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Sunday DBR: Gassed

The combination of four games in four days, a "neutral site", and the Big 12's best official were too much for the Bears as they ran out of gas late in the game.

By Matthew Tennant
Scott Drew moonlights as a football play caller.
Scott Drew moonlights as a football play caller.
Jamie Squire

Well, that was not what Baylor fans wanted to see. Our boys played their hearts out, but I doubt even Coach Kaz himself could have played through that schedule and came out more than qwehip ghwrp  ut-9\43\-9tu gn w

Coach Kaz has kindly informed me that I am, "WRONG! SON!"

Big 12 Championship Game

Mark put up the post game thread here, so I'll save some space/contain my emotions and refrain from writing about the back-and-forth and just give some of my observations. DISCLAIMER: Yes, I know none of these are by any means the reason we lost, they are merely my thoughts and what I think the Big 12 could do to improve the Tournament. If you disagree with me, please do comment, and I will try gladly listen.

1. That site was as neutral as Fox News.

Coach speak, but he has a point.

Caveat: Most Baylor fans likely did not expect the team to make it to the finals and thus, did not buy tickets. Still, even when we learned that Baylor would be playing in the finals, the distance to Kansas City was prohibitive for many.

Suggestion: Either alternate between Kansas City and Dallas or have the tournament at a central location like Oklahoma City. With the Big 12 as spread out as it is, there obviously will never be a truly neutral site, but Kansas City fundamentally favors three schools.

Kirobaito ran the numbers and they only serve to reinforce the point. Add in West Virginia and the center is in Tulsa. It's time for a change, Big 12.

2. Isaiah Austin showed stretches of brilliance last night. There's a reason he was selected to the All-Tournament Team.

3. Cory Jefferson was utterly shut down. It didn't help that Niang was allowed to play very physical against him. Still, with three double-doubles in the tournament, a team-leading 53 points, and a tournament-record 43 rebounds his exclusion from the All-Tournament Team is criminal.

4. As the game wore on, the refereeing grew more and more inconsistent. Two examples really stick out to me: the Cory Jefferson travel and the no-call on the tripping of Prince. By most any definition, yes, Jefferson did travel. However, there were numerous examples of Niang doing exactly the same thing in the game and he was never called for it. The no-call on the tripping is just a plain bad call that happened right when Baylor could have used the points the most. I'm not by any means saying that the refereeing was why Baylor lost this game, but I do believe the players are deserving of a better quality of refs.

5. Iowa State are going to do damage in the NCAAs. They are deserving of the win and it was nice to see someone other than Kansas win in Kansas' backyard.

6. I couldn't be more proud of these men. They played their hearts out and I know they will be an extremely tough out come the Tournament.

Finally, I'll just leave this here:

71-7.

Other Baylor News

This segment is much more cheerful!

Baseball Takes Big 12 Opening Series vs. Texas Tech with 2-1 Win - BaylorBears.com

There have been a combined four runs in the first two games of this opening series. That tells you something about how good the pitching has been. Starting pitcher Brad Kuntz has five strikeouts in as many innings while surrendering one run. Reliever Ryan Smith took over for the next three innings and closer Josh Michalec finished the game, both holding Tech scoreless.

Baylor and Tech wrap up the series today at 1:05 on FOX Sports Southwest.

No. 12 Softball Wins Consecutive Games in Walk-Off Fashion

Baylor beat Purdue, 5-4, and UConn, 2-1, to move to 4-0 in the USF tournament and 21-4 on the season. Both games were come-from-behind victories won on walk-off hits.

Baylor will wrap up the tournament at 8:00 a.m. CST versus Penn State. The Lady Bears will then play an exhibition game against the Netherlands National Team.

Obi Wins NCAA Indoor Triple Jump Crown - BaylorBears.com

Sophomore Felix Obi set a new school record of 54-5.25 en route to winning the triple jump title. Senior Tiffani McReynolds finished just 0.007 seconds short of the 60-meter hurdles title and settled for second. The Men's team finished 22nd overall and the Women's team came in 27th.

Men's Golf Places Third at Border Olympics - BaylorBears.com

Baylor finished behind Houston and Oklahoma after a 3-over-par day on Saturday.

Men's Tennis Tops No. 20 California, 4-1 - BaylorBears.com

No. 12 Tennis toppled No. 20 California to move to 10-4 on the season. The Bears will face No. 6 Illinois at 11:00 CST.

Women's Tennis Falls 4-0 At No. 15 Miami - BaylorBears.com

The ladies will return to face the aggys on Wednesday. Crush them.

Selection Sunday

The festivities begin at 5:00 CST on CBS. Will the Bears get a favorable draw? Will they slide up to a six seed in San Antonio or will they be forced to travel to Buffalo, as Joe Lunardi predicts. As of yesterday morning, SBN has Baylor as a six seed, but in Raleigh, still in the New York regional.

All will be revealed soon. Keep your heads up, Bears fans, and Sic March Madness!

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