Big 12 awards

Who saw this coming? Missouri, with new coach and injured starter, resided in the top ten for much of the regular season. Kansas, which some predicted as low as fourth in the league, won its eighth straight conference title, posting 16 Big 12 wins in the process. Iowa State, under second year coach Fred Hoiberg, ascended to the third spot in the league race. And, Baylor, with Perry Jones III underachieving, lost twice to Kansas and Missouri, plus a last game loss to Iowa State, thus pushing them to fourth place in the regular season conference standings.

How do we make sense of this surprising season? Let's try, shall we--here are our Big 12 awards.

Player of the Year: Thomas Robinson, Kansas. I'm hard-pressed to pick Robinson over his running mate Tyshawn Taylor but what edges this in T-Rob's favor is how defenses stacked to defend him throughout the season. Only seven points separated Taylor and Robinson in their scoring over the course of the Big 12 season, thus demonstrating how equal they were in conference play. Robinson had 12 double-doubles during the Big 12 season and had monster games against Baylor (27 and 14), Missouri (25 and 13), Missouri (28 and 12) and Texas (25 and 14.)

Coach of the Year: Frank Haith, Missouri. Here's another close race and it's hard for me to pick against Bill Self of Kansas--a coach who took a team with a short bench and a former walk-on as the sixth man and guided them to the most conference victories--16--in school history. (That ties the 2002 team's undefeated Big 12 conference record.) Yet, Haith overcame the adversity of his controversial hiring, the loss of Laurence Bowers, and an under-sized lineup and taught his team to play unselfish, disciplined basketball. Under Haith's guidance, Kim English seemed re-born on the basketball court and the Tigers' four-guard lineup gave other teams match-up fits. Raise your hands--how many of you predicted the Tigers as a top five team for any part of the regular season? Yeah, I didn't think so...

All Big 12 Team: Robinson, Kansas; Taylor, Kansas; Marcus Denmon, Missouri; Royce White, Iowa State; and Michael Dixon, Missouri.

Sixth Man: Dixon of Missouri. Dixon had a habit of coming off the bench and dominating games. He wasn't afraid to take big shots and was relentless, always seeming to play with a chip on his shoulder.

Best Interview: Kim English, Missouri. English is articulate, opinionated and is someone you want to follow on Twitter. Runner-up: Bill Self, Kansas. The media loves Self and here's why--he doesn't deal in coach-speak, is accommodating and is brutally honest.

Five-Hour Energy guy: Keiton Page, Oklahoma State. I wish I'd said this but I'll have to credit my son--Page is a guy who looks like he swigged four Five Hour Energy drinks before the game--he never stops moving on the court, coming off screens and hitting fadeaway three-pointers. The undersized native son of Oklahoma is fun to watch.

Biggest disappointment: Perry Jones III, Baylor. It may not be fair to label Jones a disappointment, given the quality of kid he is both on and off the floor, but he too often disappeared in games. And, when the Bears most needed him--in the Missouri and Kansas games--Jones did not look like an NBA lottery pick. (Get this--Jeff Withey of Kansas and Ricardo Ratliffe of Missouri scored 52 points, total, on Jones in their visits to Waco.) Runner-up: Texas A&M. Many predicted that A&M would win the league. They come to Kansas City next week as the nine seed.