Patrick Marshall of White & Blue Review is the RTC correspondent for the Missouri Valley Conference.

Around the MVC

• Go Dancing – Despite UNI’s major upset of Kansas, the Missouri Valley Conference suffered a third straight season with just one bid to the NCAA Tournament after four teams received bids in 2006.
• Coaching Carousel—In April, Dana Altman was wooed from Creighton to Oregon, where he’ll deal with the benefits as well as the slings and arrows of having Phil Knight as a booster.   A few weeks later, longtime Altman assistant and Indiana State head coach Kevin McKenna left the Sycamores to be reunited with Altman in Oregon. Creighton wasted no time in hiring a new basketball coach.  Greg McDermott was tabbed as the new head coach a mere 48 hours after Altman took the Oregon job.  McDermott left a situation at Iowa State where he had trouble making Hilton magic, with several Cyclones transferring out during his tenure and NBA-caliber players on a team that could not get wins.  Creighton got a coach with previous success in the Valley and Iowa State was able to move in a different direction a year early, so the change looks like a win-win.
• Indiana State did not waste any time either as they promoted assistant Greg Lansing to the head coaching position.  Lansing was a strong candidate the last time the Sycamores had a vacancy four seasons ago before the hiring of McKenna.  The continuity will be important for Indiana State this season.
• Coaches on the Hot Seat—The Valley is an interesting place to be a coach.  If you do well, you get a promotion to the big conferences (Keno Davis, Mark Turgeon, Dana Altman, Bruce Weber, Matt Painter). If you struggle , do not meet fan expectations, or wear out your welcome, you are likely out of a job (Steve Merfeld, Porter Moser, Royce Waltman)  So it is not totally surprising that the coaches  with the longest active tenures,  Chris Lowery of Southern Illinois and Jim Les of Bradley,  are on the hot seat, though for different reasons.  Lowery has had to replicate the success that his predecessors, Bruce Weber and Matt Painter, established, and has struck out during the past two seasons with no postseason appearances and losing records.   In Les’ case, after taking Bradley to the Sweet 16 in 2007, the Braves have gradually lost ground, mustering just an NIT appearance in 2008 and a CBI appearance in 2009. They sat out the dance again last year and Braves fans are starting to get restless.
• MVC Tiebreaker Change—For years, the Valley used a special point system formula for seeding in the MVC tournament. It was unusual in that ties between teams who finished with identical conference were not separated by their head-to-head results.   Well, that is no more.  They have gone to a more simple formula of basing the tiebreaker on the non-conference strength of schedule for the schools involved.  This might be a subtle message to get the Valley schools to do some better scheduling, likely a reason behind the aforementioned NCAA Tournament struggles.

Ali Farokhmanesh is Gone, but UNI Isn't (AP/T. Gutierrez)

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1. It’s not often that you see a BCS-level coach leave his position for a mid-major job (even a very good one), but that’s what will happen today when Iowa State’s Greg McDermott takes over for the departed Dana Altman at Creighton.  McDermott was clearly on thin ice with a 59-68 (18-46 Big 12) record in four seasons in Ames and little prospect for improvement in the near future, so this has every hallmark of a pre-emptive strike.  McDermott of course was at Northern Iowa in the MVC for five years prior to taking the ISU job, and he did very well there, going to three straight NCAA Tournaments from 2004-06.  He said that one of the primary reasons he wanted to take the Creighton job was for an opportunity to coach his son, an incoming freshman who had signed with UNI but will be allowed to move on to Creighton to play for his dad.
2. As for Altman’s move to Oregon, it became official yesterday.  He’ll roughly double his annual salary to $1.8M per year in a seven-year contract that will include some seriously high expectations.  As we said before, though, we expect he’ll do very well there.  Gary Parrish and Jeff Goodman give their takes.
3. Good weekend in the Big 12 for a couple of Texas teams — Baylor picked up UCLA transfer center J’Mison Morgan, a talented but enigmatic player who never seemed to be able to find a role in Westwood; and the Horns got a commitment from highly touted point guard Cory Joseph, the #7 overall player on the Rivals rankings in 2010.
4. Well, DePaul’s Oliver Purnell is off to a rousing start with the Chicago Public League high school coaches.  You know, the ones who control all of the great talent coming out of that city every year.  We’re sure this is all going to work out famously.
5. Love this stuff.  A well-done photo montage from the 2009-10 season from CHJ.  What is your favorite?  Gotta say that the Randy Culpepper dunk attempt is ours, with the second-prize going to the Lebron photo at Kentucky.  Creepiest pic?  The Jon Scheyer one in the Carolina-bluish warmups.  Great stuff — check it out.

Patrick Sellars is the RTC correspondent for the Big 12 Conference.

Power Rankings 

1. Kansas (13-1, 27-2) – The bad news for Kansas fans is that you lost a conference game after a tremendous run. The good news is that you have seen this before, (a road loss to Oklahoma State) and last time the Jayhawks bounced back in a big way, winning the national championship.
2. Kansas State (11-3, 24-4) – Its still not out of the question for the Wildcats to share the conference title with KU.  The game Wednesday in Lawrence will be pretty intense, and KSU probably knows they will need to beat Kansas at least once (on Wednesday, or in the Big 12 Tournament) in order to have an argument for a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament.
3. Baylor (9-5, 22-6) – That was a huge week for Scott Drew and the Baylor Bears. They needed to hold home court against Texas A&M, which they did, and then go on the road and take care of business against the Sooners. Right now this is probably the last team I’d want to see on my side of the bracket if I was a top seed in the NCAA tournament. BU plays with fire and intensity that is even unmatched by most Big 12 teams, and that’s saying a lot.
4. Texas A&M (9-5, 20-8) – The Aggies, along with the Bears, are in really good shape for a top four seed in the conference tournament and grabbing that all-important first round bye. B.J. Holmes spraining his ankle will not help, but that’s why getting the bye is even more important for TAMU because they would like to give Holmes the extra day of rest and recovery.
5. Missouri (9-5, 21-8) – Losing Justin Safford to a torn ACL costs the Tigers size on the inside which they desperately need. I don’t see the loss of Safford being as important as losing one of their better scorers, but usually when you lose a veteran player late in the season it can demoralize your team. Mizzou should be fine with a guy like Mike Anderson at the helm, but right now they’re fighting very hard to improve their seed in the NCAA tournament and will miss Safford’s presence on the court.
6. Oklahoma State (8-6, 20-8) – The week didn’t start off well with a loss at Texas, but it certainly ended pretty well with their upset over KU. The team you saw on Saturday is definitely not the team that OSU brings every night, as it’s impossible to shoot that well every game, but we did see the Cowboys being more efficient with the basketball. They spread the scoring around even with James Anderson putting up 27 points. The most impressive stat of this game was that OSU outrebounded KU 34-26, that’s something most people never saw coming.
7. Texas (9-6, 23-7) – The Longhorns had a big scare when J’Covan Brown collided with B.J. Holmes in the second half of the game on Saturday. Texas can’t afford to lose a scoring guard especially this late in the season, but he made it back ok on Monday night’s game against Oklahoma.  The Horns will need to win this weekend at Baylor to give itself a shot at a top four seed in KC.
8. Colorado (4-10, 13-15) – Other than the atrocity that was the Mizzou vs. Colorado game on Wednesday night, where we saw CU quit in the first five minutes, the Buffaloes had a pretty good week, taking down Iowa State in Boulder on Saturday to notch their fourth conference win.  That’s the highest conference win total that CU has had since the 2005-06 season. So congratulations to Colorado, and hopefully they can continue to improve and make the whole conference stronger.
9. Texas Tech (4-10, 16-12) – Currently the coldest team in conference play, on a five-game losing streak, TTU will be looking to either upset Baylor at home or beat Colorado on the road this week in order to “right the ship” before the conference tournament starts. John Roberson (14.8 PPG, 5.3 APG) is probably one of the better point guards in the conference that no one talks about, and along with junior Mike Singletary they could lead this team to some upsets in the next two weeks.
10. Oklahoma (4-11, 13-16) – It looks like OU will be luck to get Willie Warren back at all this season. His draft stock has plummeted, so I guess it’s not entirely out of the question that he could skip the NBA draft and stay in Norman. However, it’s more than likely that OU will not have Warren next season, and Jeff Capel will start rebuilding this program.
11. Iowa State (3-11, 14-15) – The Cyclones will have a say in how the Big 12 standings sift out in this last week, and they could be the ultimate spoilers against Mizzou on Tuesday in Ames. More importantly I don’t think any ISU fans expected a possible last place finish this season, and it could be time head coach Greg McDermott is on the hot seat.
12. Nebraska (2-12, 14-15) – I give credit to this Nebraska team because they have not given up, they play every team very tough. However, they just don’t have the talent to compete in the Big 12 right now.  Brian Diaz and Christian Standhardinger, two foreign freshman forwards, will be good for NU in the future. So at least there is something to look forward to on the hard court in Lincoln. But hey, the women’s team is undefeated.

Team of the Week: Baylor Bears – The Bears desperately needed to beat Texas A&M in order to maintain a shot at a top four seed in the conference tournament. BU took care of business and now they’re back in the top 25.  This week has two potential wins for Baylor, who can move as high as second place because they have the tiebreaker over Kansas State.

Player of the Week: Matt Pilgrim F Oklahoma State (8-8 FG, 2-2 FT, 6 REB) – that was Pilgrim’s line against Kansas. He is averaging just over 8 PPG on the season, so I give him Player of the Week honors for stepping up against the big competition. If OSU can get production from him like this in the tournament they will be a very hard team to beat.

This Week’s Predictions

Tuesday March 2

• Colorado at Nebraska (8:00 PM ET) – Both teams are coming off rare wins in conference play, so there isn’t really a “hot” team to pick in this matchup. I like the Buffaloes because they have a lot more talent in their two star guards, Alec Burks and Cory Higgins, than NU has in their starting lineup.

Winner: Colorado

• Missouri at Iowa State (8:00 PM ET) – The Cyclones will be looking to play spoiler in this matchup. They played Mizzou tough in Columbia so I expect they will do the same in Ames. Marquis Gilstrap had one of his better conference games against MU, so look for him to be a huge factor in this game. Overall, this is not a good matchup for the Tigers but Mike Anderson doesn’t usually let his team lose two games in a row, especially to a team with less talent.

Winner: Missouri

• Baylor at Texas Tech (8:00 PM ET) – The Bears know that they will get Texas Tech’s best shot, especially now that BU is ranked. TTU has played many teams tough at home, regardless of how overmatched they may be, and I don’t think this game with be an exception. However, Baylor has the “Big Three,” LaceDarius Dunn, Ekpe Udoh and Tweety Carter.

Winner: Baylor

Wednesday March 3

• Kansas State at Kansas (8:00 PM ET ESPN360) – If you don’t have ESPN360, find a friend with it and go to his house for this matchup. Kansas State is now officially the hottest team in the Big 12, going up against a KU team that is probably demoralized after getting blown out in Stillwater. Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente are probably my favorite guard duo to watch in the country, and I also enjoy watching Xavier Henry’s silky smooth shot from behind the arc. If you’re a true college basketball fan you will find some way to watch this game, because it is one of the better matchups of the whole season. Kansas knows if they beat their rival they lock up the Big 12 regular season title, and KSU knows their only chance at sharing the title is to upset the Jayhawks in Lawrence, which just doesn’t happen.

Winner: Kansas

• Oklahoma State at Texas A&M (9:00 PM ET ESPN2) – The fact is without B.J. Holmes, A&M is not the same team. Last time these teams played the Cowboys came out on top, and this time I think they will get the best of the Aggies again. Donald Sloan and Bryan Davis are a tremendous inside-outside duo for A&M, but it won’t be enough to stop James Anderson and company.

Winner: Oklahoma State

Saturday March 6

• Texas A&M at Oklahoma (12 PM ET ESPN) – The Aggies will be looking for redemption against a different Oklahoma team in Norman. There will be a lot of fans on hand for this game, but the excitement level of the crowd remains to be seen. It’s hard to cheer on a team that has suspended three players and their “star” is most likely out for the year with a sickness. Tommy Mason-Griffin is the new leader at OU, but I don’t think he’s ready to lead his team to an upset of this caliber. TAMU knows they need a win to clinch a top four spot in the conference, and Mark Turgeon will make sure his guys are ready to play on Saturday.

Winner: Texas A&M

• Nebraska at Oklahoma State (1:30 PM ET) – I’m not a liar, so I won’t say that the Cornhuskers have much of a chance in this game. It is going to be James Anderson’s last game in Stillwater, and look for him to put on a show in his “curtain call.”

Winner: Oklahoma State

• Kansas at Missouri (2 PM ET CBS) – It’s always a great environment when these two rivals play. Last season, Zaire Taylor hit a game winner in Columbia and the Mizzou fans rushed the court (both teams were ranked in the top 20 so it was hardly an upset), which shows how intense this rivalry is on both sides. KU will again be looking to put MU in its place, and since the Tigers have absolutely no answer for Cole Aldrich I like Kansas to win this one easily.

Winner: Kansas

• Texas Tech at Colorado (4 PM ET) – This will most likely be the battle for eighth place in the conference. Colorado fans want to see as many wins out of their Buffs as possible this season, and I think they will pleased on Saturday. Colorado will have its best week since they upset Baylor, and finish at 6-10 in conference play.

Winner: Colorado

• Texas at Baylor (4 PM ET ESPN) – Baylor has lost at least one game every week they show up in the rankings. I don’t think this week will be any different as the Longhorns will come into Waco and upset the Bears. It took Baylor overtime to upset Texas in Austin, so we all know we’re in store for a great basketball game.

Winner: Texas

• Iowa State at Kansas State (6 PM ET)– Craig Brackins had his best game of the season against KSU in their first matchup. I like Brackins to have another great game, but the Wildcats will come out on top to clinch second place in the conference.

Winner: Kansas State

Patrick Marshall of Bluejay Basketball is the RTC correspondent for the Big 12 and Missouri Valley Conferences.

Current Records and My Standings (Conference Standings) (Last Week)

1. Oklahoma (25-2)(11-1) (1)
2. Missouri (23-4) (10-2) (2)
3. Kansas (22-5)(11-1) (3)
4. Kansas St. (19-8) (7-5)(4)
5. Texas (18-8) (7-5) (5)
6. Oklahoma St. (17-9) (6-6) (8)
7. Nebraska (16-9) (6-6) (6)
8. Texas A&M (19-9) (5-7) (9)
9. Baylor (16-10) (4-8) (7)
10. Texas Tech (13-14) (3-9)(10)
11. Iowa St. (13-14) (2-10) (11)
12. Colorado (8-16) (1-11) (12)

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Patrick Marshall of Bluejay Basketball is the RTC correspondent for the Big 12 and Missouri Valley Conferences.

Current Records and my standings (Conference Standings) (Last Week)

1. Oklahoma (21-1)(7-0) (1)
2. Kansas (17-4)(6-0) (3)
3. Missouri (18-4) (5-2) (4)
4. Texas (15-5) (4-2) (2)
5. Texas A&M (17-5) (3-4) (7)
6. Baylor (15-6) (3-4) (5)
7. Nebraska (13-7) (3-4) (9)
8. Kansas St. (14-7) (3-4)(11)
9. Oklahoma St. (13-7) (2-4) (6)
10. Iowa St. (12-9) (1-5) (10)
11. Texas Tech (11-10) (1-5)(8)
12. Colorado (8-10) (1-5) (12)

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Patrick Marshall of Bluejay Basketball is the RTC correspondent for the Missouri Valley and Big 12 Conferences.

Current Records and my standings (Last Week):

1. Oklahoma (11-0) (1)
2. Baylor (9-1) (3)
3. Texas A&M (10-1) (5)
4. Texas (8-2) (2)
5. Missouri (9-1)  (4)
6. Kansas (8-2) (6)
7. Texas Tech (8-3) (7)
8. Kansas St. (8-3) (8)
9. Oklahoma St. (8-3) (11)
10. Nebraska (7-2) (9)
11. Iowa St. (7-3) (10)
12. Colorado (5-3) (12)

Most teams only played one game this week.  The holidays are a little slow for the Big 12 teams.  However what is starting to show is that this conference is wide open and it will be a  battle once conference play starts.  Oklahoma looks a little above the rest, but not much.

TEAM OF THE WEEK

Texas A&M (3-0 this week)—Texas A&M is starting to make me a believer, winning 3 more games this week to move to 10-1.  With some solid wins now over Arizona, Alabama, and an undefeated LSU team, this team is building itself quite a resume.    Things are definitely going their way as they almost got themselves in a position to lose the LSU game, but a controversial call late in the game led to an LSU technical and A&M sealed the win.  They should get a win over Sam Houston St. this week.

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Patrick Marshall of Bluejay Basketball is the RTC correspondent for the Big 12 and Missouri Valley Conferences.

Current Records and my standings (Last Week)

1. Oklahoma (10-0) (1)
2. Texas (8-1) (3)
3. Baylor (8-1) (2)
4. Missouri (8-1)  (5)
5. Texas A&M (7-1) (7)
6. Kansas (7-2) (4)
7. Texas Tech (7-2) (6)
8. Kansas St. (7-3) (9)
9. Nebraska (6-2) (8)
10. Iowa St. (6-3) (10)
11. Oklahoma St. (6-3) (11)
12. Colorado (4-3) (12)

This has been a slow week for the Big 12.  Finals are upon us, so just a few games and updates this week.

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Patrick Marshall of Bluejay Basketball is the RTC correspondent for the Missouri Valley and Big 12 Conferences.

Predicted Order of Finish:

1. Texas   (27-3, 14-2)
2. Kansas  (24-7, 14-2)
3. Oklahoma  (27-5, 13-3)
4. Baylor  (25-5, 12-4)
5. Oklahoma St.  (19-11, 8-8)
6. Texas A&M  (19-12, 7-9)
7. Nebraska  (18-11, 7-9)
8. Missouri  (18-13, 6-10)
9. Kansas St.  (18-13, 6-10)
10. Iowa St.  (16-16, 3-13)
11. Texas Tech  (15-16, 3-13)
12. Colorado  (14-16, 3-13)

What You Need to Know.  Although Kansas won the National Championship last season in dramatic fashion, most of the team won’t be around to try to do the repeat shuffle like Florida did the previous two seasons.  However, that doesn’t mean the Big 12 Conference won’t have an exciting season in the wings.  The buzz around the Big 12 is that sophomore Blake Griffin from Oklahoma (who passed on the NBA, unlike is KU peers) decided to stay another year at Oklahoma to try to lead his team to a championship.  Griffin has already been mentioned for several preseason All-American teams and awards.  Texas returns a great nucleus of talent on a team that tied for the conference championship last year with Kansas.  Baylor is the biggest surprise coming into the season.  Head Coach  Scott Drew has brought this disgraced program back from the ashes a few years ago when Patrick Dennehy was murdered by teammate Carlton Dotson and information was later covered up by then head coach Dave Bliss. Baylor made the NCAA Tournament last season for the first time in twenty years.   Iowa State and Texas A&M are led by former Missouri Valley Conference coaches, Greg McDermott and Mark Turgeon, respectively.  Although Kansas State made a splash back into the national spotlight showcasing Michael Beasley and Bill Walker, they’ll now take a step back into the pack, but with the salaries of their coaches including their assistants, they should be held to high expectations.  Nebraska will be playing small ball this year as they do not have a player over 6’8, but it isn’t like they haven’t tried.  Missouri is still trying to find its identity and coach Mike Anderson hopes to finally play his type of up-tempo, high pressure defense.  Although only in his third year at the helm, Anderson is on the hot seat.  Colorado has a lot to build on with mostly freshman and sophomores.  Texas Tech got a little head start when legendary coach Bobby Knight passed the keys to his son Pat Knight at the end of last season, while first year coach Travis Ford restarts the Oklahoma State program after the Sutton family was ousted. 

Predicted Champion.  Texas (NCAA #1).  Although Texas  hoped DJ Augustin wouldn’t leave Austin for the NBA, he did.  The Horns return four of five starters, though, (AJ Abrams, Conner Atchley, Damion James and Justin Mason) and most of the team that made it last season to the Elite Eight.  AJ Abrams can hit a shot quickly and from anywhere.  He is the top returning scorer in the Big 12 (16.5 ppg).  Without Augustin, Texas will be relying on Dogus Balbay to run the point.  Unfortunately, Balbay is returning from an injury and played on a Turkish club team with players who received money.  However, Abrams is also an option at point guard and feels confident that he can run the team.  The frontcourt is solid with veterans James (12/10 last season) and Atchley.  Height doesn’t always equal playing ability, but when you have four players on the roster that are over 6’10”  (Atchley, Clint Chapman, Dexter Pittman and Matt Hill) they have the ability to be physical underneath.  The thing that sets Texas apart from the other Big 12 teams is their NCAA Tournament and coaching experience compared to the other contenders.  I expect Texas to take it a step further this year and make a Final Four appearance. 

NCAA Tournament Teams.

• Kansas (NCAA #4). Some might think that I am crazy for predicting Kansas to finish second in the Big 12 this season with only 2 players coming back with significant playing time (Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich).  Kansas will have seven newcomers to the program and some will be expected to be big players right away including juco All-American Mario Little, freshman twins Markieff and Marcus Morris and freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor.  Expect that there will be some growing pains.  However, Kansas is a beneficiary in scheduling, not only during the non-conference season, but in the Big 12 schedule as well.  The Jayhawks are participating in the CBE Classic that has them playing preliminary games at home and the semis/finals in Kansas City which is also basically at home.  Then in Big 12 play, they play the North schedule which means that they’ll play at Baylor and at Oklahoma only once, play Texas in Lawrence, while those three South teams have to play each other twice.  Playing at Allen Fieldhouse is not an easy task which makes their schedule amenable to success.  The Jayhawks will lose some early non-conference games and probably games they should not, but will be solid come conference and post-season time. The main cogs of the team that won the National Championship last year played together as freshmen and struggled early, but turned out to be one of the big stories as the season went along.  Similarly to that group, this season I see KU only getting past the first round of the NCAAs. 
• Oklahoma (NCAA #5).  The media has picked Oklahoma to win the conference, Blake Griffin to be POY and Willie Warren to be the ROY. Warren was the leading scorer in the McDonalds All-American game and can seriously dunk.  If you want to see some of the talent Warren has to offer, check out this dunk.   Along with Griffin and talented freshman Warren, the rest of the team will be full of role players.  With so much of the focus on Griffin and Warren, that means that several other players need to step up their play to give Oklahoma additional options along with those two gifted players.  One of those players that might make an impact is 6’9” UCLA transfer Ryan Wright.  Jeff Capel is a capable coach, but his 3rd year in the conference will keep them from winning the conference.  However, expectations are high and I expect Oklahoma to reach the Sweet 16. 
• Baylor (NCAA #6).  Baylor is a team that returns its top eight scorers from last season led by Curtis Jerrells (15.3 ppg).  They were the Big 12’s highest scoring team and who could forget the epic non-televised 5 OT game with Texas A&M last season.  Kevin Rogers, LaceDarius Dunn and Henry Dugat are scoring machines that provide a depth of experience.  A senior-laden team, Scott Drew has built this team from scratch and is creating dividends by making he NCAA Tournament for the first time in two decades. But Baylor will not win the conference because their defense is suspect and their frontcourt will need to improve.  However, they tasted the feeling of the NCAA Tournament and got knocked out right away, but it will be different this year and I expect that they will make the Tourney again and at least win one game. 
• Oklahoma St. (NCAA #7).  The Cowboys still have enough in the cupboard to make it to the NCAA Tournament even though they will break in first-year coach Travis Ford.  They are a little thin on the inside but return their leading scorer, James Anderson, and 80% of their scoring.  Having an up-tempo style that Ford likes to run will help minimize the frontcourt deficiencies.  They should do well enough to make it to the NCAAs, but will probably be bounced in the first round.
• Texas A&M (NCAA #9).  Mark Turgeon in his 2nd year will be able to make one more run with the players that Billy Gillispie left behind before heading to Kentucky.  It remains to be seen if Turgeon will be able to recruit the right players to fit into playing in the Big 12.  Coming from the Valley, it is a big transition to try recruiting the right players for the large conference schools (note:  Bruce Weber (Illinois), Matt Painter (Purdue), Greg McDermott (Iowa St.)).  Though I see A&M sneaking into the NCAAs, this team could very well find itself in the NIT next March. 
• Nebraska (NCAA #12).  Nebraska will be playing small ball this year and more in the up-tempo style that Doc Sadler would like to play, but the lack of an inside presence and a weak non-conference schedule will put them squarely on the bubble of the NCAA tournament.  This team could realistically have only one loss coming into conference play.  It has everyone coming back except for Aleks Maric who was their productive center, but even the newcomers were around the team and know the system as four players redshirted last season.  Having the confidence-building games will bring Nebraska into conference play on a high and they’ll benefit by playing in the North division, but they will struggle when they have a stretch of four games against South teams and Kansas. However, the Huskers will surprise some people this year, finish 7th in the conference and sneak into the NCAAs as one of the last at-large bids.

NIT Teams. 

• Missouri (NIT).  The pieces appear to be in place in Columbia for the Missouri Tigers to start making some strides to return to the spotlight again but the depth is not there to run a full court, high pressure defense for Mike Anderson’s system to be completely successful.  They will have some success early in the season, but they will be tired by the time they get to conference play and will fall off from the picture.  They will be the last team into the NIT. 
• Kansas St. (NIT/CBI).  Michael Beasley and Bill Walker are not there anymore so this team will have some significant challenges to replace those players.  They have a somewhat soft non-conference schedule except for the Las Vegas Invitational which will build up their win total, but will fall short in the Big 12 race to be considered for the NCAAs.  If they do not do well enough for the NIT, they will be in the CBI for the postseason.

Others.

• Iowa St.  Greg McDermott is still getting his feet wet in his 3rd year as the roster has had a total turnover in the past two seasons (seven new players last year and another six this year).  Like Turgeon, it is hard to tell if he’s getting the right recruits to compete in the Big 12.
• Texas Tech.  Although Pat Knight received the keys to the team mid-season last year, this team will struggle as they try to find their identity and whether they decide to implement a whole new scheme or keep with what Bobby Knight established and the players that were recruited for his scheme. 
• Colorado.  Jeff Bzdelik is in year two of a total rebuild of this team, as eight players have left the team since Bzdelik arrived in Boulder in 2007.  They will probably start several freshman who will be overwhelmed.  Their offense is yet to be established as they try to run clock to keep the score in the 50s.  There are too many things going against the Buffs from being a factor this year.

Important Games.  The Big 12 has a great advantage in that they are key players in several major exempt tournaments this year that they can make a splash in:

• Texas—Maui Invitiational
• Oklahoma—Preseason NIT
• Baylor—Anaheim 76 Classic
• Kansas—CBE Classic
• Oklahoma St—Old Spice Classic
• Kansas St.—Las Vegas Invitational
• Colorado (Rainbow Classic)
• Missouri (Puerto Rico Tipoff)
• Texas Tech (Legends Classic)
• Texas A&M (South Padre)

Also some great non-conference matchups as a part of the PAC-10/Big 12 Challenge:

• Oklahoma vs. USC  (12.04.08)
• Texas vs. UCLA  (12.04.08)
• Kansas @ Arizona  (12.23.08)

It is always a chore to get a large conference school to go on the road to play on a smaller team’s home court, but here are the road tests the Big 12 is taking on this year (not neutral site):

• Nebraska @ TCU  (11.19.08)
• Kansas St. @ Cleveland St.  (11.22.08)
• Iowa St. @ Northern Iowa  (12.03.08)
• Texas Tech @ Lamar  (12.13.08)
• Oklahoma St. @ Texas A&M-CC  (12.14.08)
• Texas Tech @ UTEP  (12.17.08)
• Iowa St.  @ Houston  (12.18.08)
• Oklahoma @ Rice  (12.22.08)
• Texas A&M @ Rice  (12.31.08)
• Colorado @ SMU  (01.05.09)

Conference Key Games.  These games will decide the conference champ:

• Texas @ Oklahoma  (01.12.09)
• Baylor @ Oklahoma  (01.24.09)
• Texas @ Baylor  (01.27.09)
• Kansas @ Baylor  (02.02.09)
• Oklahoma @ Baylor  (02.11.09)
• Oklahoma @ Texas  (02.21.09)
• Kansas @ Oklahoma  (02.23.09)
• Baylor @ Texas  (03.02.09)
• Texas @ Kansas  (03.07.09)

Neat-O Stats.

• 4-The number of 20-win seasons in Baylor’s 102-year history.
• 5-Texas is one of just one of five schools to advance to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament in four of the last six years (Duke, UConn, Kansas, Pitt)
• 51-4—This is Kansas’ record in the last 55 games dating back to 2006-07 when Kansas lost to UCLA in the Elite Eight.  Their only losses since then leading up to their NCAA Championship last year were to Texas, Kansas St. and Oklahoma St. last season. 

65 Team Era.  The teams in this conference are a combined 268-222 in the NCAA Tournament with 35 Final Four appearances and five National Championships.  As the Big 12 conference, their first National Championship was with Kansas last season (the others were as the Big 8, which merged into the Big 12 in 1996-97).  The conference’s record in this era is 161-112 (.590), which puts it roughly on par with the SEC as a major conference.  Where the league has struggled (until last year, of course) was winning national titles.  Only KU in 1998 and 2008 have won championships during this era. 

Final Thoughts.  The Big 12 will be a top heavy league this year and in some minds might be down compared to years past.  It will have four strong teams that will easily make the NCAA tournament and then there is a log jam between 5-9 on who will step up to either make the NCAA or settle for the NIT for the post season.  It will be interesting to see if Texas will finally outlive the hype that is given to them each year to make it to the Final Four and be in line to play for the National Championship.  Oklahoma is poised to make a run, but if Griffin gets hurt, will they still be able to win games?   It will be interesting to see how Kansas does after winning the championship the year before but losing so much to not be considered able to repeat.  With 10 of the 12 teams in the conference participating in high profile early season tournaments, the Big 12’s season will be defined on how those teams do in those tournaments.  If they are successful, then they will be the talk of this basketball season.  If they fail miserably, expect them to get fewer teams into the Big Dance than they have the last few years.