BYU Basketball in Sole Possession of Fifth Place in Big 12 Standings
On Tuesday night, BYU handed Kansas its worst loss of the Bill Self era. That win, including the two wins over WVU and Kansas State leading up to that game, were enough to move BYU off the bubble and firmly into the NCAA Tournament field. Now, BYU is playing for NCAA Tournament and Big 12 tournament seeding.
Going into a two-game road trip against the Arizona schools, BYU is in sole possession of fifth place in the Big 12 standings. Below are the updated Big 12 standings after 15 conference games for every team.
BYU is just ahead of Baylor, Kansas, and TCU in the standings. The Cougars hold head-to-head tiebreakers against both Baylor and Kansas. However, the Horned Frogs hold a tiebreaker over BYU. Even if all three of those teams win and BYU loses to Arizona, BYU could still be in fifth place in the conference depending on the tiebreaker scenarios.
For BYU, the realistic goal in the Big 12 standings should probably be fifth at this point, although a fourth-place finish would not be impossible. Iowa State is 2.0 games ahead of BYU in the standings. However, BYU plays at Iowa State in a couple weeks. If BYU were to gain one game in the standings on Iowa State a then beat the Cyclones on the road, the tiebreaker would move BYU into the top four of the conference standings.
Below BYU, Kansas, TCU, and Baylor, there is a large group hovering at or around .500 in conference play: Kansas State, Utah, and West Virginia. A split against the Arizona schools would help BYU maintain the separation from those four teams.
As far as the conference standings go, finishing in the top eight is critical for BYU. The top eight teams in the conference standings get first-round byes in the Big 12 conference tournament.
