For roughly 46 hours between Kansas State’s upset over Kansas on Monday and Iowa State‘s deflating loss to Baylor on Wednesday, the Big 12 race had more intrigue than at any point in the season. But after the Bears took down the Cyclones at Hilton Coliseum thanks to some deadly shooting down the stretch, the standings returned to an all-too-familiar position: the Jayhawks all alone at the top with a logjam behind them. The race isn’t yet over, but Iowa State’s loss definitely removed some of the buzz surrounding the finish. As it stands, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Iowa State — each one game behind Kansas — all need to take care of business and get some unlikely help if any of the three wants to make history. The Sooners still have a game left against the 10-time defending conference champs — their home finale on March 7 — but they will likely have to win their next two games in order for that match-up to mean something. More on that in a minute.

The Big 12 race isn’t over, but it will take a Kansas loss in this building to restore the chaos that has encapsulated the conference all year long.

West Virginia also has a game left against Kansas, but with two of its last three games coming on the road — including next Tuesday’s tilt against the Jayhawks — the Mountaineers are at a big disadvantage. Lastly, not only do the Cyclones not have any remaining games against the Jayhawks, but they’ll also play two of their last three games on the road. Meanwhile, Kansas plays two of its last three games in the cozy confines of Allen Fieldhouse, so the odds of Bill Self’s team winning that 11th straight Big 12 title in outright fashion look favorable.

As great a story as that would be, however, where’s the fun? As a die-hard college hoops fan, I want as much meaningful basketball as possible. Sure, if Kansas puts a bow on it by this time next week, everyone will still be playing for valuable postseason seeding; we’ll still watch; and then the postseason will be here. But throughout its relatively young history, the Big 12 has lacked a climactic final day of action in the truest definition.

I’m talking about one game to decide the conference race and the fate of the Jayhawks’ Big 12 title streak all wrapped up in one tidy package.

You’d have to go all the way back to the old Big 8 in 1995 to find a year in which the conference title was decided between the top two teams on the season’s final day. On March 5 of that year, the Greg Ostertag-led Jayhawks beat Oklahoma State in Allen Fieldhouse despite 45 points from Cowboys’ guard Randy Rutherford. Also in that game, Ostertag held two-time Big 8 POY Bryant Reeves scoreless a month after Big Country had exploded for 33 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks at Gallagher-Iba Arena. So in the absence of a true conference championship game akin to what college football offers, how can we get that same level of drama? The Big 12 has been wild all season, so why should it end in a whimper? With a glance at Kansas and Oklahoma’s remaining schedules, it just so happens that there’s a chance, albeit a remote one, that we get ourselves a de facto conference championship game on March 7. Here’s how.

Can We Get Another Please? (USA Today Images)

If Oklahoma beats TCU and Iowa State while Kansas somehow drops one of its two home games, we would have a winner-take-all showdown on our hands one week from tomorrow in Norman. I think even Jayhawks fans would agree that they’d get a bigger high off winning #11 in that fashion than if their team clinched it by then, even though such an outcome would involve a rare home loss to a conference opponent and the anxiety among the fanbase that would follow. Given Kansas’ insane track record at The Phog, plus the requirement of Oklahoma beating Iowa State in Ames to lead us to our white whale, it’s probably best not to get ahead of ourselves. But with the possibility lingering out there, there’s nothing I want more.

For now, though, here’s a look at Saturday’s action:

• Texas at Kansas (5:00 ET) – Mired in consecutive losses for the third time this year and with their NCAA Tournament hopes on the brink, times are getting desperate in Austin. That said, this isn’t as bad a match-up for Texas as the records might initially indicate. The Longhorns’ frontcourt isn’t the dual threat that we thought it would be, but they still have the best shot-blocking and two-point defense in the Big 12. Perimeter defense has been lacking, however, so despite Bill Self’s documented reluctance to rely on three-pointers, firing away may serve his team well since doing so should allow Perry Ellis to keep up his great play.
• TCU at Oklahoma (2:00 ET) – The Sooners have been the most consistent team in the conference lately, having won seven of their last eight games. While the fact that they were swept by Kansas State means that anyone can pick them off, they’ve had a week to get ready for the Horned Frogs and the carrot of first place is still within reach. TCU’s newfound competitiveness has been great for the Big 12, but the Sooners have way too much to lose with a loss here. Expect Lon Kruger‘s team to come out firing.
• West Virginia at Baylor (4:00 ET) – Two engineers of quick-turn rebuilding jobs square off in Waco. Both teams have their flaws, but respect goes out to Bob Huggins, who had to completely transform his style over the summer, and Scott Drew, who lost three standouts and ended up with an arguably better team. The Bears embarrassed West Virginia on the Mountaineers’ home court three weeks ago, but still mathematically alive, Huggins’ team has plenty of motivation to return the favor.
• Iowa State at Kansas State (4:00 ET) – The Cyclones were completely blindsided on Wednesday, allowing Baylor to put up an eFG% of 94.4% over the last eight minutes. Like the Mountaineers, they sit just one game behind Kansas, but with no more bullets left to fire at the Jayhawks, they’ll likely have to win out to have a shot at sharing the title. Meanwhile, Kansas State will look to build on the high of Monday night’s big win.
• Oklahoma State at Texas Tech (4:00 ET) – Like Oklahoma, the Cowboys have had a week to get ready to face a team that shouldn’t give them too much trouble. They did enough work in the first half of the month that their NCAA Tournament prospects won’t be significantly impacted if their three-game losing streak becomes a four-game losing streak, but I see Oklahoma State getting it back together.

Brian Goodman (987 Posts)

Brian Goodman a Big 12 microsite writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BSGoodman.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 27th, 2015 at 3:51 pm by Brian Goodman and is filed under big 12, microsites. Tagged: bill self, bob huggins, feature, iowa state, kansas, lon kruger, oklahoma, perry ellis, scott drew, west virginia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.