You like winners? You like playmakers? You like competitive balance? You like the Big 12.
With the top two teams in the country currently residing in the Big 12, plus two additionally ranked teams in #11 Kansas State and #24 Texas Tech, the Big 12 isn't just top heavy, it is loaded from head to toe. Trailing on the Big East's 7 teams (out of that conference's 16 members) in the latest realtimerpi.com Top 50, the Big 12's 6 representatives make up half the conference. Nine teams are in the Top 100. Ten have at least 10 wins.
You like scoring? Four conference teams (Kansas, Texas, Kansas State, Missouri) are in the top 13 nationally in scoring offense. Individually, 14 players are averaging 15 points or more a game and 37 put up double digits per night.
Offense not your thing? According to kenpom.com, the Big 12 has 3 of the top 4 teams defensively in the nation in #1 Texas, #3 Kansas and #4 Missouri.
And the future is bright for the conference. Of the Nation's Top 25 Freshmen (h/t Rock M Nation), according to Basketball Prospectus, 6 are made up of Big 12 rookies (#2 Xavier Henry, #6 Tiny Gallon, #11 Avery Bradley, #15 Alec Burks, #17 Michael Dixon, #25 Eshaunte Jones).
So what else do you need? Rebounding? Of the 28 players nationally who average 10 or more rebounds per game, 4 reside in the Big 12.
So when you look at the depth of the conference, scoring offenses, shut down defenses, and all the fresh blood that will only get better as the year progresses, it would be a hard case to argue that the Big 12 isn't the best conference in the country. PERIOD.
Evan Pfaff, Senior Editor
Twitter @MizzouHoops
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