Around the Big 12: Week 15 (Basketball)

Story posted March 3, 2021 in CommRadio, Sports by Logan Bourandas

Although Baylor has already clinched the No. 1 seed in the conference, there are still some great games to look forward to if you're a Big 12 fan. Many of these games involve that same Baylor team as we could have a look at some potential Big 12 tournament matchups.

The Bears will host two games against ranked opponents as first they welcome a red hot Cade Cunningham and the No. 17 Oklahoma State Cowboys. The Cowboys are on a five game winning streak which includes back-to-back wins over Oklahoma. In game one of the doubleheader, Cunningham left it all on the floor as he dropped 40 points in an overtime victory.

Following that game, the Bears will welcome another college basketball star as they face Mac McClung and the No. 18 Texas Tech Red Raiders.

The Red Raiders are on a two game winning streak which includes a nine point win over in-state rival No. 15 Texas. The offense was well balanced in the game but McClung still led the team in scoring with 16 points. McClung did struggle however in the team’s last game against TCU as he only had four points but the team still won thanks to 20 points from Kyler Edwards.

There is still a question on who will finish as the conference’s No. 2 seed despite the fact that Kansas picked up a crucial win over Baylor on Saturday.

The Jayhawks only have one game remaining on their schedule as they play a non-conference game against UTEP. With Kansas being done with their conference schedule, that makes things simple for West Virginia who sits a half-game back of the Jayhawks in the standings.

The Mountaineers have two games remaining, both at home. They would have to win both to take second place and earn that crucial bye due to the split of the two game series between Kansas and West Virginia. The Mountaineers take on an unranked TCU team that they beat 74-66 a few weeks ago.

The big game is the finale as Oklahoma State comes to town.

The Cowboys could play spoiler and make a run for second place as they are only a half-game back of West Virginia and also split their season series against Kansas. It’s unlikely due to the Cowboys remaining schedule being quite challenging and also because West Virginia beat them once already, but anything is possible in Big 12 basketball.

The only other team with a shot at second place is Texas as they are a game and a half back of Kansas with two games remaining.

The Longhorns would first have to get revenge on Oklahoma on the road in the red river rivalry. The Sooners have lost their last three games so there is a chance the Longhorns could take advantage. They would then have to beat TCU on the road which is definitely doable but even if that all goes right the team needs a lot to go their way.

 

Logan Bourandas is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email lxb5412@psu.edu.