Thanks to a few defensive stands and some late-game mismanagement by its opponent and an injury on the other side of the bracket, Kansas‘ path to New Orleans looks about as wide as the parting of the Red Sea. And thanks to a magical upset by a team from the Patriot League, only Kentucky stands as a major roadblock on Baylor‘s path to New Orleans. (Ok, maybe major is an understatement.) Missouri may have choked away a two-seed, and Iowa State, Texas, and Kansas State may not have been able to make any sort of Cinderella charge, but the Big 12 isn’t dead yet with Kansas and Baylor headed to their respective regional semifinals.
The Jayhawks are in a particularly encouraging situation. Forget the fact they shot 32 percent from the field and missed 19 three-point attempts against Purdue. Bill Self‘s mixing and matching of defenses helped shut down Robbie Hummel in the second half, and a few clutch shots from Elijah Johnson and team defensive stops helped Kansas rattle the Boilermakers with the game on the line. The Jayhawks could not have possibly played any worse, and yet they’ll now head to St. Louis as the heavy favorites against North Carolina State. The better news for the Jayhawks? Top-seeded North Carolina may play next weekend without its heart-and-soul point guard Kendall Marshall, who broke his wrist after dishing out 11 assists against Creighton. Kansas was headed to another early exit in the NCAA Tournament, trailing in the final minutes to a double-digit seed. Now, in an instant, the Jayhawks are perhaps the favorite to reach the Final Four out of the Midwest.
Baylor’s path is a little bit more difficult. If it can slip by Xavier, it will need to knock off either Kentucky or Indiana: the first of which the Bears will play the underdog role, and the latter of which would still look like a toss-up on paper. If there’s one thing we know about the Bears, though, it’s that Scott Drew‘s team can beat anybody, anywhere. It beat Kansas essentially on its home floor in Kansas City. It also won at BYU and Kansas State during the regular season. The Bears may be vulnerable when Perry Jones plays as poorly as he did against Colorado (seven points in 27 minutes), but frankly, they are a machine when Pierre Jackson takes care of the basketball and creates offense for his teammates. He finished with 10 assists against the Buffaloes and set up Brady Heslip for a career night from beyond the arc, as the Boston College transfer made nine threes and scored 27 points.
Advancing two Big 12 squads to New Orleans won’t be easy. Baylor will need a few breaks, and the Jayhawks could still run into trouble with an upstart NC State team. Plus, even if Marshall can’t go, North Carolina’s no slouch even if it handles Ohio in the Sweet 16. Still, with the way Missouri’s season ended, Drew and Self have to be pleased that the path is still there–and not out of the question.