Big 12 Feast Week

College basketball’s annual Feast Week, the week of Thanksgiving featuring some of the most entertaining tournaments in college basketball, has come to a close.

Many teams from all over the country converge to resorts and arenas, sharpening their skills before conference play begins in December.

Most teams had at least one impactful game during the week, and who better to recap than the best conference in the country? The Big 12 features a number of both tournament-hopeful teams and others with aspirations of cutting down the nets in April.

Let’s take a look at how Feast Week helped those plans for some and hindered others. Here’s every Big 12 team and a recap of their feast week.

Arizona

After back-to-back losses to Wisconsin and No. 12 Duke, the Wildcats needed a strong showing at the Battle for Atlantis. It did not work out that way, as after an opening-round win over Davidson, the Wildcats lost their next two games, the second of which was in overtime to West Virginia.

Arizona now sits at 3-4 and is under .500 for the first time in the Tommy Lloyd era. A disastrous week in the desert.

Arizona State

The Sun Devils went 2-0 on the week with wins over New Mexico and Saint Mary’s at home. Bobby Hurley has Arizona poised to make its second NCAA Tournament appearance in three years.

Baylor

The Bears got their tournament out of the way before Feast Week, losing to No. 11 Tennessee in the Baha Mar Championship. This week, Baylor went 1-0 with a home win over New Orleans.

BYU

The Cougars took part in the Rady Children’s Invitational, where they dropped their opener to No. 23 Ole Miss in overtime. BYU rebounded with a double-digit win over North Carolina State.

Cincinnati

The Bearcats kept their then-undefeated season alive with an 18-point win at home over Alabama State. However, later in the week, Cincinnati lost its first game of the season to Villanova.

Colorado

The Buffaloes had a 1-2 week at the Maui Invitational, but that record is deceiving. They picked up a win over the reigning national champs in No. 2 UConn but lost to No. 5 Iowa State and Michigan State. Overall, Colorado had a pretty good week.

Houston

The Cougars went out to the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, and similar to Colorado, they went 1-2. Houston lost two overtime games, one to No. 9 Alabama and another to then-unranked San Diego State.

It was not a great week for Kelvin Sampson and company.

Iowa State

The Cyclones took a trip down to Maui and came away with two wins over Dayton and Colorado but dropped a nail-biter to Auburn. Iowa State can build on that performance and use it to prepare for the daunting schedule in conference play.

Kansas

The Jayhawks won big in Vegas, picking up a three-point win over No. 11 Duke, followed by a 35-point win over Furman. Kansas kept both its undefeated season and its No. 1 ranking intact.

Kansas State

The Wildcats probably had the most boring week of anyone in the conference. They played two games and won both against mid-majors; nothing else to say.

Oklahoma State

The Cowboys did not play during Feast Week but went 1-2 in the Charleston Classic a week prior. Oklahoma beat Miami but then lost to FAU and Nevada.

TCU

TCU’s men’s basketball team is a disaster.

The Horned Frogs suffered two losses to a below .500 Santa Clara team and an unimpressive Colorado State team.

This team will be in the running for worst in the Big 12.

Texas Tech

The Red Raiders went 2-1, losing heartbreakingly to Saint Joseph’s but squeaking out a win against Syracuse. Texas Tech doubled up on wins with a 25-point victory over Northern Colorado.

UCF

What is it with all of these pre-Feast Week Tournaments?

The Knights effectively squashed all their goodwill from beating Texas A&M by getting blown out by No. 19 Wisconsin and losing to LSU in triple overtime.

Wins over Milwaukee and Cal Baptist are not helping.

Utah

The Utes did not have a busy week as they picked up two wins at home against mid-majors.

West Virginia

The Mountaineers had the best week of any team in the conference. They picked up two top-25 overtime wins against No. 3 Gonzaga and No. 24 Arizona.

Those wins could put West Virginia in the tournament if it reaches the bubble in early March.

Nate Johns is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jzn5275@psu.edu.