Chatelain: Big 12's a bit shaky, but not on the court

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Conference realignment affected every major conference in America. But no one wears a bigger scar than the Big 12.

First Nebraska and Colorado left for greener pastures. Then Texas A&M and Missouri bolted for the SEC. Amid all that strife, Dan Beebe lost his job, and Texas and Oklahoma nearly dissolved the league in favor of a West Coast super-conference.

But in the actual athletic arena, the Big 12 has thrived in 2011-12.

Last fall, Big 12 football compared favorably to the SEC most of the season. Now the Big 12 is delivering a banner year on the hardwood. (I know that's hard to believe, considering the basketball tradition at Nebraska and Colorado.)

Of the top nine teams in the country, three are from the Big 12.

Syracuse, Kentucky and Ohio State occupy the top tier in hoops, but Missouri, Baylor and Kansas are equal or better than anyone else, including North Carolina and Duke.

Moreover, as the only major conference with a double-round robin schedule, the Big 12 boasts the most legitimate regular-season race. And then there's the KU-Mizzou plot.

The rivalry ends this year, which intensifies every meeting.

Saturday night, in Kansas' last trip to Columbia, the Tigers rallied from eight down in the final 3 minutes. Marcus Denmon hit three clutch 3s, stating his case for first-team All-America honors.

With eight conference games left, Mizzou, KU and Baylor are tied at 8-2. The regular-season championship may come down to Feb. 25 at Allen Fieldhouse:

Missouri at Kansas. Doesn't get much better than that, does it?

Eight Elite thoughts on NCAA tournament:

• Because of Mizzou's departure to the SEC, Bill Self has said he has no interest in playing the Tigers in the near future. He reiterated his position after Saturday's game:

"They chose to be somewhere else, and that's fine, that's their prerogative. If it's better for them, so be it. But when you choose to be somewhere else you leave a situation behind that's not the same that it was when you were in it. ... It's not because I don't like Mizzou. It's because it's just kind of the way it is right now."

Did Self feel bad for the fans?

"Missouri wanted this," Self said. "So why should I feel bad? I don't feel bad for anybody. If anybody should feel bad for anybody, it's the players ... but not the fans. The fans to me don't drive the bus. At all."

• Dana Altman's tournament at-large hopes took a hit Saturday at Colorado, where Oregon lost in the final seconds.

With the score tied 71-71, Oregon missed a free throw with 8 seconds left. After a scramble for the ball, Colorado guard Nate Tomlinson rushed down court and attacked the rim, drawing contact with E.J. Singler. Officials called a foul with 1 second left and Tomlinson made one free throw.

Altman was furious, even chasing after officials as they left the court. Asked about the call afterward, Altman bit his tongue, saying "Just part of the game."

• Butler has picked up where it left off last year — and that's not a good thing.

The Bulldogs infamously shot 19 percent from the field in the national championship loss to Connecticut. They made three 2-point field goals.

Well, this year, Butler is 315th nationally in field-goal shooting (39.9 percent), which is why it is 7-6 in the Horizon League. Unless Butler makes a surprising run in the conference tournament, it won't make the NCAAs.

• Butler isn't even the most disappointing team from last year's title game, though.

UConn, which began the year in the top five, is a mess. After a 12-1 start, Connecticut has dropped six of nine.

Now Jim Calhoun has taken an indefinite leave of absence because of spinal stenosis. He's not expected to return this season.

• Murray State is hanging tough. The undefeated Racers flirted with defeat Thursday against Southeast Missouri State, but rallied from 10 down in the second half.

Murray State's biggest remaining test is Feb. 18, when St. Mary's comes to town for BracketBusters.

• Duke lost at home to ... Miami? The Hurricanes hadn't beaten a top-100 RPI team on the road all year. But they jumped on Duke, leading by 16 early in the second half. The Blue Devils sent the game to overtime, but fell short. (They were just 9 of 31 from 3-point range.)

Not exactly the way Duke wanted to enter its biggest game of the year — at North Carolina on Wednesday night.

The Tar Heels have their own problems. Dexter Strickland tore his ACL two weeks ago and Harrison Barnes has a gimpy ankle. Can Carolina's short-handed backcourt protect the ball against Duke's pressure?

• Iowa State is mounting a serious push for an at-large bid. After upsetting Kansas last weekend, the Cyclones beat Kansas State, then won at Oklahoma on Saturday.

They're 7-3 in the Big 12, one game out of first place. The Fred Hoiberg experiment is working out rather well.

• Creighton lost its first game in 512 weeks. I now have the Bluejays as a No. 5 seed, which is still good position for an NCAA tournament run.

Here's why: There's a clear drop-off after the top 8-9 teams in the country. The talent gap between a No. 2 seed like North Carolina, for instance, and a No. 3 seed like San Diego State is wider than the gap between a No. 3 and a No. 7 seed. If Creighton wants to advance to the Sweet 16, it's important to avoid a second-round matchup with a No. 1 or 2 seed. That means earning a No. 6 seed or better.

Contact the writer:

402-649-1461, dirk.chatelain@owh.com

twitter.com/dirkchatelain

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