In the aftermath of Saturday’s epic finish between Missouri and Kansas, discussion in the mainstream media has focused on everything from the officiating to the drama of the Border War/SEC controversy. Out in the always-entertaining Twitter world, established analysts like Jay Bilas and Doug Gottlieb have criticized late-game foul calls tilted in Kansas’ favor, and just about every outlet has run a story begging the Jayhawks to continue the series despite Missouri’s departure from the Big 12.

Thomas Robinson Certainly Looked Like the Player of the Year on Saturday (photo by AP)

It seems they’re talking about absolutely everything except for the actual basketball game. And, for the record, the actual basketball game was pretty darn appealing to the national college basketball audience. We can quibble about how Missouri blew a 19-point lead and we can argue about how vulnerable Kansas looked during that atrocious stretch at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second. Regardless of all that negativity, it was obvious from the opening tip that this was an even matchup between two elite teams. The first five minutes set the tone: Kansas and Missouri each threw a first punch, matching the other basket for basket. Mistakes were limited. Defense was top-notch on both ends. It was simply two terrific basketball teams playing as hard as possible in a game that mattered so much — for so many reasons.

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We’ll remember this date: February 25, 2012. The day the Border War ended. The day Missouri and Kansas played their 267th and final game against each other. The day more than 100 years of hatred ended, the day the 2012 Big 12 Championship may be decided and the day that determined eternal bragging rights.

It’s a big day. The biggest ever at Allen Fieldhouse? That’s a tough call, according to coach Bill Self. From the Lawrence-Journal World:

“No, probably not,” Self said, asked if it was the biggest home game in his tenure at KU. “We’ve had other games where we had to win that game to win the league. In fans’ minds and our players’ minds since they beat us the first time when we felt we had them down the stretch, I believe it’s probably in everybody else’s minds, maybe other than the coaches’, the biggest game we’ve had.”

Bill Self This Isn't the Biggest Game at AFH History, But He Understands Why It's Touted That Way

Define the game however you’d like. At the very least, it’s a top five matchup between two teams vying for a Big 12 regular-season championship at one of college basketball’s most historic venues. Yet just about everybody is writing the Tigers off at Allen Fieldhouse, perhaps for rational reasons. They haven’t won in Lawrence in 13 years — January 24, 1999, to be exact, when point guard Brian Grawer scored 18 points and the Tigers limited arch-enemy Ryan Robertson to 1-10 shooting. Unless you’re a Kansas or Missouri fan, you’ve either never heard of those players or faintly remember their names simply because you followed college basketball at the time. That’s how long its been since Missouri last won a road game against Kansas, and it will have a difficult time handling the energy of the home crowd in the Border War finale on Saturday.

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Brian Otskey is the Big East correspondent for RTC and a regular contributor. You can find him @botskey on Twitter. See bottom of the post for the Official RTC Star System.

Somewhat unbelievably, the second-to-last regular season Saturday is upon us. Plenty of big time and bubble games are on the schedule as the stretch run really heats up.

#3 Missouri @ #4 Kansas – 4:00 PM EST Saturday on CBS (*****)

• The final Border War game promises to be another terrific display of basketball between two top five teams that really don’t care for one another. Missouri won the first meeting between these teams, but to do it again it will have to defend at a higher level. Both teams shot over 50% at Mizzou Arena three weeks ago, but Kansas has been the better defensive team all season long. Now playing at home in virtually impenetrable Allen Fieldhouse, the Jayhawks have to like their chances in this one. Kansas has a huge rebounding and size advantage in the paint with Thomas Robinson and Jeff Withey going up against Ricardo Ratliffe. While Ratliffe is a great finisher around the bucket, he was held to six points in the first meeting, limited by foul trouble in only 20 minutes of action. Kansas can neutralize Ratliffe and force Missouri to make shots. Missouri hit 10 threes in the first meeting, led by Marcus Denmon’s six. Kansas will have to tighten up a three point defense that ranks #173 nationally in order to prevent that from happening again.
  

  Can Denmon & The Tigers Rebound?

• Denmon’s 29-point effort against Kansas on February 4 lifted him out of a slump and his high level of play has continued since then. Denmon and Kim English have to make shots or else Kansas will have a significant edge in this game. The Jayhawks should be dominant inside with Robinson going against Ratliffe with Withey by his side. Kansas is one of the best teams in the nation in two point percentage. Defensively, Bill Self has to be worried about the three point line. While Kansas is a very efficient defensive team, they can be beaten from the arc. Missouri is certainly a team capable of doing that as it moves the ball well and has a multitude of deep threats lining the perimeter. Frank Haith needs a good game at point guard out of Phil Pressey, otherwise Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor could take over the game quickly as they did against Baylor at the Phog. Taylor has had an outstanding senior season but is vulnerable to turnovers. Look for Missouri to target him defensively in order to prevent him from getting into a rhythm and setting up the Jayhawk offense.
•  The big question mark here is can Missouri defend at a high level against an elite opponent on the road? The Tigers are last in the Big 12 in three point defense and their overall efficiency rating leaves a lot to be desired. Kansas is going to get its points inside but is not a particularly great outside shooting team. However, Taylor poses a big threat and must be held in check if Missouri is going to beat Kansas in a place where almost nobody wins. Until proven otherwise, we can’t pick against the Jayhawks in such an emotionally charged game as this one.

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1. Too bad Missouri couldn’t follow Bill Self‘s advice. Like any seasoned coach, he’s keeping his team in check before the final Border War game on Saturday by focusing on Texas A&M first. The Tigers, of course, fell victim to Kansas State on Tuesday night, taking a little luster off the matchup this weekend. Still, it will essentially determine the Big 12 regular-season championship, and if Kansas takes care of business against the Aggies it will be in the driver’s seat. Lose that game, though, and they are in the same boat as Missouri.
2. Who’s responsible for Jeff Withey‘s hot streak lately? In a lot of ways, it’s Withey himself since he is finally playing to his potential. Bill Self can also take a lot of credit for building him from scratch and developing him over the course of a few seasons. But what about Danny Manning‘s role? Apparently, the former Jayhawk star and current assistant has served as a mentor and teacher to Withey this season. Not a bad guy to take advice from.
3. Texas‘ NCAA Tournament hopes are dwindling by the second, especially after a home loss to Baylor on Monday. The Longhorns still have a chance to win at the Phog to pick up a signature win against Kansas, but that’s a tall task as we all know. This article takes an interesting angle on the matter, though. Is anyone all that upset about Rick Barnes‘ failure to make the NCAAs this season, barring a late surge? According to this particular writer, Barnes is “fighting the indifference that can swallow this sport in this state.” That’s always been a problem in Austin, but for the first time during his tenure, we’re seeing a Barnes team in danger of playing in the NIT.
4. Royce White has made a name for himself with both his play and his mohawk this season, but behind the scenes he has dealt with a lot of adversity. In this digital age especially, we idolize players and make them into heroes on the basketball court, forgetting their human sides sometimes. White has fought an anxiety disorder for years and takes medication for the issue, something you would never be able to tell by watching his graceful play from the stands or on television. This Des Moines Register article also helps put his arrest at Minnesota in perspective, giving the other side of the story from White’s perspective.
5. Oklahoma would be elated to make the NIT at this point, but forward Romero Osby has bigger plans. As he points out, Osby played for Mississippi State in 2009 when it won the SEC Tournament to earn an auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament, shaking off a somewhat lackluster regular season. That Bulldogs team was a little better than these Sooners, but the sentiment remains. If Oklahoma can figure out how to play like it did during stretches of November and December– albeit against weaker competition– maybe there’s something to Osby’s optimism.

Steve Fetch is the RTC correspondent for the Big 12. You can also find his musings online at Rock Chalk Talk or on Twitter @fetch9.

Reader’s Take

The Week That Was

• Baylor Falls At Home: Baylor had only lost conference games to Kansas and Missouri, but that changed with a one-point loss at home against Kansas State. Despite Wildcat freshman Angel Rodriguez traveling on an easy layup, Baylor could not win on its last possession when freshman Quincy Miller missed a shot with just seconds left. Baylor didn’t score in the final two minutes of the game, and had a couple of possessions marred by some physical play that went uncalled. The loss drops the Bears into a tie with Iowa State for third in the league.
• Can The Jayhawks Make A Deep Run?: One of the tenets in picking a national champion is finding a team that is ranked in the KenPom top ten in both offensive and defensive efficiency. At this point, only two teams meet these criteria: Kentucky and Kansas. The Jayhawks are tenth in adjusted offense and fourth in adjusted defense, giving them the ability to play with any team in the nation. Though its offense has been concentrated in Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor (and lately Jeff Withey), the Jayhawks have good defenders all over the floor, which is exactly how Bill Self likes it. Considering the perception of Kansas coming into the season after losing the Morris twins, Self’s team has come a long way.
• A Banner Day In Stillwater: Oklahoma State’s Keiton Page had the game of his career, scoring a career-high 40 points in a win over Texas. Page was efficient from the field, going 4-6 from two and 4-8 from three, but he was fantastic from the line, getting to the charity stripe 20 times and making every last one. Page’s shooting percentages have dropped a bit this year as he’s had to take a more active role in the offense, but Saturday was a reminder of what shooting skill the senior has.

Phil Pressey And The Tigers Keep Their Eyes On The Prize As They Battle Kansas In Lawrence This Saturday. (US Presswire)

Power Rankings

1. Missouri (25-2, 12-2): Missouri has the best offense in the country (by a good margin), but its defense has been just mediocre. The Tigers are now fourth in the Big 12 in defensive efficiency, and have allowed over a point per possession in five of their last six games. Hosting a Kansas State team that struggles to score should give Frank Haith’s crew an opportunity to tighten up its defense.
2. Kansas (18-5, 8-2): Kansas has never lost to Texas Tech in Allen Fieldhouse, winning this year’s edition by 33 points. Four Jayhawks scored in double figures, including Conner Teahan, who made three of his five threes, which is a huge key for the Jayhawks if they want to advance far in the NCAA Tournament. Probably the player who most delighted the home crowd, though, was walk-on Jordan Juenemann, who scored a career-high 7 points in the waning minutes. Read the rest of this entry »

Big 12 Alley-Oops and Airballs is a weekly article examining what’s hot and what’s not in Big 12 basketball.

Just like that, it’s a two-team conference title race. Missouri ran Baylor out of Mizzou Arena, and continued their hot shooting against Oklahoma State on Wednesday. Across the border, Kansas escaped the Octagon of Doom with a win over Kansas State, two days after easily defeating the Pokes from Oklahoma State. Kansas and Missouri are tied for first in the Big 12, both boasting an 11-2 conference record. Missouri is ranked #3, while Kansas is ranked #4. Missouri has the better overall record at 24-2, but Kansas has the higher strength of schedule. Next weekend is the last Border War. Needless to say, it’s going to be a good time.

Jeff Withey (5) and I Share A Birthday. That's About It. (AP)

Alley-Oops

• Runnin’ From the Bubble: This alley-oop one-liner is required to be read aloud in your best Van Halen voice. While the Big 12 has been blessed to have three teams considered to be NCAA Tournament “locks” from the dawn of this season’s bracketology, they’ve been lucky to have three more teams in the race for a bid, as well. More importantly, these three teams — Iowa State, Texas, and Kansas State — have been doing a very good job avoiding their bubble bursting. Texas has won four games in a row, Iowa State has moved to fourth place in the Big 12 standings, and Kansas State continues to win the games they’re supposed to. I wouldn’t be surprised one bit to see six Big 12 teams in the Tournament. Read the rest of this entry »

1. Jeff Withey has arrived. From his early days as a transfer from Arizona and a project at the center position, Withey has now emerged late this winter as a terrific second option to Thomas Robinson in the frontcourt. It’s been an interesting transformation to watch, especially because he became lost in the shuffle behind the Morris twins last season. Once a stud recruit out of high school, Withey has finally learned to play at this level. This won’t be the last article we read about him.
2. Take this one, for example, which compares Withey to Jeremy Lin. That’s pretty high praise, but it’s not all that far off the mark. Sure, Lin’s production has been historic, but Withey’s also somewhat of a feel-good story out of nowhere. Plus, according to the article, they apparently once appeared in the same building in California six years ago. Unfortunately for Withey, they never actually met, but he’s getting his own Linsanity treatment at Kansas. “Walking on campus, everybody wants to talk to you,” WIthey said. “You definitely try to stay humble.”
3. Just one more Kansas article to pass along here: how many different awards could this Kansas team win? Thomas Robinson just might be the Player of the Year, Tyshawn Taylor‘s in the conversation for all kinds of accolades, Bill Self could win Coach of the Year, and Withey is making a name for himself as well. Self is the most interesting case here. He even admitted himself before the season he was concerned about the talent level on this team, but do we give him credit for, say, Robinson’s emergence as a POY candidate?
4. For any Missouri fans still reading through all the Jayhawk talk, here’s a look at the Tigers move to the SEC from a financial standpoint. Apparently, Missouri still needs to pay its exit fees though that should not be a problem here in the near future. The most intriguing part of the article is the Big 12’s benefit from the Tigers despite their departure. If Missouri makes a deep run in the NCAA Tournament in 2012 and brings in major revenue, the conference will see that money even after it leaves for the SEC. That’s not a bad deal for the Big 12… not at all.
5. Rick Barnes has established a winning program at Texas by making 13 straight NCAA Tournaments. His 2011-12 team has overcome a roadblock to put itself in position for another at-large bid, but the Longhorns haven’t won in typical Barnes fashion. For starters, they’re playing their best basketball late instead of early. More strikingly, this team is different because, frankly, it does not have major NBA-ready talent on the roster. Sure, Myck Kabongo, J’Covan Brown, and a few others have serious pro potential somewhere down the line, but T.J. Ford isn’t walking through the door.

1. With another Big 12 title within reach, one Kansas writer claims Elijah Johnson may need to be a catalyst down the stretch for the Jayhawks. With Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor playing at an All-Big 12 level and Jeff Withey emerging lately, it’s easy to forget about Johnson’s role on this team. Still, his skill set and versatility could really help the Jayhawks once the NCAA Tournament rolls around, and he’s also not an easy matchup for anybody at 6’4”.
2. Thomas Robinson looked like a runaway favorite for the Big 12 Player of the Year at one point, and he’s still a heavy favorite. In the national race, he’s also a primary contender. Missouri’s beat writer isn’t buying Robinson anymore from a national standpoint, however. Sure, he’s probably a bit biased as a writer based in Columbia, Missouri, but he makes a decent argument for Anthony Davis as the NPOY. Robinson’s play has overshadowed his teammates for most of the year, but Taylor and Withey are beginning to emerge as secondary threats, thus stealing his thunder a little bit. Still, although Davis is the nation’s best shot-blocker, Robinson has to be considered one of the the best rebounders in America. And that has to count for something, right?
3. You’ve probably seen this story by now, but it’s worth a re-post: Apparently, a young Kansas State fan is already protesting the Kansas Jayhawks’ mascot at an early age. For Missouri fans and Wildcats supporters, this story is adorable, and for the rest of the country it’s at worst a cute little anecdote. KU fans probably aren’t thrilled with her parents’ decision to raise her as a Kansas State fan, though.
4. Conference realignment has destroyed two old Big 12 rivalries by breaking up Missouri/Kansas and Texas/Texas A&M, and most of the blame lies with the SEC’s decision to expand. Not much has been made, though, of the Big 12’s role in destroying rivalries from other conferences. Take the Backyard Brawl, for example. Pittsburgh and West Virginia‘s future non-conference rivalry is in doubt, though Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins said he would be “shocked” if the series was not extended. Let’s not forget that the ACC also pulled Pitt from this rivalry, too, so this isn’t the same sort of one-sided situation as, say, the Border War. Still, the future Big 12 could really benefit from a Backyard Brawl non-conference rivalry.
5. Texas has taken care of business against inferior opponents. Now, it has a chance to lock up a 14th-straight NCAA bid with a critical five-game stretch to finish out the regular seaosn. The Longhorns should be favored in three of them, but the swing games vs. Baylor and at Kansas will determine Texas’ ultimate at-large chances. Win both of those games and Rick Barnes is dancing once again — 1-1 might get it done; 0-2 probably won’t.

While many pundits and fans are examining what the bubble teams need to do to reach the NCAA tournament, we at RTC Big 12 have our eyes set elsewhere. Today, I’ll examine what the Big 12 teams that are a lock for the NCAA Tournament need to do before they tip off in March. After all, the purpose of the Tournament is not to just make it, but to win it. No team in the nation is without flaw. Syracuse has struggled at times with rebounding and lacks a go-to player in crunch time, Kentucky is a youthful and inexperienced squad, while Duke struggles defensively and has two suspicious home losses. The Big 12 is lucky to have three Final Four-caliber teams, but these three teams don’t come without weaknesses themselves.

Overview

For Scott Drew, Bill Self and Frank Haith, A Run To The Final Four Won't Be Without Its Bumps and Bruises

Baylor: Baylor’s flaws have recently become more apparent. While the Bears started strong enough to initially appear as the clear-cut favorite of the Big 12, they have struggled in recent games. First off Scott Drew needs to be a better in-game coach, plain and simple. His lack of adjustments against Kansas caused him to receive national criticism. Then, he unsuccessfully changed his game plan against Missouri, allowing the Tiger guards to shoot an amazing 14-for-28 from long range. I truly think Drew is a talented enough coach to get this team to the Final Four. Any doubters need to just look at him taking an (arguably) less talented 2010 Baylor team to the Elite Eight. His level of coaching talent hasn’t decreased, but he just needs to learn to play his players better, as cliche as that sounds. Baylor also seems to lack a killer instinct against elite opponents. While the Bears have been able to dominate lesser or even equal opponents, they are 0-4 against Missouri and Kansas this year.

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Evan Jacoby is a regular contributor to RTC. You can find him @evanjacoby on Twitter. Night Line will run on weeknights during the season, highlighting a major storyline development from that day’s games.

Kansas’ Bill Self is making a strong push for National Coach of the Year recently, putting his Jayhawks in position for their eighth consecutive Big 12 regular season title despite arguably the least talented team he’s had during the streak. Monday night’s road victory over Kansas State, 59-53, improved KU to 21-5 and 11-2 in the Big 12 to keep pace with Missouri in the loss column of the conference standings. But this time the win wasn’t the result of a dominant Thomas Robinson night or the game strategy of Self. Instead, it was the powerful performance of center Jeff Withey that led the team to another victory. This new leading Jayhawk is playing out of his mind and has emerged as the major threat that has put KU back in the driver’s seat in the Big 12 race. As the season progresses, the 7’0” Withey is getting stronger in all facets of the game, turning Kansas into an even tougher matchup than before.

Jeff Withey is a Defensive Force With a Newly Found Offensive Game for KU (AP Photo)

Just 10 days ago, Kansas dropped a road game to Missouri to fall into a tie with the Tigers for first place in the Big 12, and it looked like the Jayhawks just might be missing something to propel them to another conference title. In that game, only Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor were able to score consistently and play at a high level offensively. Elijah Johnson had 11 points but wanted nothing to do with the ball on the final possession that could have tied the game. Withey played his usual strong defense, but failed to score and was a complete non-factor offensively. Even though Kansas nearly won that road game, the Tigers seemed to have more scoring options on that night.

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