Big 12 Sports Blog by Big 12 Fans

Someone forgot to tell the Baylor Bears that they were not invited to the 2009 NCAA Tournament bubble discussion, and the Bears apparently want to make sure everyone notices them. After a 17-13 season with a disappointing 5-11 record in Big 12 play, Baylor earned the #9 seed in the Big 12 Basketball Tournament. The Bears claimed 6 wins over teams in the RPI Top 100 during this time with 3 over RPI Top 50 teams. But the Bears are no longer hibernating as they have put together a string of 3 wins in 3 days defeating Nebraska (RPI #74), Kansas (RPI #9) and Texas (RPI #38) en route to a berth in the Big 12 Tournament Championship Game.

So do these wins put Baylor (RPI #55) on the bubble? If you add wins over RPI #30 Arizona State, #18 Oklahoma State and #36 Texas A&M you have an imporessive resume. But the 13 losses this season may continue to haunt Baylor despite a Strenght of Schedule that ranks #15 in the nation according to Jerry Palm at CollegeRPI.com. Whatever the end result, Baylor is making it even more difficult for the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee.

For what it is worth, I would personally rather have Baylor in the Big Dance over Penn State (RPI 67, SOS 96), Wisconsin (RPI 43, SOS 14, 3 losses in last 5 games), Florida (RPI 46, SOS 89) or Virginia Tech (RPI 61, SOS 18, 7 losses in last 9 games).

We’re just hours away from the tip-off of the 2009 Big 12 Tournament as 12 teams get set to fight for the automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Tournament. In the first game to be played on Wednesday #8 seed Nebraska takes on #9 Baylor while #5 Texas faces #12 Colorado in game two. The 3rd game of the day features #7 Oklahoma State vs #10 Iowa State while we will wrap up Wednesday games with #6 Texas A&M vs #11 Texas Tech. All Wednesday 1st Round games will be televised on the Big 12 Network.

Thursday will again be a full day of games as #1 Kansas faces the Nebraska/Baylor winner on ESPN2 to start the action followed by #4 Kansas State vs the Texas/Colorado winner on the Big 12 Network. In the two night games #2 Oklahoma faces the OSU/ISU winner on the Big 12 Network with #3 Mizzou taking on the Texas A&M/Texas Tech winner in the nightcap on ESPN2.

Friday will feature the Big 12 Tournament semifinals with the Big 12 Championship Game to be played on Saturday evening at 5 pm ET on ESPN.

Don’t look now Big 12 basketball fans, but the Big 12 Basketball Tournament is right around the corner. With just two games remaining in the regualr season, the 2009 Big 12 Basketball Tournament is set to tip off on March 11 with the Big 12 Championship Game to be held March 14th. Of course the Big 12 Tournament winner will get an automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Tournament which begins with first round games on March 19 & 20.

Currently, Kansas appears to have the inside track for the #1 seed at the 2009 Big 12 Tournament at 13-1 with OU looking at the #2 seed at 12-2. Mizzou seems poised for a top 3 seed as they are 2 and 1/2 games ahead of Oklahoma State and Texas. Kansas State, Texas A&M and Nebraska are fighting for the mid-range seeds, all within 2 games of each other for the 6-8 seeds. Baylor has been a disappointment this season and looks like the #9 seed with Iowa State, Texas Tech and Colorado rounding out the bottom of the Big 12.