CBS Bracketology: Baylor Back To No. 2 Overall, Oklahoma Drops to 6 Seed
With the NCAA Tournament selection announcement just 10 days away, CBSSports.com’s ‘Bracketology’ re-installed Baylor as a Top 2 overall seed and slid Oklahoma down to a No. 6 seed.
Jerry Palm’s newest 68-team field, released March 4, maintained seven Big 12 teams in the bracket. It also comes with the Big 12 preparing to play a break-neck schedule for the next four days leading up to the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. The league will play nine games in four days, with five of them coming on Thursday night.
With Baylor now the Big 12 regular-season conference champion, Palm saw fit to move the Bears back up to the No. 2 overall seed, behind No. 1 Gonzaga. That moves the Bears back into Palm’s Hinkle Region 1, where it would face the winner of a First Four game between Wagner and Cleveland State.
Oklahoma, which has slid a bit in recent days, thanks to back-to-back losses to Oklahoma State and their head coach, Mike Boynton Jr., is the lowest Big 12 seed, coming in at No. 6 in the Bankers Life 2 Region. Like Baylor, the Sooners would have to wait for a First Four game to determine their first-round opponent. Palm projects that be either North Carolina or Virginia Commonwealth.
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The other Big 12 teams in the bracket include:
West Virginia, despite its loss to Baylor, remained a No. 2 seed in the Bankers Life 1 Region and would face No. 15 Siena in the first round.
Texas remained a No. 4 seed in the Hinkle 1 Region and would face Winthrop in the first round.
Kansas remained a No. 4 seed in the Bankers Life 1 Region and would face Liberty in the first round. While Kansas and West Virginia are in the same region, they would not be able to face each other until the Elite Eight.
Oklahoma State remained a No. 4 seed in the Bankers Life 2 Region and would face UNC-Greensboro in the first round. The Cowboys could end up facing the Sooners again in this scenario, but it would require both teams reaching the Elite Eight.
Texas Tech was a No. 5 seed in the Hinkle 2 Region and would wait for the winner of a First Four game between Drake and Saint Louis. There is potential, in this scenario, for the Red Raiders to face Baylor in the Sweet 16.
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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