I think it's imperative for KU to have a strong January if they want to have a chance at a conference championship this year. The way the schedule is setup, your two toughest games are at home (Iowa St, BYU) and you have manageable road games (UCF #45 KenPom, West Virginia #65, Colorado #85, K-St #74).
8-0 would be gravy train, 7-1 would be excellent, 6-2 would still be okay as far as Conf implications go but context of results would matter. Anything more than 2 losses and we can regroup on expectations imo. The unknown of whether Peterson will play in all or any or some of these games coming up muddies any real projections. There's a clear ceiling to this team without him on the floor. White, Council & Flory can keep them in games but it's the bench play that will either limit team success or be a catalyst in conference play if Peterson isn't available.
I took a look at all the main contenders in the league's schedules. Houston has the easiest path to the title on paper. KU, Iowa St, Zona & Tech have backloaded schedules in Mid-Feb to end of conf play. BYU has a tougher January then most but got a break in last 4 games of the schedule. February is going to be cinema in the Big-12 this year with how those schedules load up back-to-back big games for most of the top teams.
Schedule Rant: KU has a road game in Colorado on a Tuesday that starts at 11pm. Believe the same thing occurred last year and made it impossible for most on the East Coast to watch, including myself. That is total BS again.
