If the benchmark for measuring a college basketball league’s success is its performance in the NCAA Tournament, then the Big 12 Conference finished the year as one of the weaker major conferences.

The Big 12 was highly ranked in the RPI and was well represented on Selection Sunday. Six teams received bids to the Big Dance, but none of those teams advanced past the Sweet Sixteen. While the Big 12 failed to meet expectations, the other conferences excelled. The Big 10, ACC, Big East, Conference USA, SEC, and Pac 10 each had at least one team reach the Elite Eight, and the Big Ten had two teams reach the Final Four.

Kansas coach Bill Self and his players said the Big 12’s pour tournament performance was not indicative of how good the league truly was. They said sharing the regular season conference title with Oklahoma was still a great achievement.

“We didn’t finish our season how we wanted to, but we accomplished a lot of good things like winning the Big 12,” senior forward Wayne Simien said.

Self said fans acted like Kansas didn’t win the Big 12 because it finished 2-4, after starting off the league race 10-0.

“We won a piece of the league,” Self said. “We lost the right to win the sole possession of the league.”

The Big 12 impressed KU players because the league was more balanced than it had been in past years. (need evidence that the players think this, maybe a quote)

Baylor finished conference play in last place, at 1-15, but every other team was competitive. Colorado finished next to last, but even they defeated Texas twice and gave Oklahoma State all it could handle in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament.

Race for the Big 12 title

The battle for the regular season conference championship took place between Kansas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

After racing to a 10-0 start, the Jayhawks appeared to have the title all but assured, but that changed with a three-game losing streak in February. Kansas defeated Oklahoma State and Kansas State to get to 12 wins but lost at Missouri with sole possession of the regular season crown on the line.

The Sooners took advantage of the Jayhawks’ late-season troubles and shared a piece of the conference championship. Oklahoma finished the year on a winning streak. It defeated Kansas and took the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 Tournament.

Oklahoma State was in contention for the regular season title until it visited Allen Fieldhouse on Feb. 27. The Jayhawks took the Cowboys in a game that both coaches said was for the Big 12 championship. Both teams shot better than 50 percent for the game, but Kansas prevailed after Simien scored a career-high 32 points and Oklahoma State senior guard John Lucas missed a three-pointer at the buzzer. Disappointing teams

At the beginning of the year, Texas was ranked in the top 10. The Longhorns had one of the country’s best recruiting classes and sophomore forward P.J. Tucker was leading the team in scoring.

It’s easy to tell why Texas finished sixth in league play, after all that hype, because the team had to finish the year without two of its best players. Tucker was ruled academically ineligible for the spring semester, and freshman forward Lamarcus Aldridge suffered a season-ending injury.

Texas coach Rick Barnes had difficulty keeping his team together, but thanks to two victories against Oklahoma State, the Longhorns snuck into the NCAA Tournament.

The Big 12’s other disappointing team was Missouri. It finished strong after coach Quin Snyder was told his job was safe and sophomore forward Linas Kleiza started playing in the lane. But the team had one of the conference’s worst starts and lost to Kansas State twice.

Surprising teams Led by first-year coach Billy Gillispie, Texas A&M; showed the most improvement of any team from a year ago. After going winless in 2004, the Aggies finished with a .500 record in the Big 12 and made it to their first postseason tournament in two decades.

Junior forward Antonie Wright was named to the first all conference team, and Aggie fans pleaded for him to stay for his senior year by chanting,

“one more year” to him as he left the court in his final home game.

Iowa State also raised some eyebrows around the league. The Cyclones started the conference with an 0-5 record but rebounded to finish the year in fifth place.

Led by sophomore guard Curtis Stinson and senior forward Jared Homan, the Cyclones made their first tournament appearance under coach Wayne Morgan.