#1 Kansas State vs. #5 Iowa State

Friday, March 15th 6:00 PM CT, ESPN/2

1 seed Kansas State (15-7, 14-4) takes on 5 seed Iowa State (21-11, 9-9) in the first semifinal game of the Big 12 tournament. Iowa State shot the lights out and beat Baylor in their quarterfinal matchup, while Kansas State eventually got to a sluggish win over TCU. This ought to be a good one with heavy crowd factions from both teams making their way to Kansas City. If Marial Shayok and Talen Horton-Tucker can heat up like they did against Baylor, I think the Cyclones beat a Dean Wade-less KState with some surprising ease. But Iowa State has been so up and down this season that it’s a really hard judgment to make. Still, I think the close proximity of these games helps Iowa State keep its stride from yesterday. Cyclones win this one.

77-72 Iowa State

#3 Kansas vs. #10 West Virginia

Friday, March 15th 8:30 PM CT, ESPN/2

MOUNTAINEERS ARE DOING THINGS. 10 seed West Virginia (14-19, 4-14) took down 2 seed Texas Tech in a huge upset. It was the first time the bottom seed in the Big 12 tournament beat one of the top two seeds ever. West Virginia is a team that has nothing to lose and everything to gain. Honestly, I’d kind of love to see them run the table and make the NCAA tournament, maybe that’s just me though. They take on 3 seed Kansas (24-8, 12-6). This might not be the Kansas of past years, but it’s still an exceedingly tall task to beat the Jayhawks in Kansas City. Nevertheless, I really like the effort West Virginia is putting together and they’ve already beaten the Jayhawks once this year. Give me Bob Huggins and the Mountaineers.

77-75 West Virginia