October 30, 2009

Jason King
Yahoo! Sports

Today, we continue our conference countdown. We're working backward, from our No. 31 league to the top league in the nation.

We started with the low-major leagues, unveiling three per day, and the mid-major leagues, unveiling two per day. Each of the top 12 leagues gets a day to itself.

"Shoot," Self said, "it's going to be hard enough just to win our own league."

After getting shut out of the Final Four last spring, the Big 12 has two championship contenders this season in Kansas and Texas. The depth hardly ends there. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State boast two of the nation's top recruiting classes, while Kansas State could be as good as it has been in decades.

Even conference bottom-feeders such as Texas Tech and Iowa State, which boasts an All-America candidate in junior forward Craig Brackins, should be much-improved, making the Big 12 one of the nation's toughest leagues.

"Year in and year out, our league is as good as any in the country," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "I don't see how anyone could argue that."

When it comes to sheer talent, Barnes' opinion is tough to debate. The No. 1 selection in the 2009 NBA draft (Oklahoma's Blake Griffin) came from the Big 12; the previous two years, the conference supplied the No. 2 pick (Kansas State's Michael Beasley in 2008 and Texas' Kevin Durant in 2007).

Still, Kansas is the only Big 12 school to win a national championship since the league's inception in 1996-97. Led by national player of the year candidates Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich, the Jayhawks are hoping to accomplish the feat again.

"The good thing about our league," Self said, "is that it always prepares us for March."

PROGRAM ON THE RISE
Oklahoma State: The Cowboys snuck into the NCAA tournament, where they defeated Tennessee and almost upset top-seeded Pittsburgh. Not bad for a team playing under a new coach in Travis Ford. Oklahoma State returns more than enough talent to contend for the No. 3 spot in the standings. Guard James Anderson is back after averaging 18.2 points as a sophomore. Senior Obi Muonelo has an 11.1 career scoring average. The Cowboys, who scored 80.9 points per game last season, also boast a seven-man recruiting class regarded as one of the nation's best.

PROGRAM ON THE DECLINE
Missouri: The Tigers capitalized on their first NCAA tournament bid in six years by upsetting Memphis and advancing to the Elite Eight, but the graduation of standout forwards Leo Lyons and DeMarre Carroll will make a repeat performance difficult. Missouri definitely has some nice pieces in Zaire Taylor, Kim English and defensive standout J.T. Tiller. But the Tigers lack the kind of scoring threats needed to defeat the Big 12's top teams. Missouri's recruiting efforts also have been discouraging, as the Tigers lost out to USF in the spring battle for standout junior college forward Jarrid Famous.

COACH ON THE HOT SEAT
Greg McDermott, Iowa State: No one is questioning whether McDermott can coach; he's actually regarded as one of the better Xs-and-Os men in the league. The problem is that he hasn't been able to lure many high-quality players to Ames. The talent disparity has been glaring on the court. Iowa State went 4-12 in the league last season, and only three of those losses came by single digits. With second-tier teams such as Baylor, Missouri and Nebraska rebuilding, the Cyclones need to move up a few spots in the Big 12 standings after finishing 10th last season.

BIGGEST SNEAKERS TO FILL
Forward Blake Griffin, Oklahoma: Freshman Keith Gallon should be the top player in an Oklahoma frontcourt that will have to adjust to life without Griffin, the No. 1 overall NBA draft pick. Gallon probably won't be able to match Griffin's national-best 14.4 rebounds per game. But at 6 feet 8 and 290 pounds, Gallon should do plenty of damage on the glass for a squad that doesn't return anyone who averaged more than 3.2 rebounds.

MOST OVERRATED PLAYER
Guard LaceDarius Dunn, Baylor: Dunn compiled one of the more embarrassing stats of the 2008-09 season. Through Baylor's first 15 league games, he had just one assist. Dunn's selfishness and ill-advised shot selection were among the main reasons Baylor was regarded as the Big 12's most disappointing team after going 5-11 in conference play. Dunn is arguably Baylor's most talented player, but he and his teammates need to play with more discipline.

MOST UNDERRATED PLAYER
Forward Bryan Davis, Texas A&M: He forced his way onto NBA scouts' radar during pre-draft workouts. Davis eventually opted to stay in school, where he's hoping a strong senior season will lead to a career at the next level. Davis, a rugged 6-9, 240-pounder, averaged 10.8 points and 6.5 boards last season and was a beast on the offensive glass.

Jason King is a college football and basketball writer for Yahoo! Sports. Send Jason a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.