FanHouse DamionJames

It seems like every year the usual suspects are lined up as contenders for the best basketball conference in the country.

Big East. ACC. Pac-10. Big Ten.

But the Big 12 never seems to get much love, despite some impressive numbers that suggest the newest of the major conferences deserve to be part of the conversation. No conference has advanced more teams to Elite Eight (13) and Final Four (six) since 2002. The Kansas Jayhawks even cut down the nets in 2008.

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The debate about which conference is the best basketball league usually heats up in December.

But the Big 12 coaches set fire to the debate early by staking claim as the best basketball conference Tuesday, some five months before the 2009-10 season begins. So the Big East, ACC, Pac-10 and SEC will have to just lineup for second best.

"I do think it's going to be the best with what we have retuning and the things that we've done in the last few years," Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon said during the Big 12 summer teleconference call Tuesday. "I've talked to some so-called experts out there and they think we are going to be the best league, too.

All the hype prior to Saturday night's primetime showdown between Texas and Oklahoma was focused on superstar Sooners forward Blake Griffin, but in the end it was two guards who stole the show, with Texas' sharpshooter getting the last laugh.

Griffin suffered an apparent concussion after taking an elbow to the nose midway through the first half, and didn't play at all in the second period, finishing with just two points on the night. The Longhorns went on a run right after the break to go up 12, but for a while it looked like freshman Oklahoma guard Willie Warren would be the star of the night, as he hit four threes in a 3:28 span to put OU up five.