The Big 12 features receives just seven bids and three bubble teams in Joe Lunardi‘s latest Bracketology breakdown ahead of another college basketball weekend.
Lunardi tapped Arizona (1-seed), Houston (2-seed), Iowa State (3-seed), BYU (3-seed), Texas Tech (4-seed), Kansas (5-seed), and UCF (8-seed) to make the 68-team field; Baylor and TCU are his next four out along with Missouri and Creighton; Oklahoma State rounds out the Big 12 bubble.
Can the Bears break the bad times?
One or the other, Baylor or TCU, each just 1-4 through through their last five games, could potentially win themselves back into Lunardi’s good graces with a win on Saturday in Waco.
Should the Bears (11-7, 1-5 Big 12) recover from back-to-back losses at Kansas and Texas Tech at home with a win this weekend, they’ll set themselves up for a potential 2-0 stretch at Cincinnati and Colorado at home before hitting to road to No. 2 Iowa State on Saturday, Feb. 7.
Kansas can save itself with a win over BYU
While Bill Self and No. 19 Kansas are slated to return to the tournament on their current trajectory, a win over No. 13 BYU in Lawrence goes a long way in upgrading their status potentially as high as the top 3 seeding-wise.
Self told reporters on Thursday that Darryn Peterson isn’t guaranteed for Saturday’s trip to Kansas State (10-9, 1-5 Big 12) due to a sprained ankle. The Jayhawks (14-5, 4-2 Big 12) will certainly need Peterson, who logged 32 minutes against Colorado, the most since Jan. 10 at West Virginia, when the Cougars come to Allen Fieldhouse next weekend.
How bad was the Iowa State loss for UCF?
Riley Kugel and UCF are coming off two top-10 losses against No. 1 Arizona (84-77) and at No. 9 Iowa State (87-57), and they weren’t pretty. But the Knights are the last Big 12 club included in Lunardi’s projection. Why?
After clipping then-No. 17 Kansas to begin the month, UCF fell to Oklahoma State (14-5, 2-4 Big 12), in action against No. 9 Iowa State this weekend, by 11 in Stillwater for their first conference loss. I’d argue this loss, coming off a top-25 win at home, is far more hurtful than losses to Arizona or Iowa State.
Now, if the Cowboys hand T.J. Otzelberger their third unranked loss of the month, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Knight get knocked outside the bubble next time around. The Cyclones hung 12 on Oklahoma State at home earlier this month.
