Kelvin Sampson says Kansas is the Big 12’s ‘bellcow,’ even though No. 2 Houston rules the barnyard

The best team in the Big 12 the last few years has pretty clearly been Houston, a once-middling mid-major that Kelvin Sampson has taken to five straight Sweet 16s, a pair of Final Fours and came oh-so-close to leading to a national title last year.

It hasn’t been Kansas, which struggled to live up to its billing as the preseason No. 1 the past two seasons.

But count Sampson among those that think the league is better off when the Jayhawks are in the title hunt. He has been a part of the Big 12 longer than just about everyone, when you consider his years spent at Oklahoma, dating back to the days of the old Big Eight. He remembers when Roy Williams had the Jayhawks rolling, and Bill Self kept them that way, with teams that seemed so far ahead of the pack that everyone else seemed to be playing for second place.

“I told someone the other day, I thought the best program in America with the greatest traditions was Kansas, and that’s our bellcow, and we need Kansas to be great,” Sampson said. “Every conference has a school they need to be great, like in the ACC — North Carolina and Duke. That’s their bellcows. We have one bellcow in this conference and that’s been Kansas.

“They’ve had the most success and they’ve done it the longest,” Sampson explained, “and it gives everyone a bar to reach.”

Or, in the case of the Cougars, surpass.

Houston was picked second in the preseason AP Top 25, and chosen to repeat as Big 12 regular- and postseason champions, thanks largely to a returning backcourt featuring Milos Uzan and Emanuel Sharp. What few pieces Sampson lost from perhaps the most stable program in the country, he replaced with the likes of five-star prospects Isiah Harwell and Chris Cenac.

As for the Jayhawks, they weren’t even in the top five of the Big 12 preseason poll.

Eighth-ranked BYU was picked second on the strength of returning veterans such as Richie Saunders and the arrival of one-and-done phenom AJ Dybantsa, the highest-rated recruit in school history. No. 10 Texas Tech was chosen third after making the Elite eight last year, No. 13 Arizona was picked fourth and No. 16 Iowa State was chosen to finish fifth.

Then came the No. 19 Jayhawks, who have their own one-and-done star in Darryn Peterson to run the show.

“The league is the best it’s ever been, and it’s been really good over time,” Kansas coach Bill Self said last week. “I don’t know statistically, but I think in the last eight years we’ve been rated the No. 1 league six of those years, and last year the SEC was and deservedly so, but our conference is better than it ever has been.”

Along with six teams in the top 20 of the AP preseason poll, the Big 12 also has Kansas State and Baylor receiving votes.

In other words, Self and his Big 12 brethren have an argument.

“There’s not a better basketball conference,” incoming Utah coach Alex Jensen said. “I know there’s a learning curve for me. There are some great coaches to learn from. I had a brief conversation with Kelvin, and what he’s done in Houston, I admire that. I’m kind of curious how he went about it. And that goes for a lot of coaches. There’s a lot of them that have built great programs and have run great programs for a long time in this league.”

One-on-one for one-and-dones

Dybantsa and Peterson are widely considered the top two prospects for next year’s NBA draft, and they have met many times in AAU ball over the years. Their only scheduled matchup this season is Jan. 31, when BYU visits Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse.

Transfer time

Kansas State landed one of the nation’s best transfer classes, headlined by high-scoring Memphis guard PJ Haggerty and Abdi Bashir, who spent last season at Monmouth and tested the NBA draft process. They’ll be joined in Manhattan by Marcus Johnson, who averaged 16.2 points at Bowling Green, and MAC defensive player of the year Nate Johnson from Akron.

Other transfer to watch

Rob Wright III switched teams within the Big 12, going from Baylor to BYU this season. Washington State transfer LeJuan Watts, meanwhile, should help Texas Tech deal with the departure of Darrion Williams for NC State.

High-profile non-cons

Houston has dates with Tennessee and Arkansas. Kansas will play Duke and UConn. BYU likewise plays the Huskies in the non-conference, while Texas Tech beefed up its schedule with games against Illinois and the Blue Devils. Those tough early schedules are by design, as the Big 12 tries to increase its profile and help its case for more NCAA Tournament teams come March.

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