#2 Baylor vs. #9 Kansas

Monday, January 18th 8:00 PM CT, ESPN

#2 Baylor (12-0, 5-0) has a huge game in Waco tonight as they host #9 Kansas (10-3, 4-2). The Jayhawks are almost always the favorites to win the Big 12 title, but that isn’t the case this year as the Bears were selected as the conference favorite and have been proving it. Now Baylor needs to back up those lofty expectations with a home win against one of the weaker Kansas teams in recent memory (which still leaves them as a top 10 foe). I don’t expect Jared Butler to have as cold of a game as he did against Texas Tech two games in a row, let alone probably ever again this season. The one concern I have is this game is a quick turn around and the Jayhawks had their Saturday game postponed due to COVID. So Baylor might still be tired while Kansas ought to be well rested. Does that make up for the talent differential? I don’t think so. Baylor by just over double digits.

81-70 Baylor

Kansas State @ Oklahoma

Tuesday, January 19th 5:30 PM CT

Oklahoma (7-4, 3-3) had their game against Oklahoma State postponed over the weekend. So they should be fresh heading into this matchup against Kansas State (5-9, 1-5). The Wildcats lost by 15 points to Texas over the weekend and have still not won a conference game since their opener against Iowa State. Oklahoma should dominate this game without much issue, helping keep them in the NCAA tournament conversation.

84-60 Oklahoma

#12 Texas Tech @ TCU

Wednesday, January 20th 7:00 PM CT, ESPN+

All things considered, #12 Texas Tech (11-4, 4-3) had a pretty good pair of games last week. They upset then #4 Texas and hung tight with #2 Baylor. However, that Baylor loss likely still stings some. Regardless, the Red Raiders will have to be ready to travel to TCU (9-5, 2-4). The Horned Frogs have had a rough go of it in conference lately, dropping three straight to Kansas, Baylor, and Oklahoma by an average margin of 28 points. Their weekend game against West Virginia was postponed but I don’t think that extra rest will make much of a difference when a motivated Texas Tech squad comes to town.

78-48 Texas Tech