The Big 12 Tournament will be held in Kansas City and will start this Thursday. The first matchup is at 6 and will feature the Iowa State Cyclones and the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The Big 12 commissioner, Bob Bowlsby has said the league’s first round games will not be affected by the coronavirus but the later rounds may be played without fans. The Big 12 is keeping all their options on the table as they continue to evaluate the situation. This tournament has 3 locks and 4 bubble teams in the recent bracket projections.
Bubble Teams
This conference features four bubble teams 2 who will probably make the field and 2 that are iffy. The Oklahoma Sooners are in the most likely in category after a thrilling comeback win against TCU in Fort Worth. They are now a projected 10 seed and should be safe even with a loss to a ranked West Virginia. The next bubble team is Texas Tech who will play a decisive game against the Texas Longhorns on Friday. Both these teams are bubble teams heading into the matchup and both need wins to boost their NCAA resumes. The Red Raiders are coming off back to back losses against the top two teams in the conference. While the Longhorns coming off a horrific loss against Oklahoma State at home. Both these teams are slipping in bracket projections and need a win to be in the tournament conversation. The last team on this list is a longshot, the Oklahoma State Cowboys. This team is 17-14 and doesn’t have a very high chance of getting in, but they have some great wins. If they can get wins over the Cyclones, Jayhawks, and whoever is in the semi-final game they could have a chance. Don’t count the Cowboys out just yet.
Intriguing Matchups
The most intriguing match for this tournament is the Texas vs Texas Tech matchup that will be on Friday at 11:30 am. Both these teams are fighting for the tournament chances with the winner most likely getting in and the loser probably heading home. They have split the season series and both are coming off heartbreaking losses. This season means a lot to Texas as they have come all the way back and completely turned their season around. Now the only thing standing in the way of a bid is Tech. Another interesting matchup is if we get to see Kansas and Baylor in the championship. Both these teams had very entertaining matchups in the regular season. The games were split, now there is one left to claim all bragging rights and the conference title. I can’t think of a better storyline.
Predictions
In this tournament I can see many upsets occurring, the most likely being Oklahoma who is an underdog to West Virginia. Yes, Oklahoma is the higher seed in this tournament. I could also see OSU making a run the way that they have been playing. That still would be tough to beat Bill Self’s Kansas squad. I also expect Texas Tech to get the win before falling to Kansas in the semis. On the other side, OU wins before losing to Baylor. Then I believe Baylor will come out over Kansas and win the close title game. A great season for Scott Drew, who is also my Coach of the Year pick and now a Big 12 champion.
Top Photo by Busting Brackets from fansided.com