Houston's 65-59 win over Kansas on Monday night was its ninth in a row and 18th in conference play, five more than any other team in the Big 12. Not only that, the 18 conference wins set a new Big 12 and program record for the most wins in league play in a single season.
Made some history tonight 😏#ForTheCity x #GoCoogs pic.twitter.com/KDM5ECQXvy
— Houston Men's Hoops 🏀 🐾 (@UHCougarMBK) March 4, 2025
Here's how the Big 12 standings look after a record-setting win by Houston.
Big 12 standings after Houston's historic win against Kansas
Team | Record (Conference) |
|---|---|
Houston | 26-4 (18-1) |
Texas Tech | 22-7 (13-5) |
Arizona | 19-10 (13-5) |
Iowa State | 22-7 (12-6) |
BYU | 21-8 (12-6) |
Kansas | 19-11 (10-9) |
TCU | 16-13 (9-9) |
Baylor | 17-12 (9-9) |
Kansas State | 14-15 (8-10) |
West Virginia | 17-12 (8-10) |
Utah | 16-13 (8-10) |
Cincinnati | 17-12 (7-11) |
Oklahoma State | 14-15 (6-12) |
UCF | 15-14 (6-12) |
Arizona State | 13-16 (4-14) |
Colorado | 11-18 (2-16) |
Losses continue to pile up for Kansas
With a pair of losses to Houston and four losses in their last six games, the Jayhawks continue to struggle to put consistent results together. Luckily for them, they have only fallen to the No. 6 seed in the Big 12 due to the mediocre play from the teams below them.
The preseason No. 1 team still has a home game against No. 24 Arizona on Saturday before the Big 12 Tournament gets underway. As of Tuesday afternoon, the Jayhawks would at least have a bye to the second round of the conference tournament. Regardless, the road to a Big 12 Tournament title — which Kansas has won 12 times — is not going to be easy for a team that is accustomed to playing for the hardware.
Houston in position for multiple No. 1 seeds
With the outright Big 12 regular-season title already wrapped up and a projected one-seed in the NCAA Tournament as of Tuesday according to ESPN Bracketology expert Joe Lunardi, the Cougars are in great shape. With four ranked wins to its credit and all four of its losses coming to teams that are either ranked (Auburn, Alabama, Texas Tech) or in the projected NCAA Tournament field (San Diego State), Houston has as strong a resume as any team in the country, not to mention its suffocating defense (58 PPG) that leads the nation.
Big 12 bubble watch
With only one or two games remaining for each Big 12 team, the conference is currently projected to get eight teams into the Big Dance if the season ended today; Houston, Iowa State, Texas Tech, Arizona, Kansas, BYU, West Virginia and Baylor.
Of the eight teams projected in the field, Baylor is the closest to being left out in the Last Four Byes. The Bears are one of only four teams to beat St. John's this season, but losses to TCU and Colorado do not help their case. If the Bears can avenge their prior loss to TCU and potentially win at least one game in the Big 12 Tournament, there is a good chance they will be dancing in a couple weeks.
Any hopes of a ninth Big 12 team making the NCAA Tournament currently ride on the Cincinnati Bearcats. As one of Lunardi's Next Four Out, there is still work to be done for Cincinnati. The Bearcats only have two wins over NCAA Tournament teams (BYU and Baylor) and losses to Villanova, Kansas State and Utah. With unranked Kansas State and Oklahoma State left on their schedule, the Bearcats may need to run the table in the Big 12 Tournament to get into the Big Dance. While that is unlikely, crazier things have happened, but it looks like the Big 12 will have a realistic shot of at least getting eight teams in.