Welcome to the Big 12. There are no gimme games on the road, in any arena. BYU belongs in the league because you defend your homecourt mercilessly and you are good enough to steal games on the road.

But no team in the Big 12 is a safe road win. It took me a long time to adjust to that fact after Nebraska left and once TCU finally matured. That's what makes this league so different: the road is an unrelenting gauntlet for every team every season every game. Teams that approach the road looking for easy angles hit slumps in February and skid into the conference tourney. Teams that take each game as its own opportunity tend to Stat buoyant, despite the unexpected losses or hard games.

Get into the habit of being pleasantly surprised and proud of every road win, regardless of opponent "quality" in the Big 12, instead of looking for gimme games.

There are no gimme games on the road in the Big 12.