into the Big Dance, no teams from the conference made it past the Sweet 16. Even worse is that the Big 12 had four teams seeded in the 1-4 range. To not have any teams make it after the first weekend was humiliating.
Fast forward to this year and with the addition of four new schools to the conference, including powerhouse Arizona, the Big 12 was looking like it would be back on top of college basketball. However, after stumbling during non-conference play, in which the Big 12 went 2-14 against the SEC, the Big 12 conference has been in the shadows as it’s ranked just the third best conference this year.
This is why teams in the Big 12 need an impressive showing in the tournament so that the media, committees, and experts will put more respect on a conference that has shown that it deserves the benefit of the doubt.
A great showing can quickly erase the non-conference performance of the league. Much like college football, Ohio State, which went on to win the national championship, had fans clamoring to fire their head coach, however, after leading the team to the championship, fans quickly forgave Coach Ryan Day for losing to their rival at home.
With the SEC and Big Ten having more teams than anyone else in the tournament this year, the Big 12 needs to have a strong showing to help turn the narrative around that the Big 12 is the best basketball conference. Wins in March will do that and let’s hope the Big 12 doesn’t have a repeat of last year.
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