Big 12 Men’s College Basketball Tournament Predictions

Written March 9, 2009 by Jack Jones

big-12-college-basketball-tournament-030909 The Big 12 Conference Tournament starts on Wednesday, March 11th, and finishes on Saturday, March 14th with the conference tournament championship game. The winner of the tournament will get an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, but it is most likely that the top 4 teams from the Big 12 will end up in the tournament anyway, so there would have to be a big upset for anyone not already headed to the Big Dance to get in, but with all 12 teams making it to the conference tournament, anything is possible. Here are my top 3 picks in the Big 12 tournament, plus a sleeper team that may end up grabbing the free ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

Kansas Jayhawks (14-2 Big 12, 25-6 Overall)
Kansas finished their regular season in the Big 12 with a flurry of impressive victories. They knocked off Oklahoma, Missouri, and Texas in the span of less than 2 weeks and head into the conference tournament with the #1 seed and a bye for the first round. The Jayhawks are lead by one of the best guards in the nation, Sherron Collins, who leads the team in scoring with 18.3 points per game, and assists with 5.0 per game. Kansas will need a big tournament out of their big man, Cole Aldrich, who is second on the team in scoring with 14.8 points per game and first on the team in rebounding with 10.5 boards per game.

Oklahoma Sooners (13-3 Big 12, 27-4 Overall)
The Sooners had the best overall record in the Big 12 at 27-4, but late season losses to Kansas and Missouri forced Oklahoma into the #2 spot in the conference for the regular season. Now the Sooners have a chance for a bit of redemption in the conference tournament, and although they will no doubt be playing in the NCAA Tournament this year, a conference championship trophy has to be one of the goals for this team. The Sooners are currently listed at +150 odds to win the conference tournament, tied with Kansas as the favorites.

Missouri Tigers (12-4 Big 12, 25-6 Overall)
The Tigers certainly have the talent to win the conference tournament. In the regular season they managed to knock off both Kansas and Oklahoma at one point, though they did lose their most recent showdown with the Jayhawks. Missouri is led by two of the best forwards in the conference in DeMarre Carroll and Leo Lyons. The pair combine 31.5 points and 14.1 rebounds per game and create match up problems for almost any team the Tigers face. While Oklahoma and Kansas get all of the press, Missouri has quietly been on of the biggest surprises in the nation.

Sleeper: Texas Longhorns (9-7 Big 12, 20-10 Overall)
You know it’s a good year for the Big 12 when Texas is considered a sleeper team in the conference tournament. The Longhorns stumbled along the way in conference play, but they racked up 20 wins and impressed a lot of people by beating UCLA, Villanova, and, most recently, Oklahoma. They ended the regular season with a disappointing loss at Kansas, but they’ve shown throughout the year that they can beat just about anyone on any given night.

Big 12 Conference Tournament Predicted Winner: Take the Oklahoma Sooners +150

Looking bet on college basketball this tournament season? Be sure to check out the NCAA basketball picks from our top handicappers and check the NCAA basketball lines for all the tournament games at Betfirms.

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2 Comments

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2 Responses to “Big 12 Men’s College Basketball Tournament Predictions”

Texas Bob on March 9th, 2009 12:17 pm

How about the Aggies who finished with six wins, two of them over Texas and Missouri. They were tied for fourth but only given six place in the tournament. Talk about on a given day.

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Jack Jones Reply:
March 9th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Bob,

A&M is one of those teams that it’s easy to forget about, but that could come out and win the conference tournament. I still like the Sooners, but the Aggies are a great sleeper pick!

Jack

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