Big 12 best basketball league again, brutal half-season left

The Big 12 has the nation’s No. 1 team and half of the league is in the top 15 of the AP poll.

For the third season in a row, the conference has the best cumulative RPI. And in a "break" from league play last weekend, the Big 12 won seven of 10 games against the Southeastern Conference in an event that used to be played in December.

Now comes the second half of their brutal round-robin conference schedule, with each of the 10 teams exactly halfway through their 18 Big 12 games.

Oklahoma and No. 14 West Virginia are tied for the Big 12 lead, a game ahead of 11-time defending Big 12 champ and No. 7 Kansas, No. 15 Baylor and Texas.