Saturday began with Oklahoma State stone-cold stunning West Virginia on the road, and wackiness in the Big 12 quickly followed suit. Outside-the-bubble Baylor convincingly handed reigning Big 12 champion Kansas an L, conference cellar-dweller Iowa State upset Trae Young's seventeenth-ranked Sooners, and suddenly, once again, the league is a muddled mess.

BIG 12 STANDINGS
TEAM CONF. W-L TOT. W-L RPI RANK
Texas Tech 9-3 21-4 12
Kansas 8-4 19-6 7
W. Virginia 7-5 18-7 34
Kansas St. 6-6 17-8 64
Oklahoma 6-6 16-8 21
TCU 5-7 17-8 24
Baylor 5-7 15-10 59
Oklahoma St. 5-7 15-10 89
Texas 5-7 15-10 49
Iowa St. 4-8 13-11 88

Stepping back from it all, the upset-laden day for the league might be exactly the result it needed. Baylor's tournament hopes increased substantially, as did that of the ever-puzzling Oklahoma State Cowboys, giving the league better odds of sending more teams to the postseason than it did before Saturday. So let's sort out all the moving pieces of the league race - along with the rest of Saturday's results - in our winners and losers.

Winner: Virginia Tech

Virginia, a perfect 12-0 in ACC play entering Saturday, suffered its first league loss of the season to Virginia Tech in stunning fashion.

The Cavaliers and Hokies went to overtime where, on their home floor, Virginia fell 61-60 after missing key free throws that could have given them the lead down the stretch.

It's a season-alterting win for Virginia Tech, which entered the day outside the NCAA Tournament conversation. A win over the No. 2 team - on the road - will absolutely boost its postseason profile.

Winner: Mike Boynton

Mike Boynton took the coaching job at Oklahoma State under ... unique circumstances.

After Brad Underwood bolted for Illinois, OSU conducted a brief coaching search that awarded Boynton, an unknown, long-time assistant under Underwood, the head gig. It was not met with fanfare, to say the least. But in a short stint, Boynton - with a mostly depleted roster - has led OSU to some incredible wins, including an 88-85 upset over the Mountaineers on the road Saturday.

OSU's an enigma this season. It has beat Kansas, Florida State and West Virginia on the road, but has played uninspiring ball at home. Still yet, the Pokes have a strange, interesting résumé that could land them on the cusp of the bubble if they continue their late-season trend of knocking off top teams within the league.

They've just got to cut out the extreme valleys in between the highs.


Loser: Kansas

It's been a nightmarish week for Kansas.

The Jayhawks lost their second game in three contests on Saturday to lowly Baylor in a 16-point, 80-64 blowout, just a week after losing to unranked Oklahoma State on their home floor. If you're keeping score at home, that's two losses in a week to two teams on the outside of the NCAA Tournament conversation.

KU's still in the hunt to clinch the Big 12 for an umpteenth consecutive season, but it's becoming more clear that it is no longer the absolute class of the league - at least not this season - like it has been time and again under Bill Self.

Winner: Shamorie Ponds

Chances are you've heard of St. John's and its random late-season turnaround, but if you haven't, here's the quick low down: The Red Storm lost each of their first 11 Big East games, then proceeded to beat top-5 Duke and No. 1 Villanova in a four-day span earlier this week.

Got it? OK. So now that you're caught up, I'll let you in on a little secret behind their turnaround. That is ... Shamorie Ponds.

The sophomore star has been sensational over the last week, scoring 33 vs. Duke and 26 vs. Villanova. And he saved his best for his most recent in their win Saturday over Marquette, as he dropped 44 points in an 86-78 win.

Winner: Villanova

Losing players the caliber of Eric Paschall and Phil Booth would (understandably) doom nearly every team in America, but that wasn't the case Saturday for top-ranked Villanova. The Wildcats overcame a 30-point effort from Butler's Kelan Martin - again, something that would doom nearly every team in America - bouncing back from a horrendous loss to St. John's they suffered earlier this week to win 86-75.

Nova already had a pretty short rotation before the injury bug bit hard, so to win against quality opponents as short-handed as it is, is pretty remarkable.

Winner: Baylor's NCAA Tournament hopes

The bottom of the Big 12 in general had a nice day with three of the bottom four teams in the standings winning, Baylor included.

The Bears, with a near wire-to-wire win over Kansas, improved to 5-7 in the Big 12 and upped their tournament profile significantly in the process. They now boast three straight wins within the league and, if they can win three of their final six regular season games, might - and should - work their way back into the NCAA Tournament conversation.

Loser: West Virginia

Not since 2014 has West Virginia suffered three home losses in a season, but the Mountaineers matched that number Saturday in a stunning loss to Oklahoma State at WVU Coliseum.

The loss is stunning given the context (WVU held an 8-point lead midway through the second half), and more stunning in that it might have unofficially eliminated the Mountaineers from winning the Big 12. They're now 7-5 in the league - 1.5 games out of first place - and still have road trips to Kansas, Baylor and Texas left on the schedule.

Winner: UNC's Luke Maye

UNC needed a heavy dosage of energy coming off an emotional win over cross-state rival Duke on Thursday, and Luke Maye delivered it with a career performance.

The junior notched a career-high 33 points and logged 17 rebounds en route to a 96-89 win over the Wolfpack.

Not a bad day for a former walk-on.

Loser: Oklahoma

The slumping Sooners are now in a full-blown slouch, as Saturday they fell to a new season low in an 88-80 loss to lowly Iowa State to drop their record to 2-6 over the last eight games. It's the third consecutive loss for OU in league play, pushing it out of the Big 12 title hunt barring a miraculous turn of fortune over the stretch of the season.

As my colleague Matt Norlander noted (and I wholeheartedly agree with), OU's slump -- and subsequent slide in NCAA Tournament seeding -- is going to make OU one of the most chic Final Four picks as a No. 5, 6 or 7 seed I can remember. They can still right the ship before the postseason, but right now, even Trae Young can't drag OU to wins.

Winner: Dunk City

In handing South Carolina Upstate an 88-71 loss, Florida Gulf Coast - you know, Dunk City - clinched the Atlantic Sun regular-season title - the first team in the nation to win a regular-season conference title.

Incredible, considering FGCU started the season 7-8. The Eagles are now on a 12-game win streak and favored in each of their final three regular season games. 

Winner: Michigan State

Sparty is on a roll, as their eighth consecutive win came Saturday in the form of a big one over No. 3 Purdue, 68-65.

It was a back-and-forth Big Ten thriller, but all you need to know is that Miles Bridges called game.

Loser: Creighton

Creighton almost - ALMOST! - pulled off a win over No. 5 Xavier.

Did I say almost? Almost! 

The Bluejays led the Musketeers by one point but, with 0.3 seconds remaining, fouled guard Quentin Goodwin, who knocked down a pair of go-ahead free throws to give Xavier a stunning 72-71 win out of its magic hat.

Almost, Creighton.

Winner: Ohio State

Chris Holtmann's Buckeyes won twice on Saturday, first when Purdue lost to Michigan State which ushered in their rise to the top of the Big Ten, and second later in the evening when it blew out Iowa 82-64.

So now the Buckeyes - who were picked to finish 11th (!) in the preseason Big Ten poll, sit alone at the top of the league standings with four regular season games remaining.

Chris Holtmann is the Big Ten Coach of the Year, and should henceforth be considered the favorite to win National Coach of the Year. Ohio State's surprising breakout has been that good.