1. Another day, another win for the Baylor men. The Bears took care of BYU for the second time this season with a 76-70 win in the NIT semifinals. Cory Jefferson had his third consecutive 20-point effort in the NIT with 21. It also makes the Bears 7-0 in games where Jefferson scores 20 or more points. Senior Pierre Jackson had 24 points and 10 assists which happens to be his third straight game with at least 20/10. (How Jackson didn’t even get an AP All-American Honorable Mention is beyond me.) When the Bears play Iowa for the NIT championship on Thursday, it’ll be the second NIT title game in the Scott Drew era. They played another Big Ten team in 2009 — Penn State — when the Bears were at the time led by Curtis Jerrells and LaceDarius Dunn.
2. The Iowa State athletic department announced Tuesday that it has discovered an impermissible number of phone calls were made and text messages were sent between 2008 and 2011. ISU then self-imposed penalties on itself for the 2011-12 academic year which included a reduction in the number of coaches traveling to recruit potential prospects as well as a reduction of phone calls and text messages over a four-month span. The school has also asked the NCAA to place it on probation though details were not released. Another thing we don’t know yet is which sports committed these violations. The NCAA still has the power to place additional restrictions on ISU on top of those already self-imposed. There’s still a lot to be determined in this case so stay tuned for more.
3. TCU made news on the recruiting trail yesterday as the Horned Frogs picked up a commitment from 2013 forward/guard Hudson Price. Price, the son of four-time NBA All-Star guard Mark, pledged for TCU, spurning offers from schools like Saint Louis, Vanderbilt, and Miami (FL). Price is described as an excellent three-point shooter but at 6’6″ and 210 pounds, he isn’t afraid of taking it to the rim either. The addition of Price shores up an already solid class for Trent Johnson led by Karviar Shepherd (four-star) and Brandon Parrish (three-star).
4. As you might know, the mayor of #DunkCity Andy Enfield was hired (perhaps misguidedly) to be the new head coach at Southern California. Now who will replace him? Here’s a list of potential candidates with a couple of names that Big 12 folks should recognize. The first is Jeff Capel, the former Oklahoma coach and current Duke assistant. He doesn’t make any sense for FGCU seeing how he doesn’t have any known connections in Florida, and he could get a better offer than an A-Sun job. The other possibility is Texas assistant Russ Springman, which makes more sense. He worked with Billy Donovan at Florida as a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach, but if he were offered the job, he’d take it in a heartbeat. These next few weeks or months may be the only time in world history where a job in Fort Myers looks more attractive than one in Austin.
5. It was a year ago yesterday when Kansas State hired Bruce Weber to be its new coach, replacing South Carolina-bound Frank Martin. Bring On The Cats did a very cool thing by archiving fans’ comments on the hire only to revisit them after a full calendar year has passed. What surprised me the most was even before Martin bolted, some fans already sensed that he was beginning to lose his team. Sure there were a fair share of fans who were angry at first but even they cooled off and came to the conclusion that reason will prevail. Wonder what they’ll say next April 2.

1. The worst kept secret in college basketball these past few days came to light Monday as Texas Tech has formally agreed to hire Tubby Smith to be its new basketball coach. Smith won’t coach a game for the Red Raiders until November but he will enter the Big 12 as arguably the most decorated coach in a league with the likes of Bill Self and Bob Huggins. While it was unfortunate that interim coach Chris Walker did not get the job, hopefully this hire will give the basketball program some much needed stability.
2. The Associated Press released its list of first, second and third team All-Americans on Monday. For the fourth consecutive season, the Big 12 has a representative on the second team with Ben McLemore of Kansas there. The league had two others on the third team in McLemore’s teammate Jeff Withey and Oklahoma State superfrosh Marcus Smart. Kansas State’s Rodney McGruder was named an Honorable Mention recipient and yet nowhere to be found was Pierre Jackson (19.7 PPG, 6.9 APG) of Baylor. It’s not clear what more he could have done to please the AP.
3. Iowa State senior Will Clyburn has been invited to participate in Sunday’s College All-Star Game. The game, sponsored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, features 20 of the top seniors in all of college basketball. Clyburn of course came over from Utah to lead the Cyclones in scoring and was second on the team in rebounding. It also doesn’t hurt that Clyburn will play for ISU head coach Fred Hoiberg in this game.
4. Class of 2013 forward Julius Randle spurned Texas to join what may become the greatest recruiting class of all time at Kentucky. Instead, Dallas area prospect Kendal Yancy-Harris committed to the Longhorns on Saturday. The 6’4″ point guard is the third member of Rick Barnes’ recruiting class, joining Demarcus Croaker from Orlando and Isaiah Taylor of Houston. Yancy-Harris is the only ESPN Top 100 prospect, which is weird for Texas’ standards but was probably the best it could do at this point. With Sheldon McClellan and Jaylen Bond announcing their plans to transfer, how happy could the UT administration be with Rick Barnes right now?
5. Some sad news to pass along from the Kansas State family. Former K-State athletic director H.B. Lee passed away at his home in North Carolina. Lee became the youngest AD in the then-Big Seven when he took over in Manhattan at age 39. Before then he was a pretty good basketball coach at Colorado, taking the school to its one and only Final Four in 1955. He also played a role in establishing land for Bill Snyder Family Stadium and Bramlage Coliseum. While we are sad at has passing, he was 96 years old after all. He lived a full life.

1. It appears the entire Kansas team took a harder shot below the belt than Michigan’s Mitch McGary on Friday night. The Jayhawks coughed up a 14-point second half lead to the Wolverines, capped off by a deeeeep three-pointer from point guard/superman Trey Burke with five seconds left in regulation. Now Michigan’s prepping for the Final Four in Atlanta while KU is looking ahead to a very different roster in 2013-14. Gone will be Travis Releford, Jeff Withey, Elijah Johnson, Kevin Young and Ben McLemore to the NBA (presumably) but Bill Self has a top-flight recruiting class coming in to plug those holes. Next year will sort of resemble the KU team he had in 2009: a major roster turnover after they won a national title. Another reason to not be down on Kansas: that ’09 team made the Sweet Sixteen.
2. Fred Hoiberg isn’t going anywhere for awhile. The Mayor agreed to a 10-year, $20 million extension with Iowa State last Thursday just as his name was thrown around the rumor mill for the vacant Minnesota job or consideration for a future NBA job. All he’s done in three years in Ames is make the NCAA Tournament twice while winning two games in March. Typically, opportunities for coaches to “come home” occur later in their coaching careers (see: Roy Williams, Bob Huggins). With Hoiberg’s local ties and statements like “It’s [Iowa State] where I want to be” and “I hope to coach here until I retire,” it’s hard to believe he’ll go anywhere else. What a welcome change in college athletics.
3. Remember conference realignment? For the longest time, Louisville was rumored to become a member of the Big 12, but it never materialized. It would have been a perfect fit. Their football team is coming off a win in the Sugar Bowl, men’s basketball is headed for a second consecutive Final Four, and women’s hoops has just pulled a colossal upset of  Baylor to advance to the Elite Eight. Now they’re headed for the ACC  in 2014, which for basketball purposes, is as close to heaven as anything else with Syracuse, Duke, and North Carolina all in the same league. If I had to put money on it, this bigger ACC will not last. We’ve seen mega-conferences before (WAC, Big East) and they don’t tend to last  for very long. Hopefully, the Big 12 can get another shot at the Cards in the future.
4. The Tubby Smith-Texas Tech rumors of a meeting are now fact. According to an Associated Press report from Saturday night, TTU is in talks with Smith to become its next head coach. Tubby and his wife left Lubbock and we have not discussed whether Smith received a firm offer from the school. I personally like Chris Walker to take the full-time job because of how he carries himself and treats his players, but all of that changes if Tubby is interested. He’s a winner everywhere he’s been and Minnesota probably made a huge mistake by letting him go.
5. Did you even think we’d say the Baylor men’s season would last longer than the women’s? Well, it will. Brittney Griner, arguably the greatest women’s player at the college level, ended her decorated career Sunday night in a Sweet Sixteen defeat to Louisville, 82-81. She had one of her worst games of the year as the Cardinals were physical and unrelenting with her all game long, failing to score her first points until the second half. The Lady Cards earned it the hard way and will now face Tennessee for the right to go to the Final Four tomorrow night.

1. It isn’t official but it does feel like it’s really over. Perhaps yesterday’s loss to the Oregon Ducks was the final game of Marcus Smart’s brief and eventful career at Oklahoma State. He arrived on campus with a lot of hype and he was worth every bit of it. But where does that leave Travis Ford and his program? For such a successful regular season to end suddenly in the round of 64, he’ll hop back on the hot seat. What if Le’Bryan Nash or Markel Brown decides to leave for the pros too? They have a solid recruiting class coming in but it seems unlikely for those freshman to plug in those huge gaps. Uneasy times in Stillwater.
2. Friday is essentially “Big 12 day” at the NCAA Tournament as the league’s four remaining teams will be in action. Two of those teams will do very little traveling (maybe none?). Kansas and Kansas State played at the Sprint Center for the Big 12 Tournament and now have the tough task of playing there again for the Friday/Sunday sessions. KU stands as the top seed in the South Region and there is extra intrigue here as a win today could set up another Roy Williams v. Jayhawks match-up in the round of 32. Due to recent developments (hi New Mexico), the Wildcats would have an easier road to the Final Four if they can get by Gonzaga in the Sweet 16. Or if Wichita State upsets Gonzaga tomorrow, it’d be an all-Kansas regional semifinal in Los Angeles. It is March, it could happen.
3. I guess we should get used to saying this: Iowa State is once again in the tournament. While it wasn’t a given they’d make it here even a month ago, one player who has helped their way in is forward Will Clyburn. As you may now, Clyburn is a transfer from Utah but he didn’t start his college career like most recruits did. He had a growth spurt during his senior year of high school but his height-strength ratio scared off most recruiters. Clyburn chose to enroll at Marshalltown Community College in Iowa. He became a gym rat, fine tuning his game and eventually transferred to Utah after successful freshman and sophomore campaigns. Now he’s the leading scorer (15.0) and rebounder (7.1) for Iowa State. How did you let him get away, coaches?
4. As Oklahoma preps for its second round game against San Diego State, we finally got into the mind (a bit) of their nomadic head coach Lon Kruger. Any coach will tell you how difficult it is to build chemistry on a team so imagine how much harder it’d be if the coach that recruited you leaves for another job before you graduate. “But then every place we’ve been we’ve never looked for another job or asked for another job. It’s just worked out OK with different moves for different reasons. We’ve been pretty fortunate,” Kruger told the Norman Transcript. I tend to believe that that’s a bunch of hooey. One of his former players, Steve Henson, mentioned how Kruger interviewed for the head coaching job at Texas right after his sophomore season. (Kruger ended up leaving for Florida after Henson’s senior year.) That’s not to take anything away from what he’s done in his second year in Norman but you or I shouldn’t be surprised if he up and leaves OU all of a sudden.
5. In case you didn’t know that there was basketball being played outside of the NCAA and NIT tournaments, the Texas Longhorns participated in the CBI on Wednesday night. They took on their old rivals from the Southwest Conference, the University of Houston Cougars and ended up losing to UH 73-72. To add insult, top recruit Julius Randle, who considered Texas in his recruiting process, announced for Kentucky earlier in the week. Hopefully this is the last straw of a season where everything went wrong for Texas. And somewhere in the Northeast, current commissioner of the “old” Big East Mike Aresco is cracking open some champagne for all the wrong reasons.

Jeff Capel had it working in Norman. Building off the success of his predecessor Kelvin Sampson, Capel took the Sooners to consecutive  NCAA Tournament appearances in 2007 and 2008. Heading into practice, the 2008-09 season had all the makings of a season to remember. The Sooners boasted the future #1 pick of next year’s NBA Draft coupled with Willie Warren, a McDonald’s All-American from Dallas, not to mention the return of veteran contributors Taylor Griffin and Tony Crocker. They won 30 games that year before eventually losing in the Elite Eight to eventual national champion North Carolina.

Since 2009? Nothing.

For the first time since this guy suited up, the Sooners are dancing. (Joe Murphy/Getty Images)

But it was only a matter of time before a program like Oklahoma would rise again. Lon Kruger, known as a fixer of ailing programs, has the Sooners dancing in just his second season in Norman. As the Sooners hovered around the middle of the Big 12 this year, they were searching for a leader and found it in senior Romero Osby, He’s playing the best basketball of his career, and I believe that had he not made the step from role player to lead, the Sooners may have been on the outside looking in with this Tournament. After struggling to start the year, another senior, Stephen Pledger, has turned it on as well. Oklahoma finds itself as the #10 seed in the South Region paired with #7 seed San Diego State. As a result, OU can conceivably win its first foray back into the Madness since those Griffin brothers were still wearing red uniforms together.

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1. The last game of Thursday’s session was perhaps the best. Oklahoma State survived a massive collapse to outlast the desperate Baylor Bears, 74-72. The Cowboys led by as many as 20 points late in the first half yet the Bears chipped away at the lead until they got it to a four-point deficit with 25 seconds left in regulation. BU’s Gary Franklin then tied it seconds later on a four-point play from the corner. After the Cowboys nailed two subsequent free throws, Pierre Jackson, who was all types of awesome in scoring 24 of his 31 points in the second half, missed a potential game-winner at the buzzer. Now what? The good in this is that we’ll get a look at Oklahoma State-Kansas State Version 3.0 as both teams split the regular season series. The bad news is of course that Baylor’s chances at an at-large bid is all but shot at this point. It looks like it’ll be the third time in the Scott Drew era that Baylor will miss the NCAA Tournament a year after making it. 
   
2. We had a comeback attempt to close out the night but there was an actual one much earlier in the day. Iowa State found themselves down 14 early, and even 11 points halfway through the second half, only to take down the Sooners, 73-66. A storyline that won’t get much attention is the exchange senior guard Korie Lucious had with his coach Fred Hoiberg. Hoiberg benched Lucious in the second half mainly due to his poor shooting (0-of-8). After the move, the Cyclones began to make their comeback and during a subsequent timeout, Lucious told Hoiberg to “keep going with these guys” because they had “a great flow going.” It turned out to be the right thing to do and now ISU gets its third shot at nailing down a win vs. Kansas.
3. Jordan Tolbert’s layup with 3:11 left in the first half cut the Kansas lead to two over Texas Tech and signaled to the Jayhawks that they weren’t running away with the game any time soon. And then KU ran away with it. Ben McLemore was doing plenty of Ben McLemore things, scoring 24 points and hitting 8-of-12 from the field, four of those on three-pointers. Bill Self emptied out his bench later in the game and gave us a chance to see some Jayhawks who will make bigger impacts on future teams. Freshmen Anrio Adams went for 11 points in just five minutes and Perry Ellis had his second good game in a row, totaling eight points and seven rebounds. It’s only a matter of time before these guys win a Big 12 title of their own.
4. Kansas State shot only 40% as a team, grabbed the same number of rebounds as Texas, missed eight free throws, and still beat the Horns by 17. Wait, what? It’s just another win in a long line of uninteresting and non-flashy wins for the Wildcats, who now improve to 26-6 on the season. Rodney McGruder poured in an efficient 24 points (10-of-20), eight of those coming on a K-State 10-0 run to give the Wildcats a double digit lead for good. He also pulled down seven rebounds. They’re still under the radar, aren’t they? Give it a week.
5. Why does Marcus Smart wear #33? There is an answer and it further amplifies the kind of person this young man is. The number three has special meaning in his family. His three older brothers all wore three when they played in high school and that includes Smart’s half-brother Todd Westbrook, who was the first to don the number. Westbrook lost his long battle with cancer in 2004 at the age of 33. This surprises no one. You might think I’m going overboard with this but we don’t just need more Marcus Smart like prospects in college basketball, we need more Marcus Smart like people on this planet. I bet John Wooden would’ve loved to coach this kid.

1. The first set of fireworks at the Big 12 tournament were set off last night as Texas Tech beat West Virginia 71-69. After losing a 14 point lead earlier in the game, junior Dejan Kravic’s putback with 0.4 seconds left was enough for the Red Raiders to live to play another day. For Tech, third time’s the charm seeing how they lost both of their regular season meetings with the Mountaineers. A dramatic win like this can only help the chances for interim head coach Chris Walker to get the full-time gig. The job would be essentially his if Texas Tech would somehow upset Kansas later on today.
2. Staying with the Red Raiders and this story is a real head scratcher. Remember Trency Jackson? He was a junior college transfer who started 11 games for them this season. Upon his transfer, Jackson obtained a special waiver because he “didn’t have enough transferable hours Texas Tech was willing to accept in advance of enrolling.” Usually in a case like this, the academic adviser at the transfer’s new school would be notified of this and would hatch a plan with the transfer to get those hours squared away. But that never for happened for Jackson. He was suspended for being academically ineligible but the problem was Texas Tech never told him he was until after the spring semester begun. It seems that Tech REALLY dropped the ball here and now will be interesting to see how this lack of oversight will affect Chris Walker’s prospects of getting the head coaching job. Jackson has since transferred to Western Kentucky and will hopefully be eligible to play by December.
3. Texas closed up the night with a 70-57 win over TCU. The game was further proof that, even against a team like the Horned Frogs, Myck Kabongo makes a world of difference for the Longhorns. Kabongo made the most impact for his team, totaling 16 points, four rebounds and six assists. UT also got major contributions off the bench from sophomores Julien Lewis (19 points) and Sheldon McClellan (12 points). I feel like had Texas had the luxury of Kabongo all season long, they’d be in contention for an at-large bid (they’ve gone 6-3 since his return). Texas has to deal with Kansas State coming up tonight.
4. On Wednesday afternoon, Jeff Goodman sized up each Big 12 coach’s hot seat on a scale of one (meaning they’re safe) and ten (meaning they best be looking for a new job). According to Goodman, every coach is essentially safe and much of that has to do with the unique situations going on in the league: Texas missing the tourney for the first time since the late 90s, Travis Ford finally cashing in on his talented basketball team, Trent Johnson’s first year at TCU etc. The only man truly coaching for a job is Chris Walker of Texas Tech as they look for a permanent leader going forward. Hopefully, we’ll see all 10 coaches return next season.
5. Congratulations to Baylor’s Pierre Jackson who was named the District VII player of the year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. Those not familiar with the “District VII” distinction (as I wasn’t), District VII is in reference to all Division I basketball programs housed in the states of Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana which means Jackson was voted the best player in those states. He is not the first Bear with All-District VII honors in consecutive season (Curtis Jerrells, Lawrence Roberts and Darryl Middleton were the others) but he is the first player from the school to be named District VII Player of the Year. Freshman Isaiah Austin also joined Jackson as a first team All-District VII honoree.

1. It’s finally game day. The Big 12 tournament gets under way later today and Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg joins basically every other Big 12 coach in saying, “Any team can win it this year.” Maybe his Cyclones are the ones do it. They’ve beaten Kansas State, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State already. If you remember, ISU was a desperation three-pointer and an incorrect offensive foul call from sweeping the season series away from Kansas. We shall see.
2. Speaking of Iowa State, forward Anthony Booker apologized for giving an obscene gesture to the Mountaineers’ student section during Saturday’s game against West Virginia. Booker committed a flagrant foul and was sent to the bench by coach Fred Hoiberg with 5:40 left in the second half. There, he gave the one-finger salute, initially disguising it as simply resting his hand on his chin. In a statement released by Iowa State, Booker cites him getting “caught up in the emotions” of the game and realizes it “was a poor decision.” His actions violated the Big 12’s rules on sportsmanship but the league has given ISU their blessing in keeping Booker eligible. The Big 12 now considers the mattered “closed.”
3. Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt hasn’t announced what he’ll do with the position of head basketball coach. But we know interim coach Chris Walker will be considered for the job. “Chris Walker has done an excellent job considering the circumstances that he accepted when he took the interim role. That said, there’s not one thing I believe Chris Walker could have done any differently or any better over the course of the basketball season,” Hocutt said. Walker has increased the Red Raiders’ win total by two games overall and in conference play. If Texas Tech decides to go with someone other than him, it will be their fourth different coach in four seasons. Just as in the situation with Kevin Ollie at UConn, I believe their permanent head coach is already in Lubbock; he just needs the interim tag removed.
4. While players like Marcus Smart, Le’Bryan Nash, and Markel Brown grab all the headlines and highlights for 23-7 Oklahoma State, there has to be a bring-your-lunch-pail-to-work kind of guy who does the little things to help patch wins together. That guy for the Pokes is Michael Cobbins. Despite starting the season on the injury list, he has returned to a starter’s role. In addition to averaging seven points, six rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, Cobbins was named to the first team all-Big 12 Defensive Team. A lot of people like the Cowboys as a sleeper pick in this year’s Big 12 Tournament, and if they are, Cobbins will be a big reason why.
5. Here is a piece that will make you and I jealous that we aren’t college athletes. SportsBusiness Journal has kept a tally of the cool amenities that all the teams participating in the conference or NCAA Tournaments will receive. Compared to the other power six conferences, it looks like Big 12 teams will have a plethora of items offered such as a Canon Powershot camera, different models of watches and even a Samsung Galaxy tablet. The conference with the most to choose from appears to be the SEC who gives players the option of taking Beats by Dre headphones, a 16GB iPod Touch with music card, or a Sony Blu-Ray disc player with WiFi. At least we now know why Texas A&M and Missouri left for the SEC.

1. It’s been quite the year for Kansas State first-year coach Bruce Weber. On March 9, 2012, Weber was fired as the head coach of Illinois. A year and a couple days later, he was named Big 12 Coach of the Year (I wonder how many times that’s happened to a coach). The article walks us through how Weber tackled the largest recruiting class he’d ever seen: the entire Kansas State roster. It’s crazy to think that had K-State not called Weber, he would have been off to the College of Charleston. It would have been a shame, regardless of how bad he looked in media circles last season, because he was worthy of a better job.
2. Back in late January, TCU coach Trent Johnson called this team the most talented in the country. Now it’s Travis Ford passing the complements Baylor’s way, calling them “as talented as anyone” in the Big 12. Sure there’s some hyperbole somewhere in these statements, but the fact is they returned important pieces from last year’s Elite Eight team including the conference preseason player of the year. Even as a non-Baylor fan, it’s been so frustrating for me to watch a team like this hang on for their tournament lives lately when they should be a team worried about seeding like Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma or Iowa State. If they get into the Dance, beating the Cowboys on Thursday (and likely the Wildcats the day after) is what I think will be enough to get them there. Of course, they could just win the whole thing and leave no doubt about it as well.
3. We love Bob Huggins for his frankness and quotability at press conferences, but lordy, don’t quote him on this: “I think we can still can make a run [in the conference tournament].” I understand why he said it, but with all due respect, it’s not gonna happen. If there’s going to be a team or teams that’ll make a surprise run in Kansas City, it’s probably Baylor or Texas. If I were Huggins, I’d want this season to end as swiftly as possible.
4. Had you asked me how many conference games TCU would have won in November, I would have said none. But then they went and beat Kansas and Oklahoma, two teams with Tournament plans for next week. What’s next for Horned Frogs basketball? An outstanding recruiting class, that’s what. Led by Karviar Shepherd, the Class of 2013’s third-best center, Trent Johnson hopes that this year’s smidgen of success can build serious momentum for recruiting top talent in the Metroplex. The problem for previous coaches at TCU hasn’t been their ability to recruit players from Dallas-Fort Worth but to reel in the best that DFW has to offer. Hopefully, Johnson’s onto something there.
5. There wasn’t a whole lot of good that came for Kansas out of the Baylor loss. They failed to clinch the outright Big 12 regular season title, they were blown out on the road (which almost never happens), and they lost a regular season game to the Bears for the first time in 12 years. But we did see some potential shine through for KU freshman Perry Ellis. He hit 5-of-7 from the field in the most playing time he has received since the season opener. He’s one good offseason in the weight room away from becoming another Marcus Morris-type for KU (Ellis: 6’8″, 225 pounds; Morris: 6’9″, 235 pounds).

1. It’s Big 12 Awards time! This has been one of the weirder Big 12 seasons in recent memory even though the team at the top is still the same (hi Kansas!) Perhaps the surprise in this was that neither the league player nor coach of the year originated from Lawrence. Marcus Smart is totally deserving of Big 12 POY as Oklahoma State’s Mr. Everything. Regardless of how many game-winners he’s hit, Smart is the type of player any program covets — talented and selfless. He is the first Cowboy since James Anderson (2009-10) and the first freshman since Blake Griffin (2008-09) to lock down the award. Bruce Weber won Big 12 Coach of the Year in his first season. Despite what happened on last year’s Illinois team, Weber is still a good coach. What may have been the most confusing hire a year ago is now paying immediate dividends for Kansas State.
2. Matt Norlander tells us that despite getting their tails kicked by Baylor, Kansas’ Bill Self is amazing at what he does. Yeah we all know the incredible success he’s had at KU but before he even arrived in Lawrence, Self certainly had his influence in other leagues as well. He won two of three regular season titles at both Tulsa and Illinois which makes 2012-13 his 13th league title in 15 years of coaching. He’s only 50 years old and already has over 500 wins as a head coach — when all is said and done, Self is my odds-on-favorite to eventually catch and pass Coach K in career wins.
3. Speaking of Baylor, with an at-large bid in limbo, they throttled Kansas Saturday in Waco. The Bears are now 18-13 and sport a 9-9 record in Big 12 play, but are probably still slotted for the NIT. How can they change that? They play their first game Thursday against Oklahoma State, and if they were to beat the Cowboys for a second time, it would set up a possible match-up with Kansas State on Friday. If they get past K-State, they’ll then have 20 wins including OSU (twice), KSU, Kansas and Kentucky. But again, these are too many “ifs” for a team currently living on the bubble.
4. When you’re a team like Oklahoma whose fate is pretty much decided, how can you find motivation heading into the postseason? Losing to TCU would just about do it. They fell behind 22 points at halftime and made as many three-pointers as I did on Saturday (0-for-16). OU appears to be a team safely into the tournament with a RPI of 33 and SOS of 18 but a good showing against Iowa State Friday would do wonders for the psyche.
5. What a difference Myck Kabongo makes for Texas. Before he returned for the Iowa State game on February 13, the Longhorns had two conference wins and now they have seven. With that said, is it crazy to think that Texas could make a run in the Big 12 Tournament? If they don’t win it, it would probably be for a run to the NIT but I could see it happening. The chances of Texas winning this tournament, according to TeamRankings.com, are at 1%. So, yes, I’m saying there’s a chance.