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.

I’ve got to hit the road to make it to Lubbock in time for tip-off, so this game preview will likely be a short one. Of course, most previews for re-matches with teams from the Big 12 usually get short shrift, as the detailed player write-ups are done the first time around. So, true to form, I shall link you to the first Texas Tech preview, which gives an in-depth look at the Red Raiders.

The first time these two teams met, Texas absolutely destroyed the Techsters, 73-47. The Longhorns were led by strong guard play by A.J. Abrams and D.J. Augustin, who combined to score 36 points. Texas also dominated on the glass in the first ballgame, outrebounding the Red Raiders by eleven.

The Pat Knight era

The biggest difference between last game and this one is the face of the man at the head of the bench. Bob Knight retired just days before Tech played Baylor, leaving the destruction in Austin as his last career loss. Since then, son Pat Knight has led the team to a shaky 3-4 record, sinking the team into the muddied pack in the middle of the conference.

Of those three wins, the most impressive was an absolute dismantling of Kansas State in Lubbock. Tech led by more than 20 in the second half, but let the Wildcats crawl back into it before finishing them off by an 84-75 count. The Red Raiders were led by Alan Voskuil, who went 5-for-6 from long range and scored a career-high 30 points. He was almost the entire Tech offense that night, as his seven-minute scoreless stretch in the second half also coincided with the Red Raiders making only three buckets over the same span.

Unless Texas lets Voskuil light them up for 30-plus points today, there shouldn’t be too much to be worried about. But history has shown that the Red Raiders can always jump up and bite teams when playing in the United Spirit Arena, so Rick Barnes and his team can’t be caught buying too much into their own glowing pub.

What to watch for

Control the fouls – The slashing style of play that Tech utilizes can result in a ton of free throws for the Red Raiders and can put key Longhorn players on the bench. Texas seemed to handle it pretty well the first time around, but today they still have to be careful not to hack at the driving guards.

Dominate the glass – As previously mentioned, Texas won the rebounding battle in the first game by a 38-27 tally. If the Longhorns can again dominate on the boards, it will limit the Tech possessions, something which will absolutely kill the chances of upset. Tech is not an efficient offensive team, so if the Longhorns prevent possessions with multiple looks they should be fine.

Turn up the pressure – It might seem ridiculous to say this after the Longhorns have shown such incredible defensive work the last few weeks, but they can’t afford to let up this afternoon. Texas Tech is prone to turnovers, as demonstrated by their shaky ball-handling in Austin and in the loss to K-State. The Longhorns can further limit Red Raider possessions by turning them over, and may even jump-start the transition game.

Texas 2008 target Tyreke Evans testified Thursday in his cousin’s murder trial, repeating the same story he told police back in December. Regardless of whether or not Evans ever ends up in burnt orange, I hope this situation can be resolved soon so that Tyreke can move on and focus on finishing his senior year.

Lundardi’s newest Bracketology still has the Horns #1 in the Phoenix regional. UCLA still holds the corresponding 2-seed in this projection, so hopefully the Bruins will drop enough down the stretch to make a “home” region out of the question. Perhaps Sunday’s roadie at Arizona and the home tilt with Stanford can cause some stumbles.

Clark Kellogg tells us why he doesn’t project brackets, but the only real reason to read this is to check out his use of “LOL” in the middle of what is allegedly legitimate journalism. IDK Clark, R U nutz?

I’ve been wanting to post the Russell Westbrook dunk from last weekend’s game against Oregon, but all of the videos on YouTube were of poor quality. Finally I’ve found one that is pretty solid, which you can check out below. The dunk in question happens around the 20-second mark, but be careful while watching — the Oregon uniforms were sponsored by the Bedazzler that day, so some viewers may be blinded.

There’s somebody laughing at me over in the Big 12 offices, as having two road games in a week played in far-off locales is really doing a number on my hours of sleep and amount of writing on the website. Trying to cram 40 hours of work into a week that also includes trips to and from Manhattan, Kansas and Lubbock, Texas leaves me with little time to get caught up around here. So, apologies for the lack of content beyond Fast Breaks this week, and a promise to hit you guys with this week’s blogpoll and some notes from the K-State game tonight and/or tomorrow night. For now, on to the news from around the interwebs.

The losses by Memphis and then Tennessee left the power rankings in disarray this week, and Luke Winn took the opportunity to revisit his top seven teams. When all was said and done, he shot Texas all the way to the #1 slot. Hope there’s not an SI.com curse, too…

Texas climbed to fifth in ESPN’s Power 16 this week, grabbing first-place votes from Hubert Davis and Doug Gottlieb. Dick Vitale continued his irrational voting, slotting the Longhorns in 11th behind the likes of Stanford, who has the same number of losses as Texas. Of course, the Cardinal has faced the 97th-toughest schedule in the country, while Texas has played the 3rd-toughest. Sure, polls are meaningless. But the fact that this guy actually has a vote in the AP poll is re-god-damned-diculous.

Grant Wahl has an article today exposing some truly despicable fan behavior, including death threats towards Kevin Love and bottles of water thrown at the family of Eric Gordon. I’ve heard some bad things yelled in the O-Zone at the Frank Erwin Center, but nothing like this. I suppose I’m fortunate that I haven’t run into any truly dicey situations on the road, but I’m also not related to a big-time recruit who “betrayed” a fan base. I have no problem with the student sections yelling things at the players on the court, because that’s a part of the game — but assault and homophobia need to be left in the backwoods.

There’s not enough time to do a full TV listing post tonight, but you definitely want to fire up the Tivo for a lot of great match-ups. Notre Dame and Louisville kick things off (6 PM CST, ESPN) followed by a key battle between Michigan State and Wisconsin in the Big 10 (8 PM CST, ESPN2). Thursday night also means Pac-10, so fans can check out USC/Arizona (8 PM CST, ESPN) or Washington State/Cal (10 PM CST, FSN).