Big 12 Tournament - Finals Preview

Here we go Bears fans, Championship Saturday. We've got the ladies playing RIGHT NOW, so flip your channels to Fox Sports Southwest and watch the Lady Bears play some SEC team. Do it NOW! I will wait...

Okay, let's talk about the men's game tonight, as the Bears take on the Missouri Tigers, a team that swept the Bears in the regular season (just like Kansas). Missouri is another top 5 team, and in contention for a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament, so they have a lot to play for in regards to this season.

However, they are also going to be an SEC team, so they want to grab those eternal bragging rights as they tuck their tails and leave. Needless to say, this might be the 1st and only time in Big 12 history both the men and women are being rooted for by the entire league.

Missouri had a rather pedestrian road to this finals match up, beating Oklahoma State easily and then defeating the Texas Longhorns after they upset Iowa State. While they did not blow out Texas, the game was never really in doubt.

The big news from that game will be the status of Kim English. He injured his quad last night and did not look right when he came back to the game. With an injury like that, it is easier to keep playing the night of injury than coming back the next night. They Tigers have to be worried about it tightening up on English and not letting him go tonight.

The Tigers are not a very deep team, so a loss to a Senior leader would be very bad news for them. If English can't go, then they might start Michael Dixon, who normally comes off the bench. This would keep them in their standard 4-guard lineup. They could also try and go big and start Steve Moore. He is the primary (and only) backup for Ricardo Ratliffe, so if they start both of their bigs, they would have a bunch of players that I have never heard of playing minutes.

The key for Baylor in this game is the same question I had before the Kansas game, man or zone? I think we will see quite a bit of the 3-guard lineup, with Quincy Miller, Quincy Acy, and Perry Jones III rotating between the two post spots. Expect to see more Deuce Bello as well, who will be needed on defense.

We saw a shortened rotation against Kansas State, but against the Jayhawks, we had to go a little deeper due to foul trouble. Cory Jefferson and Gary Franklin are probably the next guys up, but will need some fouls on the guys in front of them to get minutes.

Well, the Lady Bears game has tipped, so I am gonna start screaming at the TV. Go Lady Bears! Go Bears! Go BAYLOR!