Big 12, SEC rankings, NCAA Tournament projection

Kansas and Kentucky finish where the spent nearly all year — and in Kentucky’s case every week — at the top of The Star’s weekly Big 12 and Southeastern Conference power rankings. The Wildcats remain the NCAA Tournament’s overall No. 1 seed and the Jayhawks are a No. 2 seed in our weekly projection.

Big 12 power rankings

Previous week’s ranking in parentheses

1. Kansas (1)

2. Iowa State (4)

3. Oklahoma (3)

4. Baylor (2)

5. West Virginia (5)

6. Texas (8)

7. Oklahoma State (7)

8. Kansas State (6)

9. TCU (9)

10. Texas Tech (10)

▪ Projected NCAA Tournament teams: Kansas, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Baylor, West Virginia, Oklahoma State, Texas

▪ Projected NIT team: TCU

▪ Players of the week (selected by the conference): Iowa State junior Georges Niang (21.0 points, 6.0 rebounds) and Oklahoma State senior Anthony Hickey (18.5 points, 6.0 asssists) were chosen player and newcomer of the week.

SEC power rankings

Previous week’s ranking in parentheses

1. Kentucky (1)

2. Arkansas (2)

3. LSU (5)

4. Mississippi (5)

5. Georgia (3)

6. Texas A&M (4)

7. Vanderbilt (8)

8. Alabama (9)

9. Florida (7)

10. Tennessee (10)

11. Mississippi State (12)

12. South Carolina (11)

13. Auburn (13)

14. Missouri (14)

▪ Projected NCAA Tournament teams: Kentucky, Arkansas, LSU, Georgia, Mississippi, Texas A&M

▪ Projected NIT teams: Vanderbilt, Alabama

▪ Players of the week: Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns averaged 16 points, eight rebounds and 3.5 blocks, and Vanderbilt’s Riley LaChance averaged 17 points and 4.5 assists, earning player and freshman of the week honors.

NCAA Tournament top-four seed projection

This story was originally published March 9, 2015 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Big 12, SEC rankings, NCAA Tournament projection."