Big 12 proves its worth in conference challenge

It also took away the momentum that’s built through a conference season, interrupting the flow you get into — but it offered the one thing that seems to always work for TV. That is a big, national stage upon which to show off your product to potential recruits and their parents.

That was just what the Big 12 wanted. It was being called the best conference in the land — boasting half of its membership in the 20 and with nine of its 10 teams having been ranked at some point during the season — and now it went out and proved it, winning seven of the 10 games during a week when 13 of the top 25 teams lost.

“I think it was genius by ESPN to put this together on January 30 at this point,” Ford added. “I didn’t it see that way until Saturday morning. It was an amazing thing just for the stage the Big 12 and the SEC had.

“The Big 12/SEC Challenge got all the publicity. I didn’t see that back in April and I didn’t didn’t understand it, but I kind of get it now. There were other big games in other conferences — Virginia played Louisville, but no one knew about it.”

ESPN threw everything it had into the round-the-clock challenges and teams from both leagues knew what was at stake. Perhaps it was Bruce Pearl, the Auburn coach, who tried to make the best use of the challenge with his team.

Facing Ford’s Oklahoma State team, Pearl allowed the ESPN cameras into his locker room as he gave an impassioned pregame speech where he implored them to play for their fans, for the name across the front of their shirt, which, of course, is Auburn, and if that weren’t enough to play for the name on the back of the shirt, which is their own.

And finally, Ford said, they should play for the SEC and had them chanting “SEC, SEC.”

It was good TV.

“The funny thing is,” Ford said, “(ESPN) was coming into our locker room too, but it was so small, the smallest locker room I’ve been in, I couldn’t get the whole staff in there, let alone the TV people.”

The SEC/Big 12 Challenge was highlighted by two games — one matching two of the traditionally greatest programs in the country in Kansas and Kentucky — and the other matching maybe the two top players in the country in Buddy Hield of No. 1 Oklahoma and spectacular freshman Ben Simmons of LSU.

Both games turned into classics. Oklahoma edged LSU, 77-75, with Hield scoring 32 points and teammate Isaiah Cousins hitting the game-winning shot with 4 seconds left as Hield was used as a decoy.

“Buddy is the core of everything we did late game. I just felt Isaiah had a better chance to get a shot he likes a lot more than Buddy did,” Sooners coach Lon Kruger said.

Simmons had 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists, but Oklahoma did a spectacular job of denying him the ball the last 10 minutes of the game.

“Going into the year I didn’t know how our players would react (to the SEC/Big12 Challenge). Our players were really excited,” Kruger said. “On the flip side, we do not get the week off, which coaches lie. But ESPN promoted this hard and from our perspective I was happy to see they were amped up about the game.”

Kansas and Kentucky went overtime before Kansas put it together to win, 90-84, in a matchup of the two winningest programs in NCAA history.

Wayne Selden Jr. scored 33 for Kansas, covering up for the disappearance of star Perry Ellis, the Jayhawk star who was in foul trouble and went 44 minutes without a field goal after scoring the game’s first basket.

The game also put the national focus on one of the best home crowds in college basketball, being the one at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence where Bill Self is now 201-9 since taking over as coach.

“Our crowd helps us win games all the time,” Self said. “Kentucky handled the crowd really well. We never got on a run, a 6-0 or 8-2 run where the crowd could get into it.”

Self felt Kentucky even bought into the atmosphere and benefitted from it.

“Our hyped up atmosphere helps the opposition, too. Everyone loves to play when the crowd is into it like it is with us,” Self said.

But, in the end, Self had to admit that it was a big part of the victory.

“Kentucky went on a roll, like 16-2 toward the end of the half, but our crowd played a role for us in that they won’t let you get your head down when you are going against it,” Self said.

As good as it went for the league, however, is as bad as it went for West Virginia, which was lethargic as it went into Gainesville, Florida, without a suspended Jonathan Holton and never had chance in losing to the Gators.