Beating Baylor on a Saturday is a step forward in the process. Randy Peterson/The Register
AMES, Ia. — Four of five Big 12 games Saturday were decided by five or fewer points. Kansas State coach Bruce Weber took a shot at the refs after his team lost by a point at Kansas.
Texas Tech beat second-ranked West Virginia. Oklahoma State beat Texas on a last-second tip-in.
And Iowa State finally won a conference game.
If you think Saturday was madcap in Big 12 Land, tighten your seat belt, because this madness is just getting started.
On Monday, it’s Kansas at West Virginia, and if you don’t think that game won’t have fireworks — you’re wrong.
It’s Oklahoma at K-State on Tuesday.
Don’t be shocked if Iowa State upsets TCU on Wednesday night in Fort Worth.
About the time you think this conference will start playing to form — you get Texas Tech fans storming the court after beating Bob Huggins’ team.
About the time you figure we’ll settle into the Kansas-always-wins-the-regular-season-title mindset — you get Kansas State’s coach railing on refs, and if you missed it, here’s what he said after losing the one-pointer at Allen Fieldhouse:
“I’m disappointed in some of the calls, and I hope you guys are, too.”
He actually said that in the media room after the game. Reporters wrote about it. His words are on the printed transcripts available to everyone.
Reporters disappointed in calls?
Gimme a break.
Fans disappointed in Kansas State’s slow-motion last possession — with seconds quickly ticking from the clock?
Now you’re onto something.
But honest-to-goodness journalists disappointed with the refs?
Moving on.
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Thank you, Big 12 for standing firm with a 10-team league. Thanks for not increasing to 14, because the round-robin scheduling we’re in the midst of is exciting. It’s something that must be preserved as long as possible.
There’s no scheduling loopholes in what’s generally considered the best conference in the nation. Everyone plays everyone — home and away — just the way it should be.
Moving on.
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Iowa State coach Steve Prohm wasn’t far into his postgame press conference after Saturday’s 10-point win against Baylor at Hilton Coliseum when he addressed this Big 12 strength:
When asked about the TCU team the Cyclones face at 8 p.m. Wednesday, he said, “It speaks to how good our league is when they’re 1-4 in the league and (ranked) 16th in the country. You know they’re going to be dialed in.”
Everyone’s dialed in right now, after a Big 12 Saturday in which four of five losers lost by a combined eight points.
“Never this tight,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said when asked about the closeness of Saturday’s games.
"Maybe we don’t have four teams projected to go to the Final Four, but top to bottom, you can’t look and say, 'Hey, we should win this game.'"
Moving on.
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In most other seasons, Iowa State’s Lindell Wigginton would be a favorite to be the Big 12’s freshman of the year. This, though, isn’t most seasons.
Not only have there been 14 conference games decided by five or less, Oklahoma’s Trae Young is the runaway best freshman in the league — and probably the nation.
Saturday, for instance, he scored 43 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out seven assists in the overtime win against TCU, and before you ask — the first of two ISU-OU games isn’t until Feb. 10 in Ames.
Young enters the week averaging 30.1 points a game. The next freshman on the scoring list is Wigginton, at 16.5.
Moving on.
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Each team has 13 league games left before the Big 12 tourney at Hilton South.
Strap in. It’s going to be a wild ride.
Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson has been with the Register for parts of five decades. Randy writes opinion and analysis of Iowa State football and basketball. You can reach Randy at rpeterson@dmreg.com or on Twitter at @RandyPete.