The Big 12 is arguably the best basketball conference in the country with six teams ranked in the top 25, and those teams aren’t that successful without great players. Here are the top five that are battling it out for Conference Player of the Year:
Georges Niang - 6'8", 230 lbs, PF - Jr., Iowa State
Stats: 14.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.5 apg
Niang is the heart and soul of one of the conference's best teams and is one of the best all-around players in the country. When he plays well, Iowa State is a Final Four contender. He's stepped his game up a bit as the conference schedule has started, and will be the frontrunner to win conference player of the year if the Cyclones keep winning.
Buddy Hield - 6'4", 205 lbs, SG - Jr., Oklahoma
Stats: 17.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg
Hield is the Big 12's leading scorer and is the unquestioned leader and best player on the No. 24 team in the country. He's at a bit of a disadvantage because his team isn't as good as most of the others in the conference, but it looks like he's going to carry them back to the NCAA Tournament.
Kelly Oubre – 6’6″, 205 lbs, SF – Fr., Kansas
Stats: 8.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg
Oubre is finally showing everyone why he was rated so high coming out of high school now that he’s earned a starting spot in Bill Self’s rotation. He needs to become more consistent, but has a total offensive game and amazing athletic ability.
Oubre probably has the most talent and is the best draft prospect in the conference, but he needs to show he can keep it all together for a longer period of time for him to move higher up this list.
Juwan Staten - 6'1", 190 lbs, PG - Sr., West Virginia
Stats: 15.2 ppg, 4.4 apg
West Virginia has been one of the surprise teams of the college basketball this season, and Staten is the biggest reason why. The senior hasn't put up the stats he did last year (18.1 ppg, 5.8 apg, 5.6 rpg), but that's because the Mountaineers have more overall talent. He started the conference schedule in a shooting slump, but seemed to break out of it in a big way with 18 points and 12 assists in their win over TCU.
Myles Turner – 6’11″, 242 lbs, C – Fr., Texas
Stats: 11.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 2.8 bpg
Turner has size to compete in the post and range that stretches to the three-point line, but he hasn’t been able to consistently put it all together on the offensive end. That being said, he still produces at a high clip on the defensive end every night, which is enough to put him on our list.
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