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Big Twelve Bubble Teams Fight For Tournament Hopes
Published: March 4, 2009
The Big Twelve has had a pretty good year with some serious opportunities looming ahead for the NCAA Tournament. Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri are all locks for the Big Dance, and each of them have reason to believe they could do very well. Kansas seems to be there every single year one way or the other, and they have enough on their roster to do some serious damage if they get the right seed. Oklahoma is an absolute beast of a team and can go toe to toe with anybody. Missouri too, has shown that they are for real given the right circumstances anbd matchups. The real question, however, is what Big Twelve teams are still sitting on the bubble with the chance to make it? Here are the four Big Twelve teams that are still trying to get in:
Texas Longhorns – Texas is one of those teams that you have to consider for the NCAA tournament simply because they have beaten some seriously good teams. Consider this… Texas has beaten Oklahoma, Villanova, Wisconsin, Oklahoma St., Texas A&M, and UCLA. Those victories should be enough along with a solid overall record and strength of schedule. Texas should be in especially considering they beat Baylor on Monday. The Longhorns should get in.
Oklahoma State Cowboys – The Cowboys too have a decent record on the season, but they do not have the great wins over great teams that Texas does. Ironically, however, they do have a win over Texas themselves to stake a bubble claim on. Also, the Cowboys did pull out an important win over Kansas State on Tuesday night to improve their chances. That win gave them 20 on the season, and also they have a fantastic strength of schedule rating. I would expect that the Cowboys are in, but beating major power and big rival Oklahoma to close the season on Saturday would almost certainly close the deal.
Texas A&M Aggies – The Aggies are a team that is hard to put a finger on. Though they have a sterling win count on the season overall, they are a paltry 7-7 on the season in the Big Twelve. Conference records carry some serious NCAA weight along with strength of schedule which the Aggies are also short in. With Colorado and Missouri left on the schedule, the Aggies really need to pick up at least one more victory to merit real consideration. Win them both and they are certain to get in. Win one and the possibility is there. It really is up to the Aggies at this point.
Kansas State wildcats – The Wildcats are hurt by one thing. Strength of schedule. They ranked a paltry 98 in this category and against top 100 teams was only 5-7 on the year. That is simply not good enough in many people’s eyes. On the positive side however, they had some quality wins against the Big Twelve in beating Texas, A&M, and Missouri, and they also have a 8-7 record in the Big Twelve. They really hurt their chances with a Tuesday night loss to fellow bubble team Oklahoma State. Still, if they beat Colorado on Saturday they may get in based on a 21 win season.
Tagged with: bubble teams, ncaa, ncaa tournament
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