Toyminator's 1999 Big Twelve Conference Preview

The Big Twelve is coming off a down year, mostly because their big gun Kansas was busy rebuilding. Well, they're rebuilt and ready to sweep through the conference once more. The Jayhawks' promising young players, such as Jeff Boschee & Eric Chenowith, will be joined by exciting newbies in Luke Axtell & Nick Collison. Add in a little depth and you've got yourself a Top 10 team in the making. Yes, there will be some good competition in Oklahoma St. & Texas, each of which returns the majority of last year's players and should get into the Big Dance once again.

After the big 3, the rest of the conference falls off quite a bit. Oklahoma & Missouri have some talent, but are counting heavily on some newcomers to step in right away. Iowa St. is back in the picture with conference POY candidate Marcus Fizer and another boatload of newcomers. As for the rest of the teams, they're either rebuilding or just trying to build something. At least perennial cellar-dweller Baylor has hired a solid coach in Dave Bliss to help bring some respectability to that laughable program, so there might be a new team to place last in the conference this season!

ON THE RISE: Iowa St.
It's been a few years since the success of the Floyd/Willoughby/Cato teams, but the Cyclones may be ready to step back into the upper echelon of the conference. Led by one of the better frontcourts in the conference, Iowa St. hasn't had a problem rebounding or scoring inside. It's the backcourt that has been the problem. Well, they booted that thug Travis Spivey off the team and added a couple of big-time JUCO players who should make an impact this season. With the conference a little weak, this could be their year to surprise.

IN DECLINE: Kansas St.
I must give Coach Asbury a lot of credit for getting his Wildcats to overachieve the way they have the past few seasons. Unfortunately, the talent pool is starting to run thin. They only return 3 players from last season's squad that playerd on a regular basis, and none of them play PG or C. They'll have to rely on newcomers to fill those positions, along with most of the bench. Sure, they could be good, but the chances are slim that they will make the impact needed to make a run this season or next.

1. KANSAS

Strengths: Good rebounding team. Solid team defense. Balanced scoring. Good depth.
Weakness: Poor outside shooting team. FT shooting isn't good either.
Outlook: Strong finish last season silenced some critics who thought their reign was over. Ha, never!

2. OKLAHOMA ST.

Strengths: High scoring offense. Good 3-pt shooting team. Limit their turnovers. Lots of seniors!
Weakness: Team defense is suspect. Lack of inside scoring.
Outlook: Very similar to last season's team. Should be good, but must get some inside scoring to be taken seriously.

3. TEXAS

Strengths: Good inside scoring & rebounding. Solid team defense.
Weakness: Inconsistent backcourt. Poor 3-pt & FT shooting team. Little depth.
Outlook: Frontcourt is one of the country's best, so the backcourt must stabilize if they want to compete with Kansas.

4. OKLAHOMA

Strengths: Big frontline that rebounds well. Good team defense. Good 3-pt shooting team. Najera's toughness.
Weakness: Despite size, don't score too much inside. Struggle against quicker teams. Poor FT shooting team. PG?
Outlook: Despite a very limited offense, team's defense & experience should make them tough to beat.

5. MISSOURI

Strengths: Good team quickness. Good backcourt - deep & can hit the "3". Good team defense.
Weakness: Very small frontcourt. Poor rebounding and inside scoring. Very inexperienced.
Outlook: Snyder's got them excited, but we'll see if a 4-guard offense will stifle teams or get hammered inside.

6. IOWA ST.

Strengths: Excellent frontcourt, that can score & rebound. Solid team defense.
Weakness: Questionable backcourt. Poor outside shooting. Too many turnovers.
Outlook: Backcourt has to come through. If so, they could be a bubble team.

7. NEBRASKA

Strengths: Solid backcourt. Good shooting team. Good team defense.
Weakness: Little inside scoring. Poor FT shooting team. Too many turnovers.
Outlook: Lost a lot of key players, so newbies need to make an impact. Belcher needs to be healthy so they can score some points.

8. TEXAS TECH

Strengths: Very experienced. Inside/Outside game of Ellis & Young.
Weakness: Lousy team defense. Poor rebounding team. Way too many turnovers.
Outlook: Talent is here, so it's just a matter of actually playing some "D" and Young passing the ball to his own teammates!

9. KANSAS ST.

Strengths: Excellent team defense - led nation in opponents FG%. Good rebounding team.
Weakness: Questionable PG & C. Poor 3-pt shooting team. Too many turnovers.
Outlook: Groves, Reid & Kitt will need to carry this team, especially offensively. Continued tough "D" should help win a few.

10. COLORADO

Strengths: Very quick team. Force many turnovers.
Weakness: Poor rebounding team. Can't really shoot from anywhere on the court.
Outlook: Improving, but very slowly. Still looking for an offense that will put the ball through the basket.

11. BAYLOR

Strengths: Decent frontcourt. Stukes returning.
Weakness: Poor team defense. Poor rebounding team. Too many turnovers. Stukes' running mate?
Outlook: Bliss will get this program out of its coma, but not this year. Not ending up in last place would be a goal for this season.

12. TEXAS A&M

Strengths: Frontcourt's OK. Young talent.
Weakness: Loss of Cook means their backcourt might blow! Poor team defense. Poor shooting team. Very inexperienced.
Outlook: A freshman backcourt isn't going to get you that far, especially with a so-so frontcourt.

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Last updated on 9/14/99 by toyminator@prodigy.net