Your Guide to the Big 12 and Postseason Tournaments

The end of the Big 12 season is near, and most of the league members have something to fight for still. Here, we are going to look at the 10 schools in the Big 12 and see what (if any) post-season tournament they will be participating in. We will use the current standings as of this Friday, so each team will have 1 Big 12 conference game left, plus the Big 12 tournament.

I got the Strength of Schedule and SOS Projected from StatSheet and RPI From Teamrankings.com. So lets dig in!

1. Kansas Jayhawks

25-5 (15-2), Good wins: Georgetown, Ohio State, Baylor, @Baylor, Missouri

Team	AP Poll	RPI	SOS	SOS Projected	KenPom	Sagarin	BPI
Kansas	3	6	11	9	4	3	3

The Jayhawks are obviously in the NCAA tournament but still have something to play for. Right now they are probably a #1 seed, but with a loss in the semi-finals and a good run by one of the teams just behind them (Duke, Ohio State, Missouri, North Carolina) could get them to fall to a #2. There is a big gap between the #2 and #3 seeds, so they are in no real danger of falling farther than #2

2. Missouri Tigers

26-4 (13-4), Good wins: @ Iowa State, @Baylor, Baylor, Kansas,

Team	AP Poll	RPI	SOS	SOS Projected	KenPom	Sagarin	BPI
Missouri	7	12	82	92	9	7	8

The Tigers don't have a lot of great wins in nonconference, but have a few solid ones. They did beat Notre Dame and Cal, but with no marquee wins out of conference like Kansas, they find themselves as a #2 seed. They have an outside chance at a #1 seed, but will need to win the conference tournament, and have some of the other candidates lose.

3. Baylor Bears

25-5 (12-5), Good wins: San Diego State, St Mary's, @Kansas State

Team	AP Poll	RPI	SOS	SOS Projected	KenPom	Sagarin	BPI
Baylor	9	9	31	22	16	12	10

The Bears are loaded with nice wins. They beat Mississippi State, BYU, West Virginia, and Northwestern to go along with SDSU and St Mary's in non-conference play. However, several of those teams did not live up to expectations. The Bears have no elite wins, and the highest RPI team they have beaten is just #26. However, against teams teams not named Kansas and Missouri they just have one loss.

The Bears have a very tough game Saturday against Iowa State, a place that Kansas could not escape with a victory. Even if the Bears lose that game, and their first round game against Kansas State, they would still be a #4 seed.

If the Bears beat Iowa State, they would get Texas in their first game, and would probably get Missouri and avoid the Jayhawks until probably the championship round. The Bears might be able to play themselves into a #2 seed, but they would probably have to get at least to the Big 12 championship game, and might have to win it. More than likely, this is a #3 or #4 team.

4. Iowa State Cyclones

21-9 (11-6), Good wins: Kansas, @ Kansas State

Team	AP Poll	RPI	SOS	SOS Projected	KenPom	Sagarin	BPI
Iowa State	N/A	32	46	38	29	31	31

The Cyclones are an interesting team. Honestly, I thought they would have some better wins then they do, but their non-conference schedule was not difficult at all, and they went 0-2 against top 100 teams, losing to Michigan and Northern Iowa. However, this team has really played well in conference, and they have beat the teams that have come to their gym. They just have 1 loss at Hilton Coliseum this year.

They are in the #8 or #9 range right now, but they have some big chances to improve their resume. With the Baylor Bears coming to Ames, they could get another top 15 win, and they could also get another solid win in their first conference tournament game (Texas or Kansas State).

If they lose their next too, they could fall a bit to a #10, but I think they end up in that 8/9 matchup.

5. Kansas State Wildcats

20-9 (9-8), Good wins: Alabama, Long Beach State, Missouri, Baylor, @ Missouri

Team	AP Poll	RPI	SOS	SOS Projected	KenPom	Sagarin	BPI
Kansas State	N/A	42	53	59	21	19	21

This is another 8/9 style team for the Big 12. The Wildcats have some nicer out of conference wins than Iowa State, but they have not won enough games in conference. They had tough home court losses to Baylor, Iowa State, and Oklahoma. Those losses really hold back their maximum seed (especially the two terrible losses to Oklahoma).

The non-RPI sites love the Wildcats though, and to me, this looks like a dangerous team in both the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments. If I was the #2 seed, I would not want to see Kansas State in the second round. They have Oklahoma State coming to Manhattan to close the year, and that SHOULD be a win, but with the Wildcats, you can't really count on anything.

6. Texas Longhorns

19-11 (9-8), Good wins: Temple, Iowa State, Kansas State

Team	AP Poll	RPI	SOS	SOS Projected	KenPom	Sagarin	BPI
Texas	N/A	53	38	27	27	28	24

The Big 12's only bubble team, the Longhorns are more than likely in at this point. RPI is not a fan of theirs, but the other major ranking systems all love the Longhorns. They are ranked higher than Iowa State in all three I have listed above (KenPom, Sagarin, BPI). Honestly, I don't see it in these Longhorns.

The Longhorns are probably one of the last four teams in the group with Northwestern, Colorado State, South Florida, Xavier, VCU and a whole herd of mediocre resumes. Texas is just 3-8 against Top 50 teams, and their best win away from their home court might be UCLA or Oklahoma. Yup, bubble.

However, they have a huge opportunity and challenge left with Kansas up in Lawrence. They will also get Baylor or Iowa State in the Big 12 tournament, so they have some chances to improve their resume. The Longhorns though, have to rooting for every favorite to win their conference tournament, and make sure the maximum number of bids are alive.

If I had to bet now, looking at their next two games, I would not bet on the Longhorns making it into the NCAA for the first time in a long time. I just think a few surprise teams might take a spot or two away and that will be the issue with Texas.

7. Oklahoma State Cowboys

14-16 (7-10), Good wins: Missouri, Iowa State, Texas

Team	AP Poll	RPI	SOS	SOS Projected	KenPom	Sagarin	BPI
Oklahoma State	N/A	119	18	19	79	86	90

The Cowboys start are run of teams that are not really in position to get into the NCAA tournament without winning the Big 12 championship. They have played a Top 25 schedule, they just didn't win enough of them. They did beat 3 teams above them at home, including the Missouri Tigers.

They have an outside chance at the CBI, but will need to win their last game of the conference schedule (@ Kansas State) and beat Texas Tech and probably Missouri again to get into position.

8. Oklahoma Sooners

14-15 (4-13), Good wins: @ Kansas State, Kansas State, Oral Roberts

Team	AP Poll	RPI	SOS	SOS Projected	KenPom	Sagarin	BPI
Oklahoma	N/A	121	43	53	96	87	93

The Sooners have an outside chance at the CBI. They will have to win their final conference game against Texas A&M and probably win at least 1 Big 12 tournament game. Their first game is against the Aggies as well, so if they sweep the Ags, they might have a chance.

Outside of that, they will need to get the Big 12 tournament championship. The Sooners are locked into a matchup with the Aggies, but their game Saturday will determine the 8th/9th seed.

9. Texas A&M Aggies

13-16 (4-13), Good wins: Zero

Team	AP Poll	RPI	SOS	SOS Projected	KenPom	Sagarin	BPI
Texas A&M	N/A	173	67	68	117	117	118

The Aggies came into the season as the co-favorite with the Jayhawks to win the Big 12 crown. Let's just say those expectations were not met. The Aggies struggled all year with injuries to players and coaching losses. They never played up to their lofty expectations, and are more than likely going to finish the year with a losing record.

The highest team in the RPI they beat was Oklahoma State, and tey went 0-14 against Top 100 RPI teams. This team will have not be chosen for the NIT or even the CBI post-season tournaments, and will need to go on a miracle run to win the Big 12 tournament to get into the NCAA.

10. Texas Tech Red Raiders

8-21 (1-16), Good wins: Zero

Team	AP Poll	RPI	SOS	SOS Projected	KenPom	Sagarin	BPI
Texas Tech	N/A	230	70	61	233	212	210

Tech doesn't really have a chance at any tournament without winning the Big 12 conference tournament championship. They are locked into the 10th spot, and would have to beat Oklahoma State, Missouri and then win two more games, probably having to beat 2 of Baylor, Kansas State, Iowa State, or Kansas. Needless to say, their chances are pretty long.