NIT

#1 Baylor vs. #8 Wagner

Tuesday, March 13th 6:00 PM CT, ESPN2

Kendall already wrote up a decent preview of this game that can be found here. The long and short of it is that Baylor (18-14) is a heavy favorite over Wagner (23-9) and should easily win, setting up an interesting match up with either Mississippi State or Nebraska.

88-57 Baylor.

#2 Oklahoma State vs. #7 Florida Gulf Coast

Tuesday, March 13th 8:00 PM CT, ESPN2

Oklahoma State (19-14) takes on Florida Gulf Coast (23-11) in the first round of their NIT bid. The Cowboys should have little problem handling FGCU, with BPI giving Oklahoma State a 84.5% chance at winning. Florida Gulf Coast has zero good wins on the season, whereas Oklahoma State has two wins over Kansas, a win over West Virginia, and a win over Texas Tech. The only real threat is if the Cowboys are let down from being left out of the NCAA tournament and get sloppy.

Predicted Big 12 NIT First Round Record: 2-0

NCAA Tournament

The NCAA tournament is all about luck and madness. I could dissect each of these games but honestly, that rarely is very effective in March. So rather I’m going to defer to this awesome weighted wheel bracket, spinning each match up 5 times to decide a winner.

#10 Oklahoma vs. #7 Rhode Island

Thursday, March 15th 11:15 AM CT, CBS

URI. URI. Oklahoma. Oklahoma (barely). URI.

Rhode Island (25-7) beats Oklahoma (18-13) in a close one, eliminating ESPN’s darling Trae Young from the tournament.

82-80 Rhode Island.

#1 Kansas vs. #16 Penn

Thursday, March 15th 1:00 PM CT, TBS

KU. KU. KU. KU. KU.

I actually think I’m going to pick Penn (24-8) in my bracket. This is the best 16 seed the tournament has ever seen. However, the wheel has definitively spoken for this preview, with Kansas (27-7) winning big.

84-60 Kansas.

#3 Texas Tech vs. #14 Stephen F. Austin

Thursday, March 15th 6:27 PM CT, TRUTV

Texas Tech. Texas Tech. Texas Tech. SFA. Texas Tech.

The wheel thinks Texas Tech (24-9) gets a little bit of a scare from SFA (28-6) but ultimately go ahead and get the win.

72-64 Texas Tech.

#5 West Virginia vs. #12 Murray State

Friday, March 16th 3:00 PM CT, TNT

West Virginia. Murray State. Murray State. West Virginia. Murray State.

THE WHEEL IS CALLING THIS 5/12 UPSET. I buy it. If the West Virginia (24-10) press effectively gets broken, there isn’t much left. Plus non Big 12 refs seem to actually call the fouls on West Virginia that they deserve. Murray State (26-5) gets the big upset.

71-68 Murray State.

#10 Texas vs. #7 Nevada

Friday, March 16th 3:30 PM CT, TBS

Texas. Nevada. Texas. Nevada. Nevada.

The wheel thinks this will be a back and forth game, with Nevada (27-7) pulling away for a solid win against Texas (19-14).

70-64 Nevada.

#9 Kansas State vs. #8 Creighton

Friday, March 16th 5:50 PM CT, TNT

Creighton. Creighton. Kansas State (barely). Creighton. Creighton.

The wheel really doesn’t like Kansas State (22-11) in this game, Creighton (21-11) cruises to a victory.

78-60 Creighton.

#6 TCU vs. #11 Arizona State/Syracuse

Friday, March 16th 8:40 PM CT, CBS

First, let’s simulate the play in game.

Arizona State. Arizona State. Syracuse. Syracuse. Arizona State.

So Arizona State (20-11) gets it done in a close one against Syracuse (20-13). Now the match up with TCU (21-11). Assuming an ASU win:

TCU. TCU. TCU. Arizona State. TCU.

The wheel like TCU to win handily, perhaps with a mid/late game push by Arizona State that fades away.

74-62 TCU.

Predicted Big 12 NCAA Tournament First Round Record: 3-4.