Well, we are approaching the end of the year.

That means conference play is starting up in Big 12 basketball.

The women get underway this weekend.

The men start a week from Saturday.

So it's time to say hello to welcome in and talk to a guy.

You're going to be hearing a lot from the next two and a half, three months or so.

Our lead big 12 basketball writer. Matthew

Postens joining us on Heartland College Sports. I'm Pete Mundo. All right, Matthew, let's start with the

men. You and I were talking before we got this conversation going. The men's schedule is kind of just

blah until conference play starts on Saturday the 6th.

So where are you at right now?

When you look at the Big 12 from a men's basketball perspective, that upper echelon,

has it changed for you at all over the last few weeks?

And if so, how?

I don't think it's really changed that much.

I mean, you have really half a dozen teams that I feel like are

kind of on that top tier as far as the conference goes with, I think, probably Kansas and Houston being

a notch above the rest of them, which would be Baylor, BYU, Texas, and Oklahoma.

You know, right now, to me, Houston seems like they've made the easiest transition of the

four new schools into the conference. People kind of forget that they were in the final four

with Baylor and Gonzaga and UCLA a couple of years ago. So they've been kind of built for this the last couple of years.

And they're already playing defense like a Big 12 school.

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