Kansas State @ #20 Iowa State

Saturday, January 12th 11:00 AM CT, ESPN2

Kansas Sate (11-4, 1-2) travels to #20 Iowa State (12-3, 2-1) on Saturday. Kansas State finally picked up a Big 12 win in a tough battle with West Virginia. Iowa State dropped a 3 point game to Baylor to sit at 2-1 in the conference. If the Cyclones want to make a serious run at the Big 12 title, they need to rebound at home (literally and figuratively) against Kansas State. Luckily, the Cyclones get to play this game in Hilton which gives them a strong advantage. ESPN heavily favors Iowa State, giving them an 84.1% chance of winning. I agree, the Cyclones will get back to winning at home.

76-67 Iowa State

Oklahoma State @ West Virginia

Saturday, January 12th 11:00 AM CT, ESPNU

West Virginia (8-7, 0-3) hosts Oklahoma State (7-8, 1-2) for a battle of the bottom of the Big 12. West Virginia has been unable to get a Big 12 win in games against Texas Tech, Texas, and Kansas State. Oklahoma State, meanwhile, has only one win which came over Texas. They dropped their other two Big 12 games to Iowa State and Oklahoma. ESPN again heavily favors West Virginia over Oklahoma State, giving the Mountaineers an 83% chance of winning. However, I think this will be closer than that percentage indicates. Oklahoma State has talent, especially when it comes to shooting threes. If those start to fall, the Mountaineers could be heading towards their 4th loss. But, I’ll give West Virginia the slight edge since this is a home game.

65-61 West Virginia

#25 TCU @ #23 Oklahoma

Saturday, January 12th 1:00 PM CT, FSSW

Fresh off a loss at Kansas, #25 TCU (12-2, 1-1) hits the road again to face #23 Oklahoma (12-3, 1-2). TCU put up a decent fight in Lawrence, before succumbing in the final few minutes. Oklahoma has only picked up a conference win against Oklahoma State, losing to Kansas and Texas Tech. Granted, those are likely the two top teams in the conference so those losses are understandable. Oklahoma is favored in this game, but I saw a lot of positives in TCU on Wednesday. I think they’ll be able to handle a lesser team and lesser road environment.

70-63 TCU

#8 Texas Tech @ Texas

Saturday, January 12th 1:00 PM CT, LHN

#8 Texas Tech (14-1, 3-0) goes on the road to face instate foe Texas (10-5, 2-1). Texas Tech currently has sole possession of first place in the Big 12, with Kansas, Iowa State, and Texas right on their heels. If Texas Tech wants to dethrone Kansas, they need to pick up some critical road wins. This could be one of them. Tech’s slow, defensive style of play has caused nearly everyone they’ve played trouble. Texas is likely to fall to this fate as well.

70-61 Texas Tech

#7 Kansas @ Baylor

Saturday, January 12th 3:00 PM CT, ESPN

Baylor (9-5, 1-1) hosts #7 Kansas (13-2, 2-1) in another huge matchup in Waco. The Bears got a monster win earlier in the week against Iowa State. They’ll be looking to follow up that success with another win. Baylor has had plenty of offensive woes this season, but they finally started pulling it together near the end of the TCU game and throughout the Iowa State game. Makai Mason and Devonte Bandoo started nailing some 3s and Tristan Clark had another solid game. With the loss of Udoka Azubuike, Tristan Clark ought to be the best big man on the court. And Kansas hasn’t shot the three as well as in years past. If Baylor can get Mason and Bandoo going again, the Bears could very likely get their second major upset of Big 12 play. I counted the Bears out on Wednesday against Iowa State, I’m not making the same mistake twice.

68-65 Baylor