Hoops is certainly back in full swing, with ESPN broadcasting college basketball all damned day. Unfortunately, we’re not quite in full swing here at LRT with insanity at the McJob and cramming to get everything ready for Maui by Friday. We’ll try to get back to the daily content sometime this week, and look for some cosmetic changes around the site before December arrives. You can thank the 20-plus hours on airplanes to and from Hawaii.

The Big 12 is off to a hot start, with its members logging a perfect 19-0 record through last night’s games. The conference probably won’t match its solid RPI numbers from last year, when it spent most of the season slotted as the second-toughest league in the nation. But the Big 12 teams are taking care of patsies so far, something that couldn’t be said even during last season’s strong start — yes, we’re looking at you, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.

Oklahoma faces the league’s stiffest test yet when it hosts Davidson tonight in the NIT Season Tip Off. It’d be great to watch this Top 25 match-up on TV, but the “Worldwide Leader” has better things to show. Like Kansas hosting the mighty Florida Gulf Coast (ESPNU, 8 PM CT). Or maybe Billy Wrong Way Gillispie getting demolished by The Anointed Ones better suits your fancy (ESPN, 8 PM CT)? If you thought VMI was bad, Billy Clyde, just try not to clench the muscles…

Tulane preview will be headed your way this afternoon. In the meantime, you can find us in a basketball coma with remote in hand.

Edit (3 P.M. CT): ESPN2 will now be broadcasting the Davidson/Oklahoma game at 8 P.M. You’ll definitely want to check that one out once the Horns are finished discarding the Green Wave.

Ed. Note: Frequent LRT co-traveler Grant attended yesterday’s Baylor/Texas Tech game and filed this report from his third-row seats at United Spirit Arena. As we look forward to covering future seasons of college hoops, these guest contributions could become a much more regular feature. If you are interested in helping out, just send an email to contact at longhornroadtrip dot com, or use the comment form on any post.

Although the home team wasn’t harboring any post-season dreams, there was still a lot to play for on Senior Day in Lubbock, as the Baylor Bears (21-9 overall, 9-7 Big 12) looked to solidify their NCAA Tournament résumeé against the Texas Tech Red Raiders (16-14, 7-9). Tech came into today’s game with an impressive 12-1 record at home, including last Saturday’s 83-80 upset of the then fifth-ranked Longhorns. Despite the Red Raiders’ recent dominance at home, Scott Drew’s squad was determined to bounce back from Wednesday’s home loss to Texas A&M, and scored an 86-73 victory behind a career-high 38 points and nine rebounds from LaceDarius Dunn.

Pat Knight made a nice gesture by giving “Knight School” winner Tyler Hoffmeister his first collegiate start in his final home game, alongside fellow seniors Charlie Burgess and Martin Zeno, the latter of which has started every game as a Red Raider. Hoffmeister played the first 2:23 of the contest, sat, and did not return.

The game began at a quick up-and-down tempo, with both teams staying neck-and-neck thanks to an early seven points from both Burgess and Baylor guard Tweety Carter. Once the game slowed down, Tech built a nine-point advantage thanks to the scoring of freshman guard John Roberson, who had 13 points in the first half. Despite Curtis Jerrells going to the bench with three fouls at the 5:24 mark of the first half, Baylor was able to get back into the game by taking advantage of Tech’s weak interior defense, driving into the lane for easy buckets. A Dunn three-pointer tied the game at 34 with just under two minutes left, and the teams traded baskets before Roberson closed out the half by hitting one of two from the charity stripe to give Tech a 37-36 halftime advantage.

Much like in Baylor’s home contest against the Longhorns last month, Dunn came out of the locker room firing. The freshman star went 4-of-4 from behind the arc to start the second half and keyed a 16-6 run which put the Bears ahead to stay. The Red Raiders were able to cut the lead to 63-54 on a Zeno layup with just under nine minutes left in the game, but could not overcome the hot shooting of Dunn, who also went 12-of-13 from the free throw line. The Bears were able to easily break the Raiders’ 2-2-1 press and maintained their distance by getting into the bonus early. They capitalized by knocking down their free throws, sending most of a frustrated Red Raider crowd of 7,914 towards the exits early.

Perhaps most impressive about the Bears’ performance was their airtight defense of Tech sharpshooter Alan Voskuil, who was held scoreless on 0-of-6 shooting and fouled out with 1:12 left in the game. Zeno led the Red Raiders with 27 points, while Roberson chipped in 25.

Baylor’s fourth conference road win came in spite of yet another disappointing performance from Aaron Bruce, who scored just four points, with his first bucket finally coming on a layup with just 25 seconds remaining in the first half. The Bears will need Bruce to break out of his slump to make a serious run in either the Big 12 or NCAA Tournaments, seeing as they certainly can’t expect a 38/9 line from Dunn night in and night out. Still, this was an important win for Baylor, enabling them to finish 9-7 in conference play, and likely propelling them off the bubble and cementing their status as an NCAA tournament team.

Just checking in for a few minutes after work, as we’ll soon be hitting the road for a special late-season roadie. Texas A&M visits the Ferrell Center tonight to face Baylor in a game with huge bubble implications, and Longhorn Road Trip will be there.

At the moment, both teams seem to be safe for the NCAAs, but a slip tonight could mean that the Aggies head to Kansas City as losers of six out of seven. With every upset in a mid-major tournament stealing a bid from the bubble, Mark Turgeon’s team can’t afford that trend.

For Baylor, a win would solidify their résumé and practically ensure a first-round bye in the Big 12 Tournament. It is also Senior Night for the Bears, which means that Aaron Bruce and Mark Shepherd will be playing their last game in the Golden Nipple. Take all of these storylines, mix in the hated Aggies as the opponents, and Waco should be absolutely rocking tonight.

A few notes on the Nebraska win will be headed your way late tonight or sometime tomorrow, along with a report on the trip to Waco.

Although slots four through ten are no longer separated by just a game as they were this time last week, the league is still a complete mess in the middle as the season winds to a close. Thanks to a complete tanking by Kansas State — losers of four straight and five out of six — the Baylor Bears actually control their own destiny in regards to the 3-seed in Kansas City. And with a late-season push, even the Oklahoma State Cowboys are within striking distance of that fourth and final bye in the conference tournament.

Texas Longhorns (11-3)
Remaining games: vs. Nebraska (Tuesday), vs. Oklahoma State (Sunday)
Outlook: The loss to Tech puts the Longhorns in a tie with Kansas once again, but they hold the tiebreaker for the #1 seed in Kansas City thanks to the victory over the Jayhawks last month. The crowds for this week’s games could be abysmal, with the Nebraska tip at 6:30 P.M. and the Oklahoma State game being played during Spring Break.

Kansas Jayhawks (11-3)
Remaining games: vs. Texas Tech (Tonight), at Texas A&M (Saturday)
Outlook: Unless the Longhorns stumble, the best that Kansas can hope for is a split title and the 2-seed in the post-season tournament. But Kansas must match Texas stride-for-stride down the homestretch, and their schedule is admittedly more difficult. Tech has a very slim shot at the NCAAs, but a road win in Lawrence would propel them to the top of the bubble discussion. And with A&M fading fast, their backs will be against the wall when Kansas comes to town on Sunday. KU cannot afford to overlook either one of these two teams.

Baylor Bears (8-6)
Remaining games: vs. Texas A&M (Wednesday), at Texas Tech (Saturday)
Outlook: Thanks to the head-to-head win over K-State, the Bears would claim the 3-seed if they win their remaining two games. But a stumble against A&M or Tech opens the door for the four teams sitting just a game back at 7-7, so Scott Drew’s guard-tastic team has to stay on top of its game this final week.

Kansas State Wildcats (8-6)
Remaining games: vs. Colorado (Tuesday), at Iowa State (Saturday)
Outlook: While Baylor does hold the tiebreaker, the Wildcats have the more manageable schedule this week. The home game against Colorado should finally snap the KSU slide, but this team has struggled all season long on the road and Hilton Coliseum will be a tough place to win on Senior Night. A split this week could drop the ‘Cats all the way from first place at the beginning of February to an opening-round game next Thursday in KC.

Texas A&M Aggies (7-7)
Remaining games: at Baylor (Wednesday), vs. Kansas (Saturday)
Outlook: While the K-State slide might seem monumental, the Aggies are the only team in the country this year who have fallen from the Top 10 to sweating things out on the bubble. A&M managed less than a point a minute in Norman on Saturday, and that simply won’t get the job done against the high-powered offenses of Baylor and Kansas. If Texas A&M wants to feel secure about its place in the NCAAs, they really have to steal that road game in Waco on Wednesday night, one that Longhorn Road Trip will be watching live from the Ferrell Center.

Oklahoma Sooners (7-7)
Remaining games: at Oklahoma State (Wednesday), vs. Missouri (Saturday)
Outlook: Of the four southern teams knotted at 7-7, Oklahoma has the easiest schedule left. The road game against Bedlam rival OSU won’t be easy, but a 9-7 finish and a potential 4-seed is within the grasp of the Sooners.

Oklahoma State Cowboys (7-7)
Remaining games: vs. Oklahoma (Wednesday), at Texas (Sunday)
Outlook: Raise your hand if you thought OSU would be earning fringe bubble talk with a week left to go in the season. Anyone? Fry? Bueller? The Pokes have a bitch of a finish in Austin on Sunday, but home court in the Bedlam series could put them above .500 in league play for what feels like the first time since Grover Cleveland was in office.

Texas Tech Red Raiders (7-7)
Remaining games: at Kansas (Tonight), vs. Baylor (Saturday)
Outlook: Pat Knight already has two Top 25 upsets on his nine-game bio, but both of those came in the friendly confines of the United Spirit Arena. This difficult final stretch will test the Red Raiders, and they could easily drop both games and find themselves playing in the dreaded 8-9 game next week.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (6-8)
Remaining games: at Texas (Tuesday), vs. Colorado (Sunday)
Outlook: After a promising non-conference start, Nebraska fizzled in Big 12 play. Winning three of their last four has them in the mix, but a tough road date with the Longhorns could quickly kill that momentum. The home game against Colorado on Sunday should provide an easy win, setting the Huskers up for potential home games in the NIT.

Missouri Tigers (5-9)
Remaining games: vs. Iowa State (Wednesday), at Oklahoma (Saturday)
Outlook: A possible split to finish the season for the Tigers, who have to be happy with even five conference wins after their entire team decided to have a brawl in a nightclub. If only they’d decided to have their Ultimate Fighting Championship prior to the game with Texas…

Iowa State Cyclones (4-10)
Remaining games: at Missouri (Wednesday), vs. Kansas State (Saturday)
Outlook: With K-State struggling on the road, the Cyclones could put a nice capper on a disappointing season by pulling off the home upset on Jiri Hubalek’s senior day. While the season has generally been a wash, the young talent that Coach McDermott has on-board could mean that great things will be happening in Ames in the near future.

Colorado Buffaloes (3-11)
Remaining games: at Kansas State (Tuesday), at Nebraska (Sunday)
Outlook: Richard Roby will finally exhaust his eligibility. It’s about damned time.

D.J. Augustin missed the front end of a one-and-one, and the ensuing rebound was tipped out to the three-point line. J.D. Lewis threw a head fake to give himself an open look and tossed up a last-gasp shot to tie the game. He failed to even catch iron, and the Longhorns suffered a three-point defeat at United Spirit Arena on Saturday afternoon. The fact of the matter, though, was that Texas should not have even been in position to tie it. Were it not for incredible game management by Coach Rick Barnes in the final two-and-a-half minutes, the Longhorns would’ve been pasted by double digits. So what went wrong on the South Plains this weekend?

The first key to the game in yesterday’s game preview was to control the fouls. When these two teams met in Austin a few weeks ago, the Longhorns were able to keep the Red Raiders off of the charity stripe and had all of their key players available during the run that put the game out of reach. For a Texas Tech team which has shot 105 more free throws than its opponents this season, that killed any chances of victory for the visitors.

Yesterday the Red Raiders were able to play their kind of game, as the Texas defense was constantly beaten off the dribble, found itself lost on back-door cuts, and picked up dumb fouls 20-plus feet from the basket. The excessive fouling threw a wrench in the frontcourt rotation for Barnes, forcing Connor Atchley to the bench for most of the first half. As a result, Atchley had one of his worst games in weeks, playing for only 24 minutes in which he scored two points and grabbed six boards.

But even more important than the foul trouble was the amount of free points the poor defense gave Tech. If you discount the nine intentional fouls over the last two-and-a-half minutes, the Longhorns were whistled 22 times, including a momentum-killing technical foul on Justin Mason. And if you also discount the 18 free throws that came as a result of those intentional fouls, the Red Raiders hit 21-of-25 from the line in the first 37-plus minutes of the game. The Texas defense handed the Red Raiders this game on a platter, and Pat Knight’s squad was more than happy to snatch it.

Although the end result of a loss certainly hurts the chances for Texas to earn a 1-seed in the NCAA tournament, as a whole the loss wasn’t incredibly disappointing. The Longhorns played a game that was very poor by their standards, yet fought back from a 14-point deficit with only 3:28 left on the clock. When Texas finds itself in a corner during March Madness, their history of comeback victories is going to give the team confidence. And by nearly overcoming a deficit this large in such a short period, even seemingly insurmountable odds shouldn’t shake the Horns.

While there weren’t a lot of positives to draw from this game besides the late-game grit from Texas, we can’t overlook the outstanding performance from Augustin. With Atchley and Damion James struggling and A.J. Abrams displaying incredibly suspect shot selection, the point guard carried the team with a 30-point performance. And although he was only 2-of-8 from behind the arc and didn’t attack the rim early enough for Texas to escape with a win, he was the only reason they were even within striking distance at the final horn.

The biggest effect of this loss is that it now makes it incredibly difficult for Texas to win the Big 12 title outright. Now the Longhorns find themselves in a tie with Kansas, although they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. This means that if both teams win their final two games, they both will receive a trophy and the title of “Co-Champions” while Texas will enjoy the 1-seed in the post-season tournament in Kansas City. Of course, both teams will be tested this week as the Longhorns face the surging Cornhuskers and Cowboys, while the Jayhawks take on A&M and Tech.

So, chin up, Longhorn fan. Texas wasn’t going to win 20 in a row to finish the year and claim the National Championship, so a loss had to happen at some point. Put this one behind you and get ready for another exciting round of March Madness.