As the Big 12 basketball teams head to Kansas City to compete for a conference tournament championship there are still a lot of questions marks as to just how many teams will make the dance. Here's what we know for sure. Kansas is a lock for a #1 seed if they can reach the conference championship game. Texas is going to be a top 5 seed (most likely 3-5 depending on their tournament performance) and Texas A&M, Kansas State and Colorado are in good position for a bid. Colorado and Nebraska need a little help while Baylor and Oklahoma State need a lot of help. There's no hope for Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Iowa State.
If you're keeping track, that's a total of nine teams from the Big 12 that could possibly work their way in but fans of the conference are most likely going to be more disappointed in the number of teams announced this coming Sunday than anything else.
| Team | Quality Win(s) | Devastating Loss(es) | Tournament Outlook |
| Kansas | Missouri/Texas A&M | Kansas St/Texas | Will play the winner of Oklahoma St/Nebraska in Thursday's quarterfinals. Can lock up a #1 seed by advancing to Saturday's championship game. |
| Texas | Kansas/Texas A&M/Missouri | USC/Nebraska/Colorado/Kansas St. | Will play the winner of Oklahoma/Baylor in Thursday's quarterfinals. The Longhorns can be as high as a three seed (possibly even two if the win the Big 12 tourney) and could drop as low as a 5 seed if they were to tank in the quarterfinals. |
| Texas A&M | Missouri | Boston College/Nebraska/Baylor | Will play the winner of Missouri/Texas Tech. Barring a trip to the championship game the Aggies will most likely fall somewhere between an 8 and 12 seed. |
| Kansas St. | Kansas/Missouri, Texas/Texas A&M | UNLV/OSU/Colorado | Possibly the hottest Big 12 team to end the regular season, the Wildcats will play the winner of Colorado/Iowa State on Thursday and could give Kansas fits in the semifinals. If the Wildcats don't win the championship they'll most likely fall somewhere between a 5 and 8 seed. |
| Colorado | Missouri/Kansas St/Texas | San Francisco/Harvard/New Mexico/Georgia/Nebraska/Oklahoma/Baylor | Colorado is firmly on the bubble but must have an opening round win over Iowa State to keep from falling off. |
| Missouri | Kansas St | Colorado/OSU/Nebraska | I believe the Tigers are in the tournament but a win over Texas Tech on Wednesday would solidify that. |
| Baylor | Texas A&M | Gonzaga/Washington St/Florida St/Iowa St/Oklahoma/Oklahoma St | The Bears are still in the hunt for an NCAA Tournament birth but will need more than an opening win against Oklahoma. Baylor would have to beat Texas on Thursday to get on solid footing. |
| Nebraska | Texas/Missouri/Texas A&M | Davidson/Texas Tech/Colorado/Iowa St | Opening round game against OSU is an elimination game. The Cowboys and Huskers can't make it into the dace. Winning on Wednesday morning may be enough to get Nebraska in but a strong showing against Kansas on Thursday sure would go a long way towards credibility. |
| Oklahoma State | Missouri/Kansas St | Virginia Tech/Gonzaga/Colorado/Baylor/Texas Tech/Nebraska/Oklahoma | The Cowboys need a lot of help. They must knock off Nebraska on Wednesday morning and then pull the upset of the tournament by defeating Kansas in Kansas City just to be mentioned for an NCAA birth. |
| Oklahoma | None | Too many to mention. Let's just sum it all up with Chaminade. | No hope! |
| Texas Tech | None | North Texas/St. Mary's/South Florida/TCU/UTEP/New Mexico/Baylor/Oklahoma/OSU/Colorado | No hope! |
| Iowa State | None | Northern Iowa/Cal/Nebraska/OSU/Oklahoma/Colorado | As crazy as it may sound the Cyclones have a good chance at getting into either the NIT or the CBI. |
My opinion is that once the dust settles in Kansas City and the selections are made on Monday we'll see a total of six teams get in the NCAA Tournament from the Big 12. However, that total could be as low as five teams and if the conference does get six be prepared for a lot of talk among the national media as to why the conference doesn't deserve the sixth bid.
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