Picking against Kansas in the Big 12 is foolhardy, but I'm doing it anyway

Round 3 of my conference tournament previews hits on the Big 12 today.

Wednesday – First Round

8 Oklahoma vs 9 Texas A&M – How did the punditry at large miss so badly on Texas A&M in the preseason. The Aggies were a preseason top 25 team that was just awful, even from early on. Meanwhile, year 1 of the next Lon Kruger rebuild is ahead of schedule. That Oklahoma is ahead of schedule with an 8^th place finish should so everyone how far they have to go. That will be shown here too, even if Texas A&M still can't score.

7 Oklahoma St. vs 10 Texas Tech – This won't be pretty. Bad though they were at times, Oklahoma St. beat Missouri and Texas this season. Texas Tech probably couldn't beat the bottom of the Pac-12.

Thursday – Second Round

4 Baylor vs 5 Kansas St. - Baylor has been slumping. Kansas St. has been up and down. Given that I think I will go with the up and down team and pick the up, especially in an even matchup.

1 Kansas vs 9 Texas A&M – A&M can't score. Blowout awaits.

2 Missouri vs 7 Oklahoma St. - Yes, Oklahoma St. did beat Missouri in Stillwater. That game means nothing here. Missouri is going to be highly motivated to get a rematch with Kansas and also motivated to put the poor Cowboys in their place, again.

3 Iowa St. vs 6 Texas – For all the talent and thoughts about anything, there is a convenient explanation for how this game is going to go: Iowa St. has more talent than Texas, at least this season.

Friday – Semifinals

1 Kansas vs 5 Kansas St. - Commencing next round of Kansas voodoo hex over Kst. In 3-2-1...

2 Missouri vs 3 Iowa St. - This is just a bad matchup for Iowa St. The Cyclones just can't stop Missouri from scoring.

Saturday – Final

1 Kansas vs 2 Missouri – These two have played two absolute classics with both blowing what should have been sure wins on the other's home floor. This isn't a home floor. In fact, it is going to be about as neutral as it gets. Given that, go with the better team and I think Missouri is the better team.

Questions for the Big 12

Any possible bid thieves bubble teams should be worried about?

No way, no how. There are five locks in this league and while Texas may win a game or two, it won't win three. All of the teams playing on day 1 have no chance whatsoever of getting through this thing.

Most likely flame-out

Baylor has been struggling since the beginning of February (also coinciding with most talented played Perry Jones basically becoming invisible on offense). That won't change here, even if the Bears beat Kansas St. on Thursday.

How many NCAA bids for this league?

Five bids. The top five are all locks and the sixth team isn't getting in without some sort of run here. Considering I think Texas will lose its first game against Iowa St., I think the Longhorns are not getting in.