2020–21 Big 12 Conference men's basketball season

Sports season
2020–21 Big 12 Men's Basketball Season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Number of teams10
TV partner(s)CBS, ESPN, FSN
NBA Draft
2021 Big 12 ChampionsBaylor
  Runners-upKansas
Season MVPCade Cunningham, Oklahoma State
Top scorerCade Cunningham, Oklahoma State
Big 12 tournament
ChampionsTexas
  Runners-upOklahoma State
Finals MVPMatt Coleman III
Big 12 Basketball seasons
2020–21 Big 12 men's basketball standings
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 Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 1 Baylor 13 – 1   .929 28 – 2   .933
No. 16 Kansas 12 – 6   .667 21 – 9   .700
No. 21 Texas † 11 – 6   .647 19 – 8   .704
No. 18 West Virginia 11 – 6   .647 19 – 10   .655
No. 19 Oklahoma State 11 – 7   .611 21 – 9   .700
No. 22 Texas Tech 9 – 8   .529 18 – 11   .621
Oklahoma 9 – 8   .529 16 – 11   .593
TCU 5 – 11   .313 12 – 14   .462
Kansas State 4 – 14   .222 9 – 20   .310
Iowa State 0 – 18   .000 2 – 22   .083
† 2021 Big 12 Tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll


The 2020–21 Big 12 men's basketball season began with practices in October 2020, followed by the start of the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Regular season conference play began in December 2020 and concluded in March 2021. The Big 12 tournament was held from March 11–14, 2021 and was played at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Baylor won their first ever National Championship, becoming the first Big 12 team to win the National Championship since Kansas in 2008.

Coaches

Coaching changes

There were no head coaching changes following the 2019–20 Big 12 Conference men's basketball season.

Head coaches

Note: Stats are through the beginning of the season. All stats and records are from time at current school only.

Team Head coach Previous job Seasons at school Overall record Big 12 record NCAA tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA Championships
Baylor Scott Drew Valparaiso 17th 342–213 (.616) 140–150 (.483) 8 0 0
Iowa State Steve Prohm Murray State 6th 95–73 (.565) 40–50 (.444) 3 0 0
Kansas Bill Self Illinois 18th 501–109 (.821) 236–53 (.817) 16 3 1
Kansas State Bruce Weber Illinois 9th 161–110 (.594) 72–72 (.500) 5 0 0
Oklahoma Lon Kruger UNLV 10th 179–117 (.605) 81–81 (.500) 7 1 0
Oklahoma State Mike Boynton Oklahoma State (asst.) 4th 51–49 (.510) 20–34 (.370) 0 0 0
TCU Jamie Dixon Pittsburgh 5th 84–57 (.596) 29–43 (.403) 1 0 0
Texas Shaka Smart VCU 6th 90–78 (.536) 40–50 (.444) 2 0 0
Texas Tech Chris Beard Little Rock 5th 94–44 (.681) 40–32 (.556) 2 1 0
West Virginia Bob Huggins Kansas State 14th 289–158 (.647) 127–102 (.555) 9 1 0

Preseason

Recruiting classes

Rankings
Team ESPN[1] Rivals[2] Scout/247 Sports[3] Signees
Baylor No. 22 No. 42 No. 28 3
Iowa State No. 18 No. 37 No. 29 4
Kansas No. 25 No. 17 No. 22 4
Kansas State - No. 19 No. 35 7
Oklahoma - No. 86 No. 85 2
Oklahoma State No.8 No. 4 No. 13 6
TCU - No. 66 No. 52 3
Texas - No. 57 No. 96 1
Texas Tech No. 14 No. 10 No. 10 5
West Virginia - No. 61 No. 51 4

Preseason watchlists

Below is a table of notable preseason watch lists.

Wooden[4] Naismith[5] Cousy[6] West[7] Erving[8] Malone[9] Abdul-Jabbar[10]
Jared Butler, Baylor Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY
MaCio Teague, Baylor Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY
Marcus Garrett, Kansas Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY
Cade Cunningham, Oklahoma State Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY
Greg Brown, Texas Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY
Oscar Tshiebwe, West Virginia Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY
Matt Coleman III, Texas Green tickY
Ochai Agbaji, Kansas Green tickY
Terrence Shannon Jr., Texas Tech Green tickY
Mark Vital, Baylor Green tickY
Brady Manek, Oklahoma Green tickY
Derek Culver, West Virginia Green tickY

Big 12 Preseason Poll

Big 12 Coaches Points
1. Baylor (7) 79
2. Kansas (3) 73
3. West Virginia 61
4. Texas 58
5. Texas Tech 53
6. Oklahoma 39
7. Oklahoma State 35
8. Iowa State 19
9. TCU 18
10. Kansas State 15
Reference:[11] (#) first place votes


Pre-Season All-Big 12 Team

Big 12 Coaches
Jared Butler †, G Baylor
Marcus Garrett †, G Kansas
Austin Reaves, G Oklahoma
Cade Cunningham, G Oklahoma State
Matt Coleman III, G Texas
Oscar Tshiebwe, F West Virginia
† denotes unanimous selection
Reference:[12]
  • Player of the Year: Jared Butler, Baylor
  • Newcomer of the Year: Marcus Santos-Silva, Texas Tech
  • Freshman of the Year: Cade Cunningham, Oklahoma State

Preseason national polls

AP[13] Athlon
Sports[14] 		Blue Ribbon
Yearbook[15] 		CBS Sports[16] Coaches[17] ESPN[18] Kenpom[19] SBNation[20] Sports
Illustrated[21]
Baylor 2 1 3 3 1 1 1 2 1
Iowa State 67
Kansas 6 5 6 6 5 9 5 6 7
Kansas State 113
Oklahoma 17 38 31
Oklahoma State 35 RV 33
TCU 53
Texas 19 23 20 22 20 9 19 22
Texas Tech 14 11 10 14 13 14 6 14 20
West Virginia 15 20 20 7 15 18 8 15 17

Rankings

Legend
  Increase in ranking
  Decrease in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
  Pre Wk
2		 Wk
3		 Wk
4		 Wk
5		 Wk
6		 Wk
7		 Wk
8		 Wk
9		 Wk
10		 Wk
11		 Wk
12		 Wk
13		 Wk
14		 Wk
15		 Wk
16		 Wk
17		 Final
Baylor AP 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 3
C 1 – 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 3 1
Iowa State AP
C –
Kansas AP 6 7 5 5 3 3 6 6 9 15 23 RV 23 17 13 11 12
C 5 – 5 5 4 4 6 7 9 18 22 RV 24 19 14 12 11 16
Kansas State AP
C –
Oklahoma AP RV RV 24 9 12 9 7 16 25 RV
C – RV RV RV 14 12 10 8 15 24 RV RV
Oklahoma State AP RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 23 RV RV 17 12 11
C RV – RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 24 22 22 21 17 14 12 19
TCU AP RV
C –
Texas AP 19 18 14 11 10 8 4 4 5 5 6 13 12 14 15 13 9
C 22 – 12 11 10 9 4 4 5 5 6 13 13 16 16 16 9 21
Texas Tech AP 14 17 17 14 15 13 18 15 12 10 13 7 15 18 18 20 21
C 13 – 17 14 16 14 19 15 13 10 11 8 11 16 18 22 21 22
West Virginia AP 15 11 11 8 7 9 14 13 14 11 17 14 13 10 6 10 13
C 15 – 10 7 6 8 16 14 15 11 18 14 15 13 5 9 13 18

Regular season

Conference matrix

  Baylor Iowa State Kansas Kansas State Oklahoma Oklahoma State TCU Texas Texas Tech West Virginia
vs. Baylor — 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–1 0–2 0–1 0–1 0–2 0–1
vs. Iowa State 2–0 – 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0
vs. Kansas 1–1 0–2 — 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–2 2–0 0–2 1–1
vs. Kansas State 2–0 0–2 2–0 — 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–0
vs. Oklahoma 1–0 0–2 1–1 1–1 — 2–0 0–2 1–1 2–0 0–2
vs. Oklahoma State 2–0 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 – 2–0 1–1 0–2 1–1
vs. TCU 1–0 0–2 2–0 1–1 2–0 0–2 – 2–0 1–0 2–0
vs. Texas 1–0 0–2 0–2 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–2 — 2–0 1–1
vs. Texas Tech 2–0 0–2 2–0 0–2 0–2 2–0 0–1 0–2 — 2–0
vs. West Virginia 1–0 0–2 1–1 0–2 2–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–2 —
Total 13–1 0–18 12–6 4–14 9–8 11–7 5–11 11–6 9–8 11–6

Big 12/SEC Challenge

Date Time Big 12 team SEC team Location TV Attendance Winner Leader
Sat., Jan. 30 Noon 24 Oklahoma 9 Alabama Lloyd Noble Center • Norman, OK ESPN 2,680[22] Oklahoma (66–61)[23] Big 12 (1–0)
Kansas State Texas A&M Bramlage Coliseum • Manhattan, KS ESPNU 942[24] Texas A&M (68–61)[25] Tied (1–1)
2:00 PM 11 West Virginia Florida WVU Coliseum • Morgantown, WV ESPN 1,000[26] Florida (85–80)[27] SEC (2–1)
10 Texas Tech LSU Pete Maravich Assembly Center • Baton Rouge, LA ESPN2 2,808[28] Texas Tech (76–71)[29] Tied (2–2)
TCU 12 Missouri Mizzou Arena • Columbia, MO ESPNU 3,063[30] Missouri (102–98) (OT)[31] SEC (3–2)
4:00 PM 2 Baylor Auburn Ferrell Center • Waco, Texas ESPN 2,350[32] Baylor (84–72)[33] Tied (3–3)
Oklahoma State Arkansas Gallagher-Iba Arena • Stillwater, OK ESPN2 3,350[34] Oklahoma State (81–77)[35] Big 12 (4–3)
6:00 PM 15 Kansas 18 Tennessee Thompson–Boling Arena • Knoxville, TN ESPN 4,191[36] Tennessee (81–60)[37] Tied (4–4)
Iowa State Mississippi State Humphrey Coliseum • Starkville, MS ESPN2 1,000[38] Mississippi State (95–56)[39] SEC (5–4)
Georgia, Ole Miss, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt will not participate for the SEC. The Texas-Kentucky game was canceled due to COVID-19.[40]
All times Eastern

Postseason

Big 12 tournament

First round
Wednesday, March 10 		Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 11 		Semifinals
Friday, March 12 		Championship
Saturday, March 13
            
1 Baylor 74
9 Kansas State 68
8 TCU 50
9 Kansas State 71
1 Baylor 74
5 Oklahoma State 83
4 West Virginia 69
5 Oklahoma State 72
5 Oklahoma State 86
3 Texas 91
2 Kansas 69
7 Oklahoma 62
7 Oklahoma 79
10 Iowa State 73
2 Kansas[A]
3 Texas
3 Texas 67
6 Texas Tech 66

NCAA tournament

Seed Region School First Round Second Round Sweet 16 Elite Eight Final Four Championship
1 South Baylor #16 Hartford W, 79–55 #9 Wisconsin W, 76–63 #5 Villanova W, 62–51 #3 Arkansas W, 81–72 #2 Houston W, 78–59 #1 Gonzaga W, 86–70
3 West Kansas #14 Eastern Washington W, 93–84 #6 USC L, 51–85
3 East Texas #14 Abilene Christian L, 52–53
3 Midwest West Virginia #14 Morehead State W, 84–67 #11 Syracuse L, 72–75
4 Midwest Oklahoma State #13 Liberty 'W, 69–60 #12 Oregon State L, 70–80
6 South Texas Tech #11 Utah State W, 65–53 #3 Arkansas L, 66–68
8 West Oklahoma #9 Missouri W, 72–68 #1 Gonzaga L, 71–87
7 Bids W-L (%): 6–1 .857 1–5 .167 1–0 1.000 1–0 1.000 1–0 1.000 TOTAL: 11–6 .647

Honors and awards

All-Americans

Consensus All-Americans
First Team Second Team Third Team
Jared Butler, G, Baylor
Cade Cunningham, G, Oklahoma State 		Davion Mitchell, G, Baylor
Reference:

To earn "consensus" status, a player must win honors from a majority of the following teams: the Associated Press, the USBWA, Sporting News, and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

All-Big 12 awards and teams

2021 Big 12 Men's Basketball Individual Awards
Award Recipient(s)
Player of the Year Cade Cunningham, G, Oklahoma State
Coach of the Year Scott Drew, Baylor
Defensive Player of the Year Davion Mitchell, G, Baylor
Sixth Man Award Kai Jones, C, Texas
Newcomer of the Year Mac McClung†, G, Texas Tech
Freshman of the Year Cade Cunningham†, G, Oklahoma State
Reference:[42]
2021 Big 12 Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams
First Team Second Team Third Team Defensive Team Newcomer Team Freshman Team
Jared Butler†, G, Baylor
Davion Mitchell, G, Baylor
Austin Reaves, G, Oklahoma
Cade Cunningham†, G, Oklahoma St.
Derek Culver, F, West Virginia
 Marcus Garrett, G, Kansas
David McCormack, F, Kansas
Andrew Jones, G, Texas
Mac McClung, G, Texas Tech
Miles McBride, G, West Virginia 		MaCio Teague, G, Baylor
Rasir Bolton, G, Iowa State
RJ Nembhard, G, TCU
Matt Coleman III, G, Texas
Courtney Ramey, G, Texas
Terrence Shannon Jr., G, Texas 		Jared Butler, G, Baylor
Davion Mitchell†, G, Baylor
Mark Vital†, F, Baylor
Marcus Garrett†, G, Kansas
Gabe Osabuohien, F, West Virginia 		Jonathan Tchatchoua, F, Baylor
Jalen Wilson, F, Kansas
Greg Brown, F, Texas
Cade Cunningham†, G, Oklahoma St.
Mac McClung†, G, Texas Tech 		Jalen Wilson†, F, Kansas
Cade Cunningham†, G, Oklahoma St.
Mike Miles, G, TCU
Greg Brown†, F, Texas
Jalen Bridges, F, West Virginia
† - denotes unanimous selection

Notes

  1. ^ Kansas withdrew from the Big 12 tournament after a player tested positive for COVID-19, which led to the game being cancelled, and Texas advancing in the tournament.[41]

References

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  2. ^ "New Rivals 2020 basketball team rankings released". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  3. ^ "2020 Basketball Team Rankings". Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  4. ^ "Six on Wooden Award Watch List". big12sports.com.
  5. ^ "Naismith Trophy Watch List Headlined by Big 12 Players". big12sports.com.
  6. ^ "Point Guards on Bob Cousy Award Preseason List". big12sports.com.
  7. ^ "Teague, Agbaji Named Candidates for Jerry West Shooting Guard Award". big12sports.com.
  8. ^ "TTU's Shannon Named to Julius Erving Award Watch List". big12sports.com.
  9. ^ "Four Selected to Karl Malone Preseason List". big12sports.com.
  10. ^ "Culver on Abdul-Jabbar Award Watch List". big12sports.com.
  11. ^ "Baylor Picked as Big 12 Preseason Favorite for First Time". big12sports.com. Big 12 Conference. October 29, 2020.
  12. ^ "Big 12 Reveals 2020-21 Men's Basketball Preseason Awards". big12sports.com. Big 12 Conference. October 28, 2020.
  13. ^ "AP Top 25 Poll". collegebasketball.ap.org. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  14. ^ "Athlon Sports' College Basketball Top 25 for 2020-21". Archived from the original on November 14, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  15. ^ Dortch, Chris. "Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook Preseason Top 25 for 2020-21". blueribbon.substack.com. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  16. ^ "College basketball 1-357 rankings: Here are the projected best 68 teams for the 2020-21 season". CBSSports.com. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  17. ^ "Men's Basketball Coaches Poll". USA Today Sports. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  18. ^ "Kentucky climbs to No. 5, Baylor still No. 1 in Way-Too-Early Top 25 update for 2020-21". ESPN.com. October 26, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  19. ^ Pomeroy, Ken. "2021 Pomeroy College Basketball Rankings". Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  20. ^ "Gonzaga leads the way in preseason AP poll for 2020-2021 season". SBNation. Vox Media. November 9, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  21. ^ "SI's Men's College Basketball Preseason Top 25 for 2020–21". SI. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  22. ^ "Alabama vs. Oklahoma - Team Statistics - January 30, 2021 - ESPN". espn.com. January 30, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  23. ^ Final (January 30, 2021). "Alabama vs. Oklahoma - Box Score - January 30, 2021 - ESPN". espn.com. Archived from the original on January 30, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  24. ^ "Texas A&M vs. Kansas State - Team Statistics - January 30, 2021 - ESPN". espn.com. January 30, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  25. ^ Final (January 30, 2021). "Texas A&M vs. Kansas State - Box Score - January 30, 2021 - ESPN". espn.com. Archived from the original on January 30, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  26. ^ "Florida vs. West Virginia - Team Statistics - January 30, 2021 - ESPN". espn.com. January 30, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  27. ^ Final (January 30, 2021). "Florida vs. West Virginia - Box Score - January 30, 2021 - ESPN". espn.com. Archived from the original on January 30, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  28. ^ "Texas Tech vs. LSU - Team Statistics - January 30, 2021 - ESPN". espn.com. January 30, 2021. Archived from the original on February 4, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
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  32. ^ "Auburn vs. Baylor - Team Statistics - January 30, 2021 - ESPN". espn.com. January 30, 2021. Archived from the original on February 5, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  33. ^ Final (January 30, 2021). "Auburn vs. Baylor - Box Score - January 30, 2021 - ESPN". espn.com. Archived from the original on January 30, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  34. ^ "Arkansas vs. Oklahoma State - Team Statistics - January 30, 2021 - ESPN". espn.com. January 30, 2021. Archived from the original on February 5, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  35. ^ Final (January 30, 2021). "Arkansas vs. Oklahoma State - Box Score - January 30, 2021 - ESPN". espn.com. Archived from the original on January 30, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  36. ^ "Kansas vs. Tennessee - Team Statistics - January 30, 2021 - ESPN". espn.com. January 30, 2021. Archived from the original on February 5, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  37. ^ Final (January 30, 2021). "Kansas vs. Tennessee - Box Score - January 30, 2021 - ESPN". espn.com. Archived from the original on January 31, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  38. ^ "Iowa State vs. Mississippi State - Team Statistics - January 30, 2021 - ESPN". espn.com. January 30, 2021. Archived from the original on February 5, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  39. ^ Final (January 30, 2021). "Iowa State vs. Mississippi State - Box Score - January 30, 2021 - ESPN". espn.com. Archived from the original on January 31, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  40. ^ "Texas-Kentucky game canceled due to virus". espn.com. January 29, 2021. Archived from the original on January 29, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  41. ^ "Kansas vs. Texas Big 12 Championship Semifinal Game Has Been Canceled". big12sports.com. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  42. ^ "Men's Basketball All-Big 12 Awards Announced" (Press release). Big 12 Conference. March 8, 2021.
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Big 12 Conference men's basketball
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2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball conference season