Big 12 power rankings: TCU biggest riser in deep league displaying home-court advantage

Basketball in the Big 12 is not for the faint of heart.

As many as 10 teams could be on track to make March Madness. Eight teams are in the AP Top 25 poll.

And one factor that makes the league so tough is obvious: the ability to win at home.

Through four Big 12 games, the league is a combined 20-8 at home. All but two teams have won at least one game at home. Eight are undefeated at home.

That played a big factor in this week’s power rankings, which underwent a good shakeup with an emphasis on Big 12 play over non-conference.

Let’s get to the rankings.

OU basketball vs. West Virginia: Four takeaways from Sooners' win against Mountaineers

1. Kansas

Last week: 2

This week: at West Virginia (Saturday); vs. Cincinnati (Monday)

What to know: Speaking of home court, there remains no better home-court advantage than Allen Fieldhouse. But that’s not what separates the Jayhawks this week. It was their dominance after the UCF upset. Maybe the newcomer Knights just made Kansas angry. Uh oh.

'Mind-boggling:' Checking in with 1993 Sooners, the last OU men's team to win at Kansas

2. Houston

Last week: 1

This week: vs. UCF (Saturday); at BYU (Tuesday)

What to know: Turns out, the Big 12 is not the AAC. Kelvin Sampson’s squad learned that the hard way. But what they really need to improve on is winning on the road. The Cougars have already dropped two on the road.

3. TCU

Last week: 7

This week: vs. Iowa State (Saturday); at Oklahoma State (Tuesday)

What to know: No team has shown the advantage of being at home more than the Horned Frogs. Upset wins over Oklahoma and Houston in the same week, the reason high-flying TCU made a big jump. That’s enough to overshadow two road losses, which are by a combined six points.

4. Kansas State

Last week: 5

This week: vs. Oklahoma State (Saturday); at Iowa State (Wednesday)

What to know: Are the Wildcats too high? Maybe. But it’s hard to argue with results right now, including a home overtime win against Baylor. The one-point loss at Texas Tech doesn’t hurt. Oh, and Tylor Perry is super fun.

5. Baylor

Last week: 4

This week: at Texas (Saturday)

What to know: The Bears have a new arena they’ve yet to lose a game in since it opened this month. But they’re also 4-3 away from Waco, no matter the arena. And one of those wins is an overtime win against struggling Oklahoma State. Style points don’t matter as much when March rolls around, but they do here.

6. Oklahoma

Last week: 3

This week: at Cincinnati (Saturday); vs. Texas (Tuesday)

What to know: Sooners coach Porter Moser is working to make Lloyd Noble Center an advantage for his team, no matter how rundown it is compared to the rest of the conference. Dropping beer prices to $2 and even getting more beer stands is one way to do it.

7. Texas Tech

Last week: 6

This week: vs. BYU (Saturday)

What to know: Remember when that win at Texas to begin Big 12 play seemed so impressive? There was no way to predict that the Longhorns can’t win at home. The Red Raiders started hot but still have a lot to prove.

8. Iowa State

Last week: 11

This week: at TCU (Saturday); vs. Kansas State (Wednesday)

What to know: The Cyclones can be perplexing. A home win over Houston shows their ability to really be a problem. But not really competing on the road at OU and BYU raises too many questions.

9. Cincinnati

Last week: 9

This week: vs. Oklahoma (Saturday); at Kansas (Monday)

What to know: The Bearcats are in the middle of a stretch of playing six straight ranked teams to begin their first Big 12 season. Welcome to the league. So far, it’s easy to admire their ability to battle. Just ask TCU.

10. BYU

Last week: 10

This week: at Texas Tech (Saturday); vs. Houston (Tuesday)

What to know: The Cougars’ home atmosphere is causing problems, even for Big 12 teams used to battling at famed venues. Still, BYU is 1-3 in true road games entering this week. That one win was at up-and-down UCF.

11. UCF

Last week: 13

This week: at Houston (Saturday); vs. West Virginia (Tuesday)

What to know: The Golden Knights have wins over Kansas at home and on the road at Texas, two teams that have been atop the league in recent years. The way they won both was impressive. That’s one way to ingrain oneself into a new league.

12. West Virginia

Last week: 14

This week: vs. Kansas (Saturday); at UCF (Tuesday)

What to know: Just when the Mountaineers show a glimmer of hope with an upset of Texas, they revert to their old ways. There just haven't been competitive conference games from West Virginia, but the win over the Longhorns is enough to jump two spots — for now.

13. Texas

Last week: 8

This week: vs. Baylor (Saturday); at Oklahoma (Tuesday)

What to know: The Longhorns blew a 15-point lead at home to UCF on Wednesday. It leaves Texas as one of two teams to not win a conference game at home to this point. Perhaps they should worry about that and not opponents flashing the “Horns Down” symbol.

Oklahoma State basketball vs. Kansas: Four takeaways from Cowboys' loss to Jayhawks

14. Oklahoma State

Last week: 12

This week: at Kansas State (Saturday); vs. TCU (Tuesday)

What to know: The young Cowboys have yet to win a Big 12 game. That’s the fourth 0-4 start to begin conference play in seven seasons under coach Mike Boynton. His buyout is rather expensive, but the piling up of non-competitive losses could force action.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Big 12 power rankings: TCU biggest riser; Kansas back atop poll