TEAM W L REMAINING GAMES Texas 12 2 vs. KSU (2/28), at BU (3/5) Kansas 12 2 vs. A&M (3/2), at Mizzou (3/5) Texas A&M 9 5 at KU (3/2), vs. TTU (3/5) Missouri 8 6 at Neb (3/1), vs. KU (3/5) Kansas State 8 6 at UT (2/28), vs. ISU (3/5) Baylor 7 7 at OSU (3/1), vs. UT (3/5) Colorado 7 7 at ISU (3/2), vs. Neb (3/5) Nebraska 6 8 vs. Mizzou (3/1), at CU (3/5) Oklahoma State 5 9 vs. BU (3/1), at OU (3/5) Oklahoma 4 10 at TTU (3/2), vs. OSU (3/5) Texas Tech 4 10 vs. OU (3/2), at A&M (3/5) Iowa State 2 12 vs. CU (3/2), at KSU (3/5)

The big picture

Another road loss for the Texas Longhorns has revived the Big 12 title race, with the Longhorns and Jayhawks now in a dead heat heading into the final week of the season. Both schools host solid teams in their midweek games before tackling tough road tests in Saturday’s season finales. Texas holds the head-to-head tiebreaker by virtue of their win over Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse, which means the Longhorns would be the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament if the two teams remain deadlocked at season’s end. The Big 12 awards co-championships rather than relying on those tiebreaker scenarios, so if the Jayhawks win their final two games, they will claim their seventh-consecutive conference title.

The Aggies are on the verge of sealing their first-round bye, which they failed to do in Waco on Saturday night. Now A&M needs only a win or a loss by both Kansas State and Baylor to lock things up. With the Longhorns facing K-State and the Aggies taking on Kansas, this could mark the first week in the history of the world that fans of the two schools root for their rivals. Of course, since the Aggies host Texas Tech in their season finale on Saturday, there’s little doubt that they will be able to avoid the first day of games in Kansas City.

Nebraska essentially scuttled its NCAA hopes with a loss to Iowa State yesterday, but Baylor and Colorado stayed in the hunt with big home wins over ranked opponents. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi slotted Baylor as one of his last four teams in the bracket late Saturday night, while he had Colorado among the first four teams out. Both teams have very winnable road games next on the docket, so they must simply take care of business to keep those NCAA hopes alive.

Mid-week games

Kansas State at Texas; Monday, 8:00 P.M. CT (ESPN)
LRT’s full preview of the Kansas State/Texas game will be available on Monday.

Baylor at Oklahoma State; Tuesday, 6:00 P.M. CT (ESPN2)
The Bears completed the season sweep of A&M on Saturday night, and have a shot to knock off Texas at home just a week later. The Bears can’t afford to overlook this game in between the two big ones, as the Cowboys typically defend their home court well.

In the first meeting between the two schools, Baylor destroyed Oklahoma State, 76-57. The Bears were led by freshman phenom Perry Jones III, who scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Baylor limited the Cowboys to just 0.814 points per possession, and claimed an insane 87.5% of their defensive rebounding opportunities. With OSU’s Darrell Williams still battling legal issues, Baylor should be able to dominate the rebounding department once again.

Missouri at Nebraska; Tuesday, 7:00 P.M. CT (ESPN Full Court/ESPN3.com)
Had Nebraska actually taken care of business at Hilton Coliseum yesterday, this would have been a game with huge bubble implications. Now, the Cornhuskers are playing for pride against an old Big 8 rival. The Tigers were one of the Big 12’s hottest teams before they stumbled on the road against Kansas State yesterday. That loss moved Mizzou to a disappointing 1-5 record on the road in conference play, a statistic that is worrisome for Coach Mike Anderson when you consider how well Nebraska has played at home this season. If the Tigers get tripped up once more on the road, they may find themselves playing on the first day of the Big 12 tournament.

Colorado at Iowa State; Wednesday, 6:30 P.M. CT (ESPN Full Court/ESPN3.com)
Iowa State burst Nebraska’s bubble yesterday, and Wednesday they have a chance to do the same thing to Colorado. The Buffaloes blew the Cyclones out when they met in Boulder earlier this month, winning by a 95-69 count. Five different Buffaloes scored in double figures in that game, with Alec Burks posting a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double. Colorado scored an incredible 1.208 points per possession against Iowa State, and limited the ‘Clones to just 13.9% success on the offensive glass. While Boulder provided a distinct home court advantage in the first game, there’s no reason that Colorado shouldn’t finish off the season sweep of Iowa State on Wednesday night.

Oklahoma at Texas Tech; Wednesday, 6:30 P.M. CT (ESPN Full Court/ESPN3.com)
In a game that means nothing beyond seeding in the first day of the conference tournament, two scuttling programs will battle it out in front of roughly 791 fans at United Spirit Arena. The Sooners are on a seven-game losing streak, and could potentially match the nine-game losing streak they finished last season with. The Red Raiders, meanwhile, have lost six out of their last seven. If you spend two hours watching this game and have no connection to either school, psychiatric referrals will be provided.

Texas A&M at Kansas; Wednesday, 8:00 P.M. CT (ESPN2)
When Texas ended Kansas’ 69-game home winning streak earlier this season, they were the first road team to win in Lawrence since Texas A&M pulled off the feat on February 3rd, 2007. Unfortunately for the Aggies, Acie Law IV will not be walking through the door on Wednesday night. Unless, of course, he has some front-row seats at the Phog.

The Aggies have a frontcourt that has been exposed by more physical opponents this year, and it’s very likely that Thomas Robinson and the Morris twins will do just that on Wednesday night. Even if A&M imposes their will and forces Kansas into their style of grind-it-out basketball, the efficiency of the Jayhawk offense is far too potent for the Aggies to pull off the upset.