Bouncing Around the Big XII

After a brief sabbatical following my exhausting, well researched and thoroughly vetted bowl preview series; I am back to guide you, our readers, through the gauntlet that is the Big XII basketball season. Well, the final 2/3rds or so of it at least.

Through this I will attempt to show the week that was, the week that is and how they affect standings and eventual seedings. As we get closer to March, I will begin to predict final conference standings and tournament pairings.

The Week That Was

Monday, January 17^th

Texas (17) 66 – TCU 48

Oklahoma (19) 78 – Kansas (11) 85

Tuesday, January 18^th

Kansas State 71 – Iowa State (9) 77

Wednesday, January 19^th

Huston Tillotson 61 – Baylor (21) 81

Texas Tech 43 – Oklahoma State 63

Saturday, January 24^th

Oklahoma State 53 – Kansas State 63

TCU 85 – West Virginia (18) 86 – OT

Kansas (11) 75 – Texas (17) 62

Iowa State (9) 73 – Texas Tech (NR) 78

Oklahoma (19) 58 – Baylor (21) 69

Player of the Week – Rico Gathers

The Baylor junior feasted on a team nobody has heard of before, and few will hear from again, Gathers’ing a conference tying 28 rebounds during the over-matchup. He Rico’rded another 8 boards and 8 points during Baylor’s win over 19^th ranked Oklahoma in Saturday’s Big XII nightcap.

Game of the Week – TCU @ WVU

I, for one, blame this overtime game for Iowa State’s slow start since their fan base was yet again refused the opportunity to watch the beginning of the game, obviously creating the slow start for the 9^th ranked Cyclones and thus, costing them the game.

Still, one hell of an ending and effort by both teams.

The Week That Is

Monday, January 26

Texas (19) @ Iowa State (15) – 8:00 PM on ESPN

Big Monday finds its way once again to Ames, IA. While I won’t say this is a "must win" game for Iowa State it will go a long way in providing Cyclone fans an idea of who we will be cheering for during the home stretch.

Tuesday, January 27^th

West Virginia (17) @ Kansas State – 6:00 PM on ESPN2

Baylor (20) @ Oklahoma State – 8:00 PM on ESPN News

Wednesday, January 28^th

Texas Tech @ Oklahoma (19) – 6:30 PM on ESPN News

Kansas (9) @ TCU – 8:00 PM on ESPNU

Saturday, January 31^st

Texas Tech @ West Virginia (17) – 11:00 AM on ESPNU

Kansas State @ Kansas (9) – 1:00 PM

TCU @ Iowa State (15) – 1:00 PM on ESPNU

Texas (19) @ Baylor (20) – 5:00 PM on ESPN2

Oklahoma (24) @ Oklahoma State – 7:00 PM on ESPN2

Predictions

Player of the Week: Naz Long

With two Texas schools coming to town, and current slumps done and over with, I’m predicting the resurrection of Naz Long’s three point shot as the Canadian sharp shooter scores a blistering 52 collective points on the week.

Game of the Week: Texas @ Iowa State

Force vs finesse should make this Big Monday showdown a must see.

Conference Standings

Team	Conference Record	Streak
Kansas (9)	5-1	W2
Kansas State	5-2	W1
West Virginia (17)	4-2	W1
Iowa State (15)	4-2	L1
Baylor (20)	3-3	W2
Texas (19)	3-3	L1
Oklahoma State	3-4	L1
Oklahoma	3-4	L2
TCU	1-5	L2
Taco Tech	1-6	W1