1. NIJEL PACK: The Kansas State sophomore was rewarded by the Big 12 coaches for his spectacular season by being named a first team all-Big 12 selection. He was also named Most Improved Player in the conference. Nijel Pack a stud.

2. GENE TAYLOR: K-State's athletic director took the high road after a critical last press conference from Bruce Weber on Thursday. The now former head coach even showed some disdain for Gene Taylor in what was clearly was an agitated and frustrated state. However, Taylor was still complimentary and defensive of Weber and understanding of his situation, and he's also navigated the current coaching search well thus far.

3. KANSAS: Bill Self and the Jayhawks backed up a regular season that included a share of the Big 12 Championship by winning the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. They did it in convincing fashion as well, winning all three games by an average margin of 15 points.

4. BIG 12: Bob Bowlsby's league has been the strongest conference all season according to the advanced metrics and they will be rewarded for it on Selection Sunday by likely having two No. 1 seeds in Kansas and Baylor.

5. VIRGINIA TECH: Virginia Tech was a fringe bubble team entering the ACC Tournament. They weren't even on every bracket prognosticator's list. However, they won four games in four days and earned the automatic bad to the NCAA Tournament from the ACC. The Hokies became the first ACC team to do so in the league's tournament.

1. BRUCE: After a disappointing last three seasons, Bruce Weber and Kansas State parted ways soon after a first round exit from the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City.

2. WILDCATS: The loss to West Virginia meant K-State was the first team to be eliminated from the league's season-end tournament. Wednesday's loss was the sixth consecutive loss for the Wildcats.

3. CYCLONE OFFENSE: Iowa State ended their season with a whimper on Thursday night. The Cyclones managed to score just 41 points versus Texas Tech. That was still more than the 36 they tallied over a week ago. Their offense is sputtering at an unbelievable level.

4. JOHN CURRIE: John Currie locked down Steve Forbes to an extension at Wake Forest, which sounds great because Forbes was likely to be a candidate for other jobs this offseason. However, the Demon Deacons fell to Boston College soon afterwards and that could keep them out of the NCAA Tournament. It wasn't great timing, even if it can still turn out to be the right choice.

5. WILL WADE: The LSU head coach was fired after the Tiger Athletic Department learned of more NCAA violations committed by Will Wade.

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