The Big 12 conference is once again one of the best in the college basketball landscape. Kansas, Oklahoma and Iowa State have all been ranked in the AP Top 5 at some point of the season, and look to challenge each other for the conference title and possibly more.

Before conference play begins on Saturday, let's take a look at how each team has fared so far.

Conference Standings

Team	Overall Record	Conference Record
Oklahoma (3)	11-0	0-0
Iowa State (11)	11-1	0-0
Kansas (2)	11-1	0-0
West Virginia (19)	11-1	0-0
Texas Tech	10-1	0-0
Baylor (23)	10-2	0-0
Kansas State	10-2	0-0
Oklahoma State	8-4	0-0
TCU	8-4	0-0
Texas	8-4	0-0

* AP Rank in parenthesis

1. Oklahoma Sooners (11-0)

Notable wins - Villanova 78-55, Incarnate Word 96-63, Hawaii 84-81, Oral Roberts 96-73, Wisconsin 65-48

Losses - None

Buddy Hield is a legitimate National Player of the Year contender on a team that could honestly win the whole thing if they can maintain this level of play for another three months. The Sooners are a bad, bad team and will make it difficult for the Jayhawks to win their 12^th straight Big 12 title.

Leaders:

PPG - Buddy Hield 24.9

RPG - Ryan Spangler 10.0

BPG - Akolda Manyang 2.0

SPG - Jordan Woodard 1.7

APG - Isaiah Cousins 4.9

2. Iowa State Cyclones (11-1)

Notable wins - Iowa 83-82, Colorado 68-62, Chattanooga 83-63, @ Cincinnati 81-79

Losses - UNI 79-81

Although unsatisfying to some, Iowa State has played well so far in their first year under new head coach, Steve Prohm. The Cyclones boast six wins by 20 or more points, a tournament title and an impressive win in Cincinnati.

Leaders

PPG - Georges Niang 18.8

RPG - Jameel McKay 9.5

BPG - Jameel McKay 1.3

SPG - Monte Morris 2.3

APG - Monte Morris 7.9

3. Kansas Jayhawks (11-1)

Notable Wins - Oregon State 82-67, Vanderbilt 70-63, UC Irvine 78-53, UCLA 92-73, San Diego State 70-57

Losses - #1 Michigan State 73-79

Kansas is Kansas, doing Kansas things. It will be a fun season watching the top 3-4 teams battle for conference supremacy, but until the king is dethroned, Kansas should be considered the favorite.

PPG - Perry Ellis 15.1

RPG - Perry Ellis 6.2

BPG - Hunter Mickelson 1.3

SPG - Devonte' Graham/Frank Mason III 1.8

APG - Frank Mason III 5.7

4. West Virginia Mountaineers (11-1)

Notable wins - Richmond 67-59, San Diego State 72-50

Losses - #5 Virginia 54-70

The Mountaineers' schedule has been weak and lacking any significant opponents save Virginia, which they lost to. However, yesterday's dominant win at Virginia Tech was impressive and Bob Huggins' style of play always makes West Virginia a difficult opponent in league play. I wish I could say this team could be overlooked, but sadly they should not.

PPG - Devin Williams 15.5

RPG - Devin Williams 9.1

BPG - Elijah Macon 0.7

SPG - Jevon Carter 2.2

APG - Tarik Phillip 3.4

5. Texas Tech Red Raiders (10-1)

Notable Win(s) - South Dakota State 79-67, Arkansas-Little Rock 65-53, Richmond 85-70, Hawaii 82-74

Losses - #21 Utah 63-73

Tubby Smith has Texas Tech off to their best start in years. I'm not sure how the Red Raiders will fare in the Big 12, but trips to Lubbock will be a dangerous affair for all comers.

PPG - Devaugntah Williams 14.5

RPG - Zach Smith 6.8

BPG - Zach Smith 1.4

SPG - Devaugntah Williams 1.2

APG - Keenan Evans 3.2

6. Baylor Bears (10-2)

Notable wins - Vanderbilt 69-67

Losses - #20 Texas A&M 61-80, Oregon 67-74

Baylor's non-con schedule has been anything but impressive, playing seven teams with RPI's higher than 200. They lost both games they played outside of Waco, albeit to quality opponents in A&M and Oregon.

PPG - Taurean Prince 15.5

RPG - Rico Gathers 11.0

BPG - Rico Gathers 1.1

SPG - Lester Medford 2.6

APG - Lester Medford 6.8

7. Kansas State Wildcats (10-2)

Notable Wins - @ Georgia 68-66

Losses - #7 North Carolina 70-80, #20 Texas A&M 68-78

Don't look now, but Bruce Weber actually seems to have a competent team on his hands, which I'm sure not many expected after last season and the off-season attrition the team had. Their two losses come at the hands of two quality opponents, both away from the comforts of home, and they secured an impressive win at Georgia back at the beginning of December. I'm not sure what to expect in conference, but I wouldn't be surprised by a top 6 finish or higher from the Wildcats.

PPG - Wesley Iwundu 13.3

RPG - Justin Edwards/Dean Wade 5.8

BPG - D.J Johnson/Dean Wade 0.5

SPG - Justin Edwards 1.6

APG - Justin Edwards 3.3

8. Oklahoma State Cowboys (8-4)

Notable Wins - Long Beach State (x2) 82-77, 79,73

Losses - Florida 70-72, Tulsa 56-66, George Mason 68-71, Missouri State 63-64

The Cowboys continue their regression under head coach, Travis Ford. Losing Phil Forte III to injury and Le'Bryan Nash to the Fukushima Firebonds doesn't help a team that has struggled to win consistently under the leadership of Ford.

PPG - Jeff Newberry 11.1

RPG - Jeff Newberry 5.9

BPG - Anthony Allen Jr 2.0

SPG - Jeff Newberry 1.3

APG - Jawun Evans 4.4

9. TCU Horned Frogs (8-4)

Notable Wins - no wins against RPI Top 100

Losses - #17 SMU 70-75, South Dakota State 67-76, Rhode Island 60-66, Washington 67-92

Still a tough road for Trent Johnson down in Fort Worth. Hopefully the new arena will help the Horned Frogs in coming years.

PPG - Vladimir Brodziansky 13.9

RPG - Karviar Shepherd 7.4

BPG - Karviar Shepherd 1.3

SPG - Malique Trent 1.8

APG - Malique Trent 3.5

10. Texas Longhorns (8-4)

Notable Wins - #7 North Carolina 84-82, Texas-Arlington 80-73, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 67-56, Stanford 75-73

Losses - #20 Texas A&M 73-84, Michigan 72-78, Connecticut 66-71, Washington 71-77

Things have been understandably up and down for first year head coach, Shaka Smart. The loss of Cameron Ridley will not go unnoticed as the Longhorns look to regain their competitive edge in conference play. While I don't expect big things from Texas this season, their win against North Carolina shows they will not go quietly into the night while they adjust to a new style.

PPG - Isaiah Taylor 15.1

RPG - Cameron Ridley 10.0 (then Connor Lammert with 5.3/game)

BPG - Cameron Ridley 3.4 (then Prince Ibeh with 1.3)

SPG - Kerwin Roach Jr. 0.8

APG - Isaiah Taylor 4.8