Top 25 Voter Pod

The return of the Top 25 Voter Pod — where we never mail it in — brings AP Top 25 poll voters and Baylor beat writers John Werner and Brice Cherry together for an impromptu conversation about Big 12 hoops and all things college basketball.

• The Baylor men are now 0-2 in the Big 12 after a wild 88-87 loss at the Ferrell Center to TCU on Wednesday night. The schedule doesn't get any more forgiving, either, as the Bears will try to regroup Saturday against rising stars in the Kansas State Wildcats, who are 13-1 (2-0) under former longtime Baylor assistant Jerome Tang. What kind of pressure is on Scott Drew's squad here? This one feels like a must-win.

• The Bears' biggest issues to open Big 12 play have been ‘atrocious’ transition defense (against an admittedly very good TCU squad) and their 3-point shooting has been erratic, too. How do they solve it?

• For the Baylor women, they starting last year 0-2 in the conference and wound up winning the league, while this year they're already 2-0, including a big road win over a Top 25 team in No. 17 Oklahoma. What has impressed you most about the BU women in their second year under Nicki Collen?

• There's a good chance that three of the top five preseason Top 25 teams (North Carolina, Kentucky and Baylor) will not be ranked at all next week in this topsy-turvy season. What does this say about parity in college hoops?

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• The Baylor women grab a 2 seed, behind nemesis Louisville, and play at home this weekend. What are Nicki Collen's team's chances of making the Final Four?

• How about the Baylor men? They got a 1 seed despite an early Big 12 exit and get to play in Fort Worth on the first weekend. This team is clearly not as good as last year's championship squad — but can Scott Drew's teams get back to the Final Four? We think one BU player could be the X-factor.

• Out of the Big 12 teams, who has the best chance to make to the Final Four?

• Can Texas Tech knock Coach K out?

• Will Vic Schaefer continue his run as an NCAA tourney beast?

• Which Big 12 teams could be bracket-busters and make an unexpected deep run?

• On the flip side, which Big 12 teams are likely to be busts?

• Let's pick the champs: Who you got? Arizona, Kansas, Gonzaga on the men's side, or someone else? How about N.C. State, South Carolina or Stanford for the women?

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• The Baylor women went from 0-2 to open Big 12 play to a share of the conference title, after knocking off Iowa State on the road. With Nalyssa Smith playing remarkably, what do you feel like has come together for the Baylor women, and are they a threat to make a deep run in the NCAAs?

• How has Scott Drew done this? The BU men have dealt with more injuries than most teams are accustomed to. But with a huge Kansas win plus a road win over Texas in a game that UT was motivated to win, they're right back at the top. How has Scott Drew done this, tweaking his rotation to make this work?

• Breaking down the Big 12: We break down the league into tiers on the men's and women's side. Plus, we talk about Baylor and LSU not getting placed in the same region, according to the latest bracket preview.

• It was bloodbath Saturday in college basketball, as teams ranked 1-6, seven of the top 10, went down. Consequently, Baylor jumped from 10th to third in the AP poll. What does it all mean? And could a five-loss Bears team get a No. 1 seed?

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• It looks like the Big 12 women's race will come down to Baylor-Iowa State on Monday night in Ames. Do you expect the Bears to win their 12th straight conference title?

• Do the Baylor men or Texas Tech have a legit chance at overtaking Kansas for the Big 12 title at this late stage? Is Baylor's depth going to get in the way?

• Who do you like for Big 12 men's and women's players of the year? On the men's side, Ochai Agbaji from Kansas, Izaiah Brockington from Iowa State and Bryson Williams from Texas Tech all seem like strong contenders. On the women's side, Baylor's NaLyssa Smith seems like a clear favorite, despite Ayoka Lee doing some amazing things (for a K-State team that's 8-6 in conference and 18-8 overall, anyway).

• Debating Juwan Howard's outburst: Did the Big Ten get it right with the suspension?

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• Everyday Jon, Baylor junior forward Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua, went down with a season-ending knee injury against Texas — that's a huge loss. Can the Bears still made a deep NCAA run? How do they make up his absence, especially on defense? 

• Baylor travels to Tech for a big-time game in a big-time atmosphere: Could this be a Sweet 16 or Elite Eight preview type of game? 

• The Baylor women are on 4-game win streak and have won 9 of their last 10. Are they peaking at the right time? How does this Baylor defense stack up with Kim Mulkey's squads? 

• Who are the Coach of the Year candidates in Big 12 basketball? For Chad, it's simple: Jennie Baranczyk and Mark Adams. 

• Central Texas lost a huge friend in LeRoy Coleman, former University High School head coach and La Vega assistant, this past weekend. Trib sportswriters reflect on what Leroy meant to Centex football and us all personally. 

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• With back-to-back wins over Texas, how impressive was that bounce-back performance by the Baylor women, and what are the chances they compete for the Big 12 title with Iowa State and Oklahoma?

• After a humbling loss at Kansas, then Baylor men are now 4-4 in their last eight games. The good news is they're getting healthier, with only L.J. Cryer out right now. But can the Bears get back to where they were when they were playing at a 15-0 standard?

• The Big 12 men's race tightens up with Texas' big upset of Kansas. Who has the best shot at winning the conference?

• The Baylor women face K-State Wednesday night. How will the Bears handle 61-point phenom Ayoka Lee this time?

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• With five wins in a row (before that OU game, that is), it seems like the Baylor women have really turned it around. Talking triple-double performances and other reasons why it's all coming together for the Bears.

• Scott Drew and the Baylor men have continued to win while adapting to a constantly changing roster, as it seems like they always have two key players out with injury. With the likes of Dale Bonner and Jordan Turner stepping up, will that experience help the Bears out down the road?

• Strong opinions on knucklehead fans: The word "edgy" gets thrown around a few times as we disagree about what happened with Chris Beard and Texas Tech fans. Is this level of vitriol warranted after he left for UT?

• Across the country, Big 12 men's basketball is right up there with the elite conferences, if not No. 1. But the league's highest-ranked team is No. 8 Baylor, following by No. 10 Kansas and No. 14 Texas Tech. When we get to Selection Sunday, will that kind of parity result in a No. 1 seed for the Big 12 champion, or will the league get snubbed — and is that fair?

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• The Baylor women are coming off a hugely impressive top-10 win over No. 7 Iowa State. How much does that do for the Bears as Nicki Collen tries to put her stamp on this program? Will Baylor still feel like an underdog the rest of the way?

• The Baylor men have bounced back nicely with two big road wins to follow a couple of dispiriting home losses. How impressive has that turnaround been, especially the contributions of L.J. Cryer — and it's all happened when they're missing Jeremy Sochan and James Akinjo is bruised downstairs?

• Auburn jumped up to No. 1 this week for the first time ever. We've had six, count 'em, teams ranked in the top spot this year. But is there a truly great team out there? If there isn't a dominant No. 1, is that a bad thing?

• The Big 12 is so deep that bracketologist Joe Lunardi has eight teams in in the tournament out of nine eligible. How many you do project in this unpredictable league?

• What about tourney-bound teams on the women's side? The Big 12 even has more teams ranked in that Top 25 poll than the men do.

• In honor of Ayoka Lee's massive 61-point night for Kansas State, what's the biggest performance you've ever seen in person as a sportswriter?

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• The transfer portal: It's full-on college free agency. How has it impacted Big 12 basketball? Is there more parity?

• Will Nicki Collen contine to milk the transfer portal for the Baylor women? The Big 12 race is as wide-open as it's been in a long time.

• The formerly-No. 1 Baylor men were reeling after two losses, especially with an ugly performance at Oklahoma State. But how impressive was that road win at Morgantown? Plus, talking about Jeremy Sochan's importance to the Bears.

• The wrath of the Twitter trolls: John Werner got a faceful of Kentucky fans. Are they out of control, or does the social media fluff matter at all?

The return of the Trib podcast Top 25 Voter Pod — where we never mail it in — brings AP Top 25 poll voters and Baylor beat writers John Werner and Chad Conine together for an impromptu conversation about Big 12 hoops and all things college basketball with sports editor Brice Cherry.

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• The Bears are Big 12 champs: How impressive were the Bears on the road against West Virginia, following up the Kansas loss?

• With Baylor's win and Michigan's surprising loss to Illinois, are the Bears now a 100% lock for a #1 seed?

• The Lady Bears go to 11: And if they add a Big 12 tournament title, as they usually do, can they avoid dropping to a #3 seed, or even work into the #1 spot?

• With NaLyssa Smith playing at such an elite level nowadays, will we see more of an off-the-dribble NBA-type look to the Lady Bears?

• Down the road, will teams use Kansas' blueprint for beating Baylor as the March schedule continues?

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