| TEAM |
W |
L |
THIS WEEK |
NEXT WEEK |
 |
Kansas |
5 |
0 |
W vs. BU, 92-74; Sat at UT |
Mon vs. A&M; Sat at ISU |
 |
Baylor |
4 |
1 |
L at KU, 92-74; Sat vs. Mizzou |
Tue at OU; Sat vs. UT |
 |
Missouri |
4 |
1 |
W vs A&M, 70-51; Sat at BU |
Wed at OSU; Sat vs. Tech |
 |
Iowa State |
3 |
2 |
W vs. OSU, 71-68; Sat at Tech |
Tue at UT; Sat vs. KU |
 |
Kansas State |
2 |
3 |
W vs. UT, 84-80; Sat at OSU |
Wed at Tech; Sat vs. OU |
 |
Oklahoma |
2 |
3 |
W vs. Tech, 66-54; Sat at A&M |
Tue vs. BU; Sat at KSU |
 |
Oklahoma State |
2 |
3 |
L at ISU, 71-68; Sat vs. KSU |
Wed vs. Mizzou; Sat at A&M |
 |
Texas |
2 |
3 |
L at KSU, 84-80; Sat vs. KU |
Tue vs. ISU; Sat at BU |
 |
Texas A&M |
1 |
4 |
L at Mizzou, 70-51; Sat vs. OU |
Mon at KU; Sat vs. OSU |
 |
Texas Tech |
0 |
5 |
L at OU, 66-54; Sat vs. ISU |
Wed vs. KSU; Sat at Mizzou |
|
Kansas State at Oklahoma State; Saturday, 12:30 P.M. CT (ESPN Full Court/ESPN3.com)
The Wildcats survived their tough opening slate, finishing 1-2 against the league’s top three teams, but turned around and dropped a game in Norman last Saturday. After hanging on to beat Texas at home Wednesday night, Frank Martin and K-State now look to even their record as they travel to Gallagher-Iba Arena. Yesterday’s suspension of big man Jordan Henriquez means that it will be up to Thomas Gipson and Jamar Samuels to hold things down in the frontcourt. Fortunately for K-State, Oklahoma State doesn’t have much of a presence in the lane, so it will be hard for the Pokes to exploit the sudden loss of depth in the Wildcat frontcourt.
Missouri at Baylor; Saturday, 1:00 P.M. CT (ESPN)
Never in the history of the Big 12 has there been a meeting of two league members ranked in the top five nationally where one of the jerseys didn’t read “Kansas” or “Texas.” While that makes Saturday’s top-five showdown between Missouri and Baylor a historic event, the more immediate ramifications of the game resonate a little more loudly. In addition to staying close to Kansas in the standings, the winner also gets to add a big-time win to their tournament résumé, something that will be crucial to earning a favorable road through the NCAAs.
The two regional sites closest to the Big 12 footprint are in St. Louis and Atlanta. The committee tends to shy away from putting a 1-seed and 2-seed from the same conference in the same regional, so if the Big 12 champion earns a spot in St. Louis, the league’s second-best team could end up being shipped out to Atlanta or Phoenix. For Baylor, that might not be a big difference, but for a Tiger team that would practically be playing home games at the Edward Jones Dome, it’s an important thing to consider. Of course, Kentucky could earn that top seed line in St. Louis instead of Atlanta, once again proving why it’s ridiculous for me to even be writing about these scenarios on January 20th.
Kansas at Texas; Saturday, 3:00 P.M. CT (CBS)
A full preview of the Kansas/Texas game will be available in the wee hours of Friday night/Saturday morning.
Oklahoma at Texas A&M; Saturday, 3:00 P.M. CT (ESPN Full Court/ESPN3.com)
The Aggies are one of the most disappointing teams in college basketball right now, and it’s tough to find a reason why. The team returned a big chunk of last year’s roster and was competitive in the 2KSports Classic back in November, even though star Khris Middleton was injured. Yet over the last three-plus weeks, the Aggies have developed an allergy to the basket that is shocking even for a program that typically plays tough, defense-first basketball. A&M has posted an offensive efficiency of more than 0.85 points per possession just once in league play, and that was against cellar-dwelling Texas Tech.
Oklahoma, meanwhile, has been on the other end of the spectrum. Predicted to be one of the two or three worst teams in the Big 12, Lon Kruger has the Sooners competitive again in his first year on the job. While they were blown out in their conference opener against Missouri, the Sooners hung with Kansas for most of the game on January 7th, and even pulled off an upset over Kansas State at Lloyd Noble last weekend. If OU is truly going to compete for the middle rungs of the league standings, they will have to win road games against those teams below them in the standings. A win at A&M tomorrow afternoon keeps them on the right track and levels their league record at 3-3. A loss simply drops them down to the part of the standings in which most pundits had predicted them to finish.
Iowa State at Texas Tech; Saturday, 4:00 P.M. CT (ESPN2)
The Cyclones have been another surprise team in league play, but they were unable to steal a big win against Missouri or Kansas last week. This week’s pair of games against Oklahoma State and Texas Tech were supposed to be easy wins to get the Cyclones back on track before a three-game gauntlet of Texas, Kansas, and Kansas State. Instead, it took a banked-in Scott Christopherson three-pointer at the buzzer for Iowa State to knock off the Cowboys at Hilton Coliseum on Wednesday night. No matter how good or bad Texas Tech is on any given year, they always seem to surprise a team or two at United Spirit Arena, so the Cyclones will have to avoid a letdown game in advance of their trip to the Erwin Center on Tuesday night.
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