4B / SPORTS / THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
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Kansas State's Samaruel puts up a shot under pressure from Texas' Damion James Monday. The Wildcats aren't a top-10 team because there's not enough depth in the front court, and players Dенисе Clemente and Jacob Pullen can only do so much.
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BIG 12 STOCK REPORT
How to invest in tough basketball conference
BY TIM DWYER
tdwyer@kansan.com
twitter/t/ Dwyer
The Big 12 Stock Report will look at where teams stand at this point in the conference season based on the general perception of each team. Great te ams can have a sell rating if public perception is too high, and likewise, bad teams can get a buy rating if they have what it takes to make a leap. Without further ado: the Big 12 Stock Report, in order of conference ranking as of Wednesday morning.
Two teams are ranked in the top four in scoring offense and scoring defense in the Big 12. One is the Jayhawks. They beat the other by 19 points Monday. There's not a more complete team in the nation
KANSAS (19-1, 5-0): BUY
right now, especially with the return of Cole Aldrich to his 2008-09 form. If Kansas can hold off Kansas State in the Sunflower
Showdown next Saturday (no easy task), the layhawks will reclaim the No. 1 spot in the rankings.
TEXAS (17-2, 3-1): HOLD
It's not hard to like the Longhorns. They've got a couple All-America candidates in Damion James and Dexter Pittman. They boast a pair of electric freshmen in Avery Bradley and Jordan Hamilton. That's the shooting guard through the center position taken care of.
Problem is, there's nothing to love about Texas'
point guard play. Unless any of the trio of JCovan Brown, Jai Lucas or Dogus Balbay makes significant unforeseen improvement, the Longhorns are not a Final Four team. Their No. 6 ranking seems about right.
KANSAS STATE (17-3,
4-2): SELL
The Wildcats got a phenomenal victory last week when they knocked off then No.1 Texas. Then they laid an egg over the weekend, letting Oklahoma State come into Manhattan and sneak out with a
victory. They bounced back with a victory at Baylor Tuesday, but they aren't a top-10 team at
OKLAHOMA STATE (15-4,
3-2) HOLD
the end of the season. There's just not enough depth in the front-court. Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen can only do so much.
The Cowboys are in a good place right now, following an impressive
victory against Kansas State just a matter of days after Texas lost in the same
building. Oklahoma State has a tough stretch ahead — vs. Texas A&M, at Missouri and vs. Texas — but they could take two of those three. If it does, this Cowboys team is for real. If not, it might be time to find a new investment.
MISSOURI (15-5, 3-2):
Missouri's reputation just took a punch in the mouth with the whooping it took Monday at Kansas. It'd be a fool that slept on the Tigers in the next go-round, though as Missouri did.
much stronger at home. In road and neutral site games this year, the
Tigers are 3-5. They haven't lost at home, though, in almost two years, a stretch spanning a second-in-the nation streak of 31 games.
TEXAS A&M (14-5, 3-2):
SELL
It'd be easy to look at the Aggies' overtime loss to Texas and think they have what it takes to be a player in the conference. All five Aggie losses are to tournament contenders, but there's not a defining victory
on the resume yet. Especially without senior guard Derrick Roland, who was lost earlier in the year to a grusome season-ending leg injury, things will only get harder from here out for Mark Turgeon's squad.
BAYLOR (15-4, 2-3): BUY
Eventually, the ball is going to bounce in the Bears' favor. Against Kansas, LaceDarius Dunn had a monster game, but Sherron Collins would not be denied. Against Kansas State, Tweety Carter had
Saturday at Texas, but the tide will turn around for this talented Baylor team. There may be no more than two losses left on the schedule.
TEXAS TECH (14-5, 2-3):
tal game,
but Jacob
Pullen was
two late free
throws better.
It might
not happen
game losing streak after a Wednesday night loss at Texas. Pat Knight very well could be
Sell and sell quickly. The Red Raiders are knee-deep in an eight-
on the hot seat by the end of the conference season. John Roberson's tiny shoulders can only carry so much weight.
OKLAHOMA (11-8, 2-3):
SELL
Oklahoma's no good away from home — 1-5, with the victory com
ing to overtime at 10-9 Utah — and it doesn't get enough production from inside. Tiny Gallon is too inconsistent to be relied on. He can be
brilliant (13 points, in 18 rebounds in a 62-57 victory against Oklahoma State), but also silent (five points, four boards in 16 foul-plagued minutes in a 75-65 loss at Texas Tech).
IOWA STATE (12-7, 1-3):
Six of the Cyclones' seven losses have come to teams that are at worst making a run at the NCAA
tournament,
and the seventh was two
days after their
third-leading
scorer, Lucca
Staiger, unexpectedly left the team to play professionally in Germany. They were a little shell-shocked, and understandably so. They still have Craig Brackins and Marquis Gilstrap, though.
COLORADO (10-9, 1-4):
public perception. These Buffaloes are better than in years past, and jeff Bzdelik has
No, seriously. Remember, this is a rating of the team against the
them headed in the right direction in the future. The win against Baylor was particularly impressive, and even the losses — to Kansas State by six, at Texas A&M by four, staying within 20 of Texas — have looked better.
There's just nothing exciting about this team. This would be a sell, but there's really not a whole lot
lower to go on the totem pole for Nebraska. They're scrapy, and they have, surprisingly, the best
NEBRASKA (12-7, 0-4):
HOLD
scoring defense in the conference, but that's largely a product of Doc Sadler's painstakingly slow Big Ten style of basketball. That's reflected in their league worst scoring offense.
- Edited by Jesse Rangel