Top 25 Voter Pod: Recent Episodes
Waco Tribune-Herald
Big 12 and Baylor college basketball talk — men and women — every week with John Werner, Chad Conine, and Brice Cherry of the Waco Tribune-Herald. We never mail it in.
• The Baylor men are a 3 seed in the South Region vs. UC Santa Barbara, and they're headed to Denver. The winner gets Creighton or N.C. State, a 6-11 matchup. Could this be a favorable road to the Sweet 16 for the Bears, do you think?
• As for the Baylor women, they're a 7 seed — better than the 8/9 some projected, largely on the strength of their wins. They get to play Alabama in Storrs, Connecticut, on Saturday, and then the winner will likely get UConn, a 2 seed. Is there any chance the Bears can pull a big upset of the host and face the second weekend?
• The brackets are set and prognostications are flying everywhere, it seems. Who do you like to win it all, on the men's and the women's side?
• Hitting the road for Denver and Connecticut for the NCAA Tournament: John and Brice talk food, attractions and more as they get out of town for a few days (and hopefully not just one weekend).
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• The Baylor men lost both games to Iowa State in the regular season by 15 points, and that's who they get Thursday morning to open the Big 12 tournament in front of a hostile crowd that will be packed with Cyclones fans. Is Kansas City a fair setting for Texas teams? What do the Bears need to do to get over that gold-and-red hump, and how do you peg their odds to win the tourney?
• Meanwhile, the Baylor women will also see some partisan crowds with a Friday night game vs. Iowa State. The Bears and Cyclones split their regular-season series with an early win up in Ames for BU and then a heartbreaking double-OT loss in Waco for Baylor. What do they need to do to pull off a win, and how do you see them going?
• Let's talk NCAA Tournament: With Selection Sunday just days away, what are your final predictions for the Baylor men and women, and how far do you see each of them going?
• In addition to being Top 25 pollsters, Brice and John get to vote for All-America teams, too: Here are their picks for those teams, as well as Player of the Year and Coach of the Year.
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• It's Senior Day at the Ferrell Center on Saturday, as the Baylor men host Iowa state and the women welcome in West Virginia. Let's talk about those seniors and what they've meant to these programs — Adam Flagler, Flo Thamba, Caitlin Bickle, Ja'Mee Asberry and others, fuzzy COVID eligibility or not.
• That win over Texas in Austin last week was certainly Nicki Collen's best coaching job at Baylor, as Brice wrote in a recent column. She seemed to push all the right buttons in a nothing-to-lose situation and thwart the Longhorns' title hopes with a 63-54 win. And now her team could end an up-and-down year on a four-game win streak.
• The Baylor men won't 3-peat for the conference title as Kansas has it sewn up, but could the Bears, who were injury-riddled are much healthier than a year ago, wind up going much deeper in the NCAA Tournament this year after bowing out last year in the second round? This team seems to have a deeper bench, is healthy and could go pretty far if they can overcome some streaky shooting.
• Who are your Big 12 Player of the Year and Coach of the Year picks? Teams in the state of Kansas should sweep the men's awards, it seems, while the bests on the women's side are a bit of a toss-up — especially after Rori Harmon's eyebrow-raising comments after Texas' loss to Baylor last week.
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Special guest Kelly Hines (@KellyHinesTW), veteran sportswriter of the venerable Tulsa World, joins Trib sports guys John Werner and Brice Cherry for some Big 12 and Top 25 basketball talk.
• Houston moved back to No. 1 this week for the fifth week this season, which has seen several different teams holding the top spot. That indicates may indicate there's no clear-cut favorite to win it all, but as of today, who's most likely to cut down the NCAA nets in April? Does that team come out of the Big 12 for the third year in a row? What about four Texas teams getting to the Final Four?
• On the flipside of the college basketball powerhouse that is Texas is what's happening with Oklahoma's Big 12 teams, which is ... not great. OU is in something of a rebuilding mode with second-year skipper Porter Moser; meanwhile, while OSU is in the bottom half of the league, it looks fairly likely to make the NCAAs this year, and Mike Boynton has only taken the Cowboys there once before. What's the feeling among the faithful north of the Red River? Heck, Oral Roberts may be the best team in the state.
• No. 1 South Carolina continues to reign on the women's side. Consider this: Dawn Staley's team's last six NCAA finishes are national champs, Elite Eight, Sweet 16, COVID-19 (with a 32-1 record), Final Four and another natty last year. Have the Gamecocks supplanted UConn as the premier program in women's college basketball? Parity is on the rise.
• John's back from a quick trip to Manhattan, Kansas, aka the "Octagon of Doom," which looked pretty great on TV. We've made trips to Allen Fieldhouse and other cool places in Big 12 play over the years, but what's the best basketball venue Kelly and John have ever been to, and what's on your bucket list?
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• There's a big game Saturday in Lawrence, as the Baylor Bears face Kansas in a Top 10 matchup. BU won the first round by 6 in Waco last month. Can the Bears do it on the road, where they've only one once all-time?
• The Baylor men have now won 10 out of 11, with the last 4 by an average of 13 points — coinciding ing with the return of Everyday Jon, incidentally. They're tied for the conference lead at 9-4, with Texas and Kansas, with five games left to play. But they've got by far the toughest schedule of the three. What are their chances of pulling off a third straight Big 12 title?
• Meanwhile, the Baylor women are bordering on a dumpster fire — they've lost three straight (two incredibly lopsided) for the first time since 2000-01 (i.e. Mulkey's first season). And they allowed 60% shooting against Oklahoma, which hadn't happened since the Sonja Hogg era. What are the issues here?
• NCAA seeding is just about a month away. What seeds do you see Baylor's men and women getting? Is it possible the the women miss the tournament entirely?
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• Everyday Jon returns to a huge ovation from the Baylor faithful. What does his return from injury, unexpected as it is, mean for these Bears?
• It's a jumbled Big 12 race out there with Texas holding a narrow lead and then four teams in a logjam behind then. With Tchamwa Tchatchoua back, how do you see the race shaking out? Does Baylor have a shot?
• Meanwhile, the Baylor women blew a 12-point lead in the second half and a 5-point lead with 24 seconds left on Tuesday, somehow managing to lose at home in overtime. How does that even happen? How big of a blow is that to the Bears' title hopes?
• There's a big game Sunday: Not that one, but the Super Duper Women's Basketball Bowl with No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 3 LSU. Both teams are undefeated, which is great to see this late in the season. Who you got, and what do you think about Kim Mulkey's Dawn Staley comments? (Plus, stick around for a pretty good Geno Auriemma story.)
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• Championship check-in: Here we are at the midpoint of the Big 12 season for the men and the women. Which teams look like the most likely title contenders?
• With six of the top 15 teams in the country, the Big 12 is clearly the elite conference in men's college basketball (sorry, SEC). But with such parity and continued tough conference play among those squads, does that hurt the league's chances of getting a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament?
• Sarah Andrews is having a tremendous year, ranking top 5 in scoring, assists and 3-point percentage. Is the Baylor star the best guard in the Big 12?
• The 2023 football schedules came out this week, reminding us all that next year we'll have four new faces in the Big 12. When you look at BYU, UCF, Cincy, Houston, does that make the Big 12 a better men's or women's basketball conference?
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We're joined by special guest Danny Davis (@_dannydavis), longtime Austin American-Statesman sports writer and a fellow AP Top 25 voter, for some college hoops talk with the Trib's Brice Cherry and John Werner.
• History was made this week in the AP women's basketball poll, as no Texas teams were ranked in the women's top 25 for the first time, ever. Is this just a fluke or a hiccup, or more of a trend? Has the level of Lone Star basketball slipped?
• The Texas women have been up and down this year, already with six losses, and you're never sure which team will show up. Vic Schaefer has taken the Longhorns to the Elite Eight in both of his first two seasons. What are the odds they can make another deep run?
• One guy who's fun to watch is Keyonte George: The Baylor men are on a five-game win streak after an 0-3 start, including a big Big Monday win over the defending national champs in the Kansas Jayhawks. What has been the key to their hot stretch?
• As AP poll voters, what's your approach week in and week out? What's the method to your voting madness?
• We've got the Big 12-SEC Challenge in the men's game this weekend, with Kansas at Kentucky, a Top 10 matchup with Texas visiting Tennessee and Baylor hosting Arkansas, among others. How much do you think these coaches get into these conference battles? Do they have any lasting benefits beyond bragging rights or what?
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• The Baylor women snapped a two-game losing streak Wednesday night with an impressive 69-48 win over K-State at the Ferrell Center. What does Nicki Collen's team need to do to keep this momentum going?
• Meanwhile, the Baylor men got another good win on the road in Lubbock to even its Big 12 record at 3-3. What's been the key to the Bears' turnaround thus far after an abysmal start?
• Obviously, the 2021 Baylor national title team had three incredible guards in Butler/Mitchell/Teague. How does this trio of George/Flagler/Cryer stack up?
• The Baylor women (and the Lady Bears) ended their 365-week run in the AP poll this week — that's 19 years. How mind-blowing is that streak, and will we ever see anything like it again, given the rising parity in women's college basketball, especially in a fiercely competitive Big 12?
• Let's give K-State some love after a thrilling 92-90 overtime win over Kansas in Manhattan, putting the Wildcats in a tie for the Big 12 lead. Doesn't ex-Baylor assistant Jerome Tang have to be the frontrunner for coach of the year at this point?
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• Keyonte George went off for 32 points the other night as the Baylor men finally won a game, is averaging 17.8 ppg, 4.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists. He's a lottery pick, obviously, but is he the best Bears freshman of the Scott Drew era?
• The Baylor women suffered their first Big 12 loss of the year Wednesday night at home vs. OSU, and a large part of that was an ugly 6-for-29 from beyond the arc. Are the Bears balanced enough to suffer these poor shooting nights? Nicki Collen was practically despondent.
• Speaking of defense, the Baylor men are dead last in the Big 12, allowing 81 points during this 1-3 start. Which of these guys can step up as "the stopper," and how can this team improve on defense?
• We know the Big 12 is a top hoops league, if not the best in the country. How many men's teams do you think will make the NCAAs? Could it be 9 teams, or even all 10?
• What about the women's side? The parity has really improved in that side and the Big 12 has four teams ranked.
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The return of the Top 25 Voter Pod — where we never mail it in — brings AP Top 25 poll voters and Baylor beat writers John Werner and Brice Cherry together for an impromptu conversation about Big 12 hoops and all things college basketball.
• The Baylor men are now 0-2 in the Big 12 after a wild 88-87 loss at the Ferrell Center to TCU on Wednesday night. The schedule doesn't get any more forgiving, either, as the Bears will try to regroup Saturday against rising stars in the Kansas State Wildcats, who are 13-1 (2-0) under former longtime Baylor assistant Jerome Tang. What kind of pressure is on Scott Drew's squad here? This one feels like a must-win.
• The Bears' biggest issues to open Big 12 play have been ‘atrocious’ transition defense (against an admittedly very good TCU squad) and their 3-point shooting has been erratic, too. How do they solve it?
• For the Baylor women, they starting last year 0-2 in the conference and wound up winning the league, while this year they're already 2-0, including a big road win over a Top 25 team in No. 17 Oklahoma. What has impressed you most about the BU women in their second year under Nicki Collen?
• There's a good chance that three of the top five preseason Top 25 teams (North Carolina, Kentucky and Baylor) will not be ranked at all next week in this topsy-turvy season. What does this say about parity in college hoops?
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• The Baylor women grab a 2 seed, behind nemesis Louisville, and play at home this weekend. What are Nicki Collen's team's chances of making the Final Four?
• How about the Baylor men? They got a 1 seed despite an early Big 12 exit and get to play in Fort Worth on the first weekend. This team is clearly not as good as last year's championship squad — but can Scott Drew's teams get back to the Final Four? We think one BU player could be the X-factor.
• Out of the Big 12 teams, who has the best chance to make to the Final Four?
• Can Texas Tech knock Coach K out?
• Will Vic Schaefer continue his run as an NCAA tourney beast?
• Which Big 12 teams could be bracket-busters and make an unexpected deep run?
• On the flip side, which Big 12 teams are likely to be busts?
• Let's pick the champs: Who you got? Arizona, Kansas, Gonzaga on the men's side, or someone else? How about N.C. State, South Carolina or Stanford for the women?
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• The Baylor women went from 0-2 to open Big 12 play to a share of the conference title, after knocking off Iowa State on the road. With Nalyssa Smith playing remarkably, what do you feel like has come together for the Baylor women, and are they a threat to make a deep run in the NCAAs?
• How has Scott Drew done this? The BU men have dealt with more injuries than most teams are accustomed to. But with a huge Kansas win plus a road win over Texas in a game that UT was motivated to win, they're right back at the top. How has Scott Drew done this, tweaking his rotation to make this work?
• Breaking down the Big 12: We break down the league into tiers on the men's and women's side. Plus, we talk about Baylor and LSU not getting placed in the same region, according to the latest bracket preview.
• It was bloodbath Saturday in college basketball, as teams ranked 1-6, seven of the top 10, went down. Consequently, Baylor jumped from 10th to third in the AP poll. What does it all mean? And could a five-loss Bears team get a No. 1 seed?
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• It looks like the Big 12 women's race will come down to Baylor-Iowa State on Monday night in Ames. Do you expect the Bears to win their 12th straight conference title?
• Do the Baylor men or Texas Tech have a legit chance at overtaking Kansas for the Big 12 title at this late stage? Is Baylor's depth going to get in the way?
• Who do you like for Big 12 men's and women's players of the year? On the men's side, Ochai Agbaji from Kansas, Izaiah Brockington from Iowa State and Bryson Williams from Texas Tech all seem like strong contenders. On the women's side, Baylor's NaLyssa Smith seems like a clear favorite, despite Ayoka Lee doing some amazing things (for a K-State team that's 8-6 in conference and 18-8 overall, anyway).
• Debating Juwan Howard's outburst: Did the Big Ten get it right with the suspension?
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• Everyday Jon, Baylor junior forward Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua, went down with a season-ending knee injury against Texas — that's a huge loss. Can the Bears still made a deep NCAA run? How do they make up his absence, especially on defense?
• Baylor travels to Tech for a big-time game in a big-time atmosphere: Could this be a Sweet 16 or Elite Eight preview type of game?
• The Baylor women are on 4-game win streak and have won 9 of their last 10. Are they peaking at the right time? How does this Baylor defense stack up with Kim Mulkey's squads?
• Who are the Coach of the Year candidates in Big 12 basketball? For Chad, it's simple: Jennie Baranczyk and Mark Adams.
• Central Texas lost a huge friend in LeRoy Coleman, former University High School head coach and La Vega assistant, this past weekend. Trib sportswriters reflect on what Leroy meant to Centex football and us all personally.
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• With back-to-back wins over Texas, how impressive was that bounce-back performance by the Baylor women, and what are the chances they compete for the Big 12 title with Iowa State and Oklahoma?
• After a humbling loss at Kansas, then Baylor men are now 4-4 in their last eight games. The good news is they're getting healthier, with only L.J. Cryer out right now. But can the Bears get back to where they were when they were playing at a 15-0 standard?
• The Big 12 men's race tightens up with Texas' big upset of Kansas. Who has the best shot at winning the conference?
• The Baylor women face K-State Wednesday night. How will the Bears handle 61-point phenom Ayoka Lee this time?
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• With five wins in a row (before that OU game, that is), it seems like the Baylor women have really turned it around. Talking triple-double performances and other reasons why it's all coming together for the Bears.
• Scott Drew and the Baylor men have continued to win while adapting to a constantly changing roster, as it seems like they always have two key players out with injury. With the likes of Dale Bonner and Jordan Turner stepping up, will that experience help the Bears out down the road?
• Strong opinions on knucklehead fans: The word "edgy" gets thrown around a few times as we disagree about what happened with Chris Beard and Texas Tech fans. Is this level of vitriol warranted after he left for UT?
• Across the country, Big 12 men's basketball is right up there with the elite conferences, if not No. 1. But the league's highest-ranked team is No. 8 Baylor, following by No. 10 Kansas and No. 14 Texas Tech. When we get to Selection Sunday, will that kind of parity result in a No. 1 seed for the Big 12 champion, or will the league get snubbed — and is that fair?
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• The Baylor women are coming off a hugely impressive top-10 win over No. 7 Iowa State. How much does that do for the Bears as Nicki Collen tries to put her stamp on this program? Will Baylor still feel like an underdog the rest of the way?
• The Baylor men have bounced back nicely with two big road wins to follow a couple of dispiriting home losses. How impressive has that turnaround been, especially the contributions of L.J. Cryer — and it's all happened when they're missing Jeremy Sochan and James Akinjo is bruised downstairs?
• Auburn jumped up to No. 1 this week for the first time ever. We've had six, count ’em, teams ranked in the top spot this year. But is there a truly great team out there? If there isn't a dominant No. 1, is that a bad thing?
• The Big 12 is so deep that bracketologist Joe Lunardi has eight teams in in the tournament out of nine eligible. How many you do project in this unpredictable league?
• What about tourney-bound teams on the women's side? The Big 12 even has more teams ranked in that Top 25 poll than the men do.
• In honor of Ayoka Lee's massive 61-point night for Kansas State, what's the biggest performance you've ever seen in person as a sportswriter?
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• The transfer portal: It's full-on college free agency. How has it impacted Big 12 basketball? Is there more parity?
• Will Nicki Collen contine to milk the transfer portal for the Baylor women? The Big 12 race is as wide-open as it's been in a long time.
• The formerly-No. 1 Baylor men were reeling after two losses, especially with an ugly performance at Oklahoma State. But how impressive was that road win at Morgantown? Plus, talking about Jeremy Sochan's importance to the Bears.
• The wrath of the Twitter trolls: John Werner got a faceful of Kentucky fans. Are they out of control, or does the social media fluff matter at all?
The return of the Trib podcast Top 25 Voter Pod — where we never mail it in — brings AP Top 25 poll voters and Baylor beat writers John Werner and Chad Conine together for an impromptu conversation about Big 12 hoops and all things college basketball with sports editor Brice Cherry.
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• The Bears are Big 12 champs: How impressive were the Bears on the road against West Virginia, following up the Kansas loss?
• With Baylor's win and Michigan's surprising loss to Illinois, are the Bears now a 100% lock for a #1 seed?
• The Lady Bears go to 11: And if they add a Big 12 tournament title, as they usually do, can they avoid dropping to a #3 seed, or even work into the #1 spot?
• With NaLyssa Smith playing at such an elite level nowadays, will we see more of an off-the-dribble NBA-type look to the Lady Bears?
• Down the road, will teams use Kansas' blueprint for beating Baylor as the March schedule continues?
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• After 3 weeks out of service, the Baylor men returned to the court ... and played badly, but eventually emerged with a 77-72 win over last-place Iowa State. Was this a big surprise, given 3-week off?
• The Big 12 revamped its schedule, canceling Baylor's home game vs. WVU and sending BU on the road to Morgantown. Is that fair?
• Chad's favorite topic: Is Bob Huggins the best coach without a national championship?
• If Baylor ends up winning the Big 12 despite only playing 14 games instead of 18, will that hurt them in the national respect picture? Even though they played more road games and didn't get the Longhorns in Waco?
• How messed-up is this college basketball season, anyway?
• The Baylor Lady Bears are the driver's seat for their umpteenth Big 12 title, but with two losses, they're ranked No. 7 in the nation and some projections have them as a 3 seed in the tourney. Given their resume, do the defending national champs deserve to be ranked higher?
• To that point, does the Big 12's general lack of moxie hurt the Lady Bears, competition-wise?
• Bonus question: Charli Collier of Texas is the No. 1 player in a lot of WNBA mock drafts. Do you think the women's game trying to promote leaving school early in order to raise its profile? Good idea or not?
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Baylor's facing a 3-week layoff between games, thanks to COVID-19 and weather. With 5 games in limbo, should they prioritize playing certain opponents over others? How about 6 games in a week? Is it fair to Big 12 teams who have to play Baylor a second time while other teams don't? Should the Big 12 kill the conference tournament this year for scheduling reasons? Getting into Big 12 honors, John and Chad run down their picks for Player of the Year and more in the men's and women's game. Spoiler alert: It's Baylor heavy. As Top 25 voters, do the polls seem a little wackier this year in the age of COVID-19? How about Michigan's impressive return? There's a new No. 1 on the women's side, for the third week in a row, in UConn after a big win over South Carolina. Chad breaks down the top 25 voting. Where do the Baylor men deserve to be ranked after 3 weeks off? John voted Gonzaga No. 1 this week.
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• It'll be an 18-day layoff for the No. 2 Bears, assuming Baylor returns Feb. 20 against Oklahoma State. How difficult will it be for Baylor, once they get back on the court, to play at the same high level they've been playing at?
• Does Baylor actually have an offensive strategy? Or is it just shoot 45% from 3-point range and get rebounds?
• Should the Big 12 kill the conference tournament? Will Baylor get in all its makeup games?
• The No. 7 Lady Bears have had a lot of laughers, even though they say they're never overlooking any teams. Do you except Baylor's level of play to rise as Kim Mulkey's squad faces better competition in Texas and West Virginia?
• Eventually, can Vic Schaefer turn Texas into a team that actually presents a conference rivalry for Baylor?
• Have the Lady Bears found themselves offensively? Will we see Nalyssa Smith unleashed at some point?
• Chris Beard's tirade against West Virginia: What did you think? Justified, a great performance or something else?
• Kansas dropped out of the top 25 this week, joining the likes of Duke and Kentucky. Is this the start of a down period for the Jayhawks, especially with the spectre of NCAA probation looming?
• What's Bill Self's future?
• Is Kansas really so far down? They're a legit tourney team, a far sight better than the other bluebloods who are struggling this year.
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• After a very impressive 83-69 win over No. 6 Texas, the No. 2 Baylor Bears are now #1 in the NET rankings and the KenPom rankings. Assuming a win again this weekend, how much ground does BU make up in the AP poll next week? What will it take for voters to respect Baylor's schedule and Gonzaga's lack of one?
• Is Baylor getting disrespected by the national media?
• Is Baylor-Gonzaga the matchup college basketball fans deserve?
• Moving on to OU, making a huge leap from 24 to 9 in the poll after top-10 wins over No. 9 Kansas, No. 5 Texas and No. 9 Alabama. But was such a big jump warranted, considering they couldn't beat No. 13 Texas Tech in Lubbock?
• The N.C. State Wolfpack, darling of the Voter Pod, knocked off No. 1 Louisville the other night. Despite a previous loss, will the Pack jump No. 2 South Carolina and No. 3 UConn?
• Without a dominant team, is the women's game more interesting nowadays?
• 20 wins is usually a rubber stamp for the tournament, but with reduced schedules, what's the magic NCAA number this season?
• Will undeserving blue bloods like Duke or Kentucky steal a bracket positions, even if they don't deserve it?
• How will the selection committee react to a weird year? Should BPI rankings rule?
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Welcome to episode 4, where we're ready to dig into these topics:
• Werner's finally voting Baylor No. 1. But only 3 writers nationwide are on the bandwagon. Why, Grizzly Johnny?
• Can Baylor go through undefeated and win the whole thing, just like the mythical Hoosiers of old? The Bears have 7 top 25 games left.
• BTW guys, what did you think about the kerfuffle with Coach K and the student reporter?
• With only one loss, could the Lady Bears run the table in the Big 12 the rest of the way? A big rematch with Iowa State is in Ames on Sunday.
• Moon Ursin is playing at another level, and she could challenge Nalyssa Smith for Player of the Year if she keeps it up.
• Alabama isn't just a football school anymore. What's up with the Tide?
• Who are the NCAA women's teams making a rise in the national scene?
• How does the Big 12 stack up nationwide? What's wrong with OU and Sherri Coale?
Pop quiz — Pick some Big 12-SEC Challenge games coming up this weekend: Baylor-Auburn Oklahoma-Alabama Texas-Kentucky Kansas-Tennessee Texas Tech-LSU West Virginia-Florida (with bonus Bob Huggins content)
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• The Bears are still No. 2, but if Baylor goes on to beat Oklahoma State this weekend, can they ascend to No. 1, given the Big 12's superiority over the WCC?
• Is Baylor the hottest team in the country?
• After the Lady Bears lost, breaking their 61-game home streak, head coach Kim Mulkey got some notice with her comments about the NCAA and the "almighty dollar." Chad Conine puts those comments in context.
• Given how disruptive this season has been with COVID-19 protocols, is it still worth playing?
• In the men's top 25, there's a startling lack of blue bloods — Duke, UNC, Kentucky and Louisville are all missing. Is this pandemic-related or is it more about parity?
• Chad and John vote in the Top 25 every week: So when they look at teams 26-30, what is it that propels a marginal team one week into the poll the next week?
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In episode 2, we're ready to dig into these topics:
• You guys have to vote on these teams each week — and for Baylor, like many teams, you haven't been able to see the Lady Bears play for awhile. But BU's not the only team dealing with COVID. How do you evaluate teams like that when voting?
• In terms of playing more games, who are the hottest teams right now in college hoops? Michigan? Texas A&M? Texas?
• Oklahoma State posted an impressive win last week over Kansas — despite being on probation, they can play spoiler in this Big 12 race.
• Game of the week: No. 2 Baylor at No. 15 Texas Tech. How will it shake out?
• How the Red Raiders can beat the Bears — and vice-versa.
• Why teams with height don't matter much in the Big 12, plus the value of a bench and more.
• Plus, we try (and fail) to pronounce Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua.
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A brand-new Trib podcast, Top 25 Voter Pod — where we never mail it in — brings AP Top 25 poll voters and Baylor beat writers John Werner and Chad Conine together for an impromptu conversation about Big 12 hoops and all things college basketball with sports editor Brice Cherry.
As 2021 kicks off, we've got plenty to talk about:
• What are the chances that either Baylor team gets to No. 1 before the end of the season?
• For the Baylor men, the Big 12 really benefits the Bears since it's loaded. But what's the best conference in the country?
• Duke is ranked No. 21 — but to be ranked, do you need to actually play games?
• Is the Big 12 looking at 7 teams in the tournament?
• On the women's side, who stands out as the top conference?
• The Big 12 has 5 men's teams in top 25 and a couple of very good ones just outside. Will there be a lot of shuffling this season, or is the order set?
• Kansas' home-court advantage takes a hit in a COVID-limited season — meanwhile, the talent may have never been deeper around the Big 12.
• Is there a dominant men's player in the Big 12?
• For a poll voter, what do you look for in a top 25 team? How do they qualify for consideration?
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