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Kansas’ victory over Memphis was momentous for Big 12 basketball. The league finally has an NCAA champion. Hopefully, it won’t stop there. The Big Eight had just one NCAA champ (Kansas in 1988); the league teams’ only other national title came in the Big Seven days (KU 1952).

Until Monday night, the Big 12 clearly was behind in bragging rights among the power conferences. But now, not so much. Kansas took care of the glaring hole in the Big 12′s hoops resume’.

The Big 12 still lags behind most of the other power leagues in overall NCAA Tournament prowess. I believe there are three major ways to identify basketball dominance: 1. NCAA championships; 2. Final Four appearances; 3. Final Four schools (in other words, if one school is doing all the damage in a league, that’s to the school’s credit, not the conference’s).

Any way, the Big 12 doesn’t lag much behind in any of the categories but doesn’t rise to the top in any. In the dozen years since the Big 12 formed, here are the numbers:

* NCAA titles: SEC 3 (Florida two, Kentucky one); ACC 3 (Maryland, Duke, North Carolina); Big East 3 (UConn two, Syracuse one); Pac-10 1 (Arizona), Big Ten 1 (Michigan State) and Big 12 1 (Kansas).

The ACC is amazing. Three schools have won NCAA titles this decade alone. But the Big 12 isn’t out of step, really, now tied with the Pac-10 and the Big Ten, thanks to Kansas.

* Final Fours: ACC 11, Big Ten 10, Big 12 6, SEC 6, Pac-10 6, Big East 4.

Again, the Big 12′s not in bad shape. Behind the ACC and the Big Ten, tied with the SEC and Pac-10. Perfectly respectable.

Final Four schools: Big Ten 6 (Minnesota, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois); Big 12 4 (Kansas, OU, Texas, OSU); ACC 4 (North Carolina, Duke, Maryland, Georgia Tech); Big East 3 (UConn, Syracuse, Georgetown); Pac-10 3 (Arizona, Stanford, UCLA); SEC 3 (Kentucky, Florida, LSU).