Seven Big 12 Teams Among Top 20 Seeds in CBS Bracketology
Jerry Palm’s latest edition of CBSSports.com’s ‘Bracketology’ found seven Big 12 teams among the Top 20 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
Palm’s newest 68-team field, released Feb. 1, found Oklahoma move into the Top 16 seeds and Kansas move out of the Top 16 seeds, but remain comfortably in the field.
Baylor, which remains undefeated, also remained the Big 12’s only No. 1 seed, and No. 2 seed overall, in Palm’s field. The Bears would face the winner of a game between Prairie View A&M or Vermont for their first-round game in the Hinkle 2 Region.
Texas held steady as a No. 2 seed in the Bankers Life 1 Region, where Villanova is the No. 1 seed. The Longhorns would face Cleveland State in the first round, according to Palm.
At No. 3 we saw the biggest move up of the week for the Big 12, as Oklahoma went from being a No. 6 seed a week ago to a No. 3 seed in the Bankers Life 2 region. It’s a meteoric rise for the Sooners, who just became the third team in the AP Poll era to beat four Top 10 teams in a calendar month in the regular season. The Sooners would face Belmont in the first round.
READ MORE: Oklahoma crashes Top 10 in latest AP Top 25
READ MORE: Oklahoma State enters USA Today Top 25 for first time this season
Texas Tech and West Virginia held steady as No. 4 seeds. The Mountaineers, who beat Texas Tech last week, are in the Bankers Life 2 Region and would face Liberty in the first round. The Red Raiders, meanwhile, would get South Dakota State in the first round in the Hinkle 1 Region. The Red Raiders defeated LSU in the Big 12-SEC Challenge last Saturday.
Kansas took a big drop, but remained in an advantageous seeding at No. 5 in the Hinkle 2 Region. The Jayhawks would get either Stanford or Arkansas in the first round. This seeding would also set up a potential Sweet 16 game with Baylor.
Oklahoma State moved up a seed to No. 5 in the Bankers Life 1 Region. The Cowboys would also have to wait for their first-round opponent, as Palm has the Cowboys awaiting the winner of North Carolina and Virginia Commonwealth.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard. Send him a tweet with your question to be included in this week’s Big 12 Basketball Mailbag, which appears each Friday during the conference season.
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