This is part 25 of a 32-part series covering each conference and conference tournament. These previews are meant to provide every bracketologist with the information they need to make informed projections about the teams of the conference.
The standings:
Kansas 14-4
Oklahoma 12-6
Texas 11-7
Iowa St 11-7
Kansas St 10-8
West Virginia 9-9
Baylor 9-9
Oklahoma St 8-10
Texas Tech 6-12
TCU 9-21
Tournament format:
Kansas City is your host from March 12-15. This is your standard bracket setup.
The matchups:
8) Oklahoma St (20-11) vs. 9) Texas Tech (14-17)
7) Baylor (21-10) vs. 10) TCU (9-21)
4) Iowa St (23-7) vs. 5) Kansas St (20-11)
1) Kansas (23-8) vs. 8/9 winner
2) Oklahoma (23-8) vs. 7/10 winner
3) Texas (22-9) vs. 6) West Virginia (17-14)
The stakes:
Zero bubble stakes (or close to it). The drama will be around jockeying for seed position.
Kansas has probably slipped too far to have a chance at the 1 line, but they have the toughest schedule in 20 years in tow. Not impossible the committee gives them a 1 seed, with some help elsewhere. More concerning is that without Embid, they could drop to a 3 seed without winning this tournament. Stay tuned.
Iowa St has the next best profile, but I have Oklahoma and Texas as 5 seeds. Those 3 will cluster around the 3-6 lines, and where they end up might be a direct product of how they do in this tournament. They each have plenty of signature wins and just enough losses to prevent them reaching the 2 line.
Kansas St, Oklahoma St, and Baylor have incentive. Win to the finals and you may get to the 6 or 7 line. Flame out early and end up a 10 or so. However, if they lose in the quarters, they're looking at that 8/9 game.
West Virginia is the only bubble team. They have Texas and then Oklahoma/Baylor. They need to win both, and get help elsewhere. Not likely to get it.
So 7 NCAA teams, 1 NIT team, 2 no postseason teams. Solvent. Still, this tournament will have large impacts on the S-Curve.
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