Big 12: Coaches looking for six NCAA bids

Big 12 Conference basketball coaches are begging for respect, and they want it in the form of NCAA Tournament bids.

Six would be fine.

Coaches around the league spent much of this week’s Big 12 men’s basketball coaches’ teleconference pleading their case to get six teams into the Field of 65, something that has happened five times in the conference’s first 11 years but only once since 2003.

“It’s a tough league, and there’s been, like any league, some teams that some days might not have it, and you’ll see some lopsided scores, but overall, this league, this year, has been competitive as any league I’ve been in,” Texas coach Rick Barnes said, adding, “The Big East, they can make a case for six or eight, but when you’ve got 16 teams, obviously you can make a case for half your league. If they’re making a case for half their league, the ACC is, we certainly should be in that same position.”

There’s a strong case to be made. The Big 12 sits second in conference RPI behind only the ACC and is second in the Sagarin ratings, as well. Seven of its members rank in the top 50 in the individual RPI ranking. Its teams accumulated a winning record in head-to-head competition against every major conference outside of the Big Ten. And 10 of its teams have at least 16 victories, something only the Big East can claim.

“If they’re going to say that the RPI is going to play a role in it, then you have to be rewarded,” Oklahoma State Coach Sean Sutton said. “We’ve been penalized in the past when our RPI has been five or six and we only got four teams in.”

The problem facing the Big 12 isn’t its collective profile. It’s that all of the teams outside of Kansas and Texas challenging for an NCAA Tournament berth have noticeable warts.

Kansas State (19-10, 9-6 in Big 12 play) is third in the league standings and expecting to make its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1996. The presence of freshman sensation Michael Beasley certainly helps the Wildcats’ chances, because it’s hard to imagine the selection committee wanting their event to go on without him.

But K-State only sat 45th in the RPI ratings heading into Wednesday’s games, only has 18 wins against Division I competition, did very little to impress the committee during the nonconference season when its best win came at home against California, and had dropped four in a row before Tuesday night’s closer-than-it-should-have-been victory over last-place Colorado in their home finale. There’s no guarantee the Wildcats won’t go to Iowa State and lose on Saturday considering they’ve dropped their last five road games. What would the committee say then?

There are three bubble teams — Oklahoma, Baylor and Texas A&M — bunched together behind Kansas State at 8-7 in the league standings.

Oklahoma might have the strongest case for inclusion in the field of 65. The Sooners improved to 20-10 on the season after Wednesday night’s 68-56 Bedlam Series victory over in-state rival Oklahoma State on the road in Stillwater. They were 27th in the RPI rankings heading into Wednesday’s games and have played one of the nation’s toughest schedules, with nonconference games against Memphis, USC, Arkansas, Gonzaga and West Virginia, the last three of which they beat.

OU also should get special consideration because it’s played multiple games without its top two players, senior stalwart Longar Longar and freshmen phenom Blake Griffin, because of injuries. Longar missed time with a broken bone in his leg. Griffin, who missed more than a week earlier with a sprained left knee, is sitting out the final two regular-season games after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on Sunday for a partially torn meniscus in his right knee.

With that said, the Sooners probably have done enough to get an NCAA invite, but what happens if they drop their final home game on Saturday against struggling Missouri and finish sixth in the conference standings with an 8-8 league mark?

Baylor (20-9) had an RPI of 33 before Wednesday night and seemed to be making a strong case for its first bid since 1988. The Bears had won three in a row to put an earlier four-game losing streak behind them and had a chance to end all doubt by vanquishing visiting Texas A&M, the same team it beat in quintuple overtime earlier this season. Instead, it was the Aggies that scored a 71-57 victory.

Coach Scott Drew’s team, whose best nonconference victory came against Notre Dame back in November, could have to go before the committee with an 8-8 league mark, having lost its last two regular-season games and eight of its last 12 should it lose again on Saturday at Texas Tech.

There’s no doubt Texas A&M (22-8), meanwhile, helped its cause by winning in Waco on Wednesday night, but the Aggies’ hopes had already taken a pretty sizable hit. They’d dropped four of five and had fallen to 48th in the RPI rankings before beating Baylor. It was only Texas A&M’s third road victory of the season.

Coach Mark Turgeon’s squad, which scored just 37 points in Saturday’s loss to Oklahoma, is also fighting the fact that there wasn’t a lot of meat on its nonconference schedule. Its best wins surely came against Washington and Ohio State in the NIT Season Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden, but neither of those teams is likely to play in the NCAA Tournament. It coughed up a 20-point lead to lose at Arizona.

What happens if the Aggies get blitzed by visiting Kansas in their regular-season finale on Saturday in College Station?

Oklahoma State and Texas Tech had also been holding out hope of a late push into the Tournament, which surely would have come at the expense of one of the Big 12’s bubble teams, but those dreams probably died this week. The Cowboys had their five-game winning streak snapped by the Sooners and can finish no better than 8-8. The same goes for the Red Raiders, who followed their upset victory over Texas on Saturday with a 58-point loss to the Kansas with an ESPN audience, unfortunately, watching.

But those two teams still help muddle up the standings, making it hard to decipher how good the bubble teams actually are.

“There’s a lot of teams that are right there around .500. Well, there’s a reason they’re around .500,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “Because they’re good, not because they’re mediocre. It’s hard to win on the road. It’s hard to win in any league, but it’s especially hard to win on the road in our league, and in my opinion, this year it’s been harder than it’s been since I’ve been here because the talent level is so much higher than what it’s been.”

Next week’s Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City will show off that talent and give bubble teams a final chance to state their case. It’d be wise not to blow it.

Rising Team: Kansas

The Jayhawks apparently noticed the calendar turn to March because they seemed to have kicked it into another gear. They avenged an earlier loss to Kansas State by beating the Wildcats 88-74 on Saturday. The game might not have been that close because Kansas owned a double-digit lead for the last 34 minutes. Bill Self’s team followed it up with 109-51 annihilation of Texas Tech on Monday at Allen Fieldhouse. With a victory on Saturday at Texas A&M, the Jayhawks can clinch a share of the Big 12 regular-season title, and they have put themselves back in the running for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Falling Team: Oklahoma State

The Cowboys probably would have had a hard time convincing the selection committee they belonged in the NCAA Tournament even if they had won their final seven regular-season games to get to 9-7 in league play. But the winning streak couldn’t make it past five after Wednesday night’s 68-56 loss to Oklahoma at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater. Now, the best they can realistically hope for is playing spoiler to Texas’ Big 12 title chances on Sunday, then accepting a spot in the NIT after next week’s Big 12 Tournament.

Player of the Week: Michael Beasley, F, Kansas State

Nobody could blame Beasley for coming up short against Kansas in Lawrence. He scored 39 points and ripped down 11 rebounds despite battling early foul trouble on Saturday night’s 88-74 loss. He followed it up with 33 points and 14 rebounds in Tuesday’s 78-72 victory over Colorado to add to his NCAA freshman record for double-doubles, now at 26.

Freshman of the Week: Michael Beasley, F, Kansas State

In other weeks, in an effort to spread the wealth, another freshman has earned the freshman-of-the-week nod, but it’s probably more fitting to heap all the praise on Beasley who might be playing better than he has at any point throughout the season. He’s averaged 36.5 points and 13.3 rebounds in his last four games.

Stats of the Week

10: The number of points Texas A&M scored in the first half of Saturday’s loss at Oklahoma.

20: Baylor’s season win total. It’s the first time the Bears have reached 20 victories since the 1987-88 campaign, which coincidentally was the last time they were invited to the NCAA Tournament.

20-0: Kansas’ home record this season. It marked the first time the Jayhawks have finished a season unbeaten at home since they went 13-0 in the 2001-02 campaign.

58: Kansas’ margin of victory against Texas Tech on Monday night. It was the largest in a conference game in Big 12 history, topping Kansas State’s 55-point win over Missouri on Jan. 3, 1998.

780: Michael Beasley’s point total this season, a Kansas State single-season record. He knocked Mitch Richmond from the record books. Beasley also has 440 points in conference play this season and needs just 23 points to pass Kevin Durant’s single-season conference scoring mark.

They Said It

“I feel like someone put a meat necklace around my neck and threw me into a lion’s den.” — Texas Tech coach Pat Knight, speaking to reporters after his team was flattened by Kansas 109-51 Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse

“I didn’t like that. I have a lot of respect, and I really like Pat. Nobody likes to be on that end. I apologized to Pat after the game. He’s great. He said, ‘It’s not your fault.’” — Kansas coach Bill Self, speaking to reporters after his team stomped Texas Tech by 58 points

“I thought we would get engaged soon, but never in my wildest dreams did I think it would come at a basketball game.” — Kansas State student Stephanie Harwell told the Manhattan Mercury after senior guard Clent Stewart proposed to her during senior night festivities at Bramlage Coliseum

“He’s been here four years, and with the way he’s represented this university, he’s earned the right to do whatever he wanted on Senior Day. … He’s got more courage than I did. I proposed in the bedroom of my apartment looking at the skyline of Cincinnati. He does it in front of 13,000 fans.” — Kansas State coach Frank Martin on Stewart’s surprise proposal

“We really anticipate Blake being able to be back by the Big 12 Tournament. That’s obviously what we’re hoping, and with judging how he played the second half of Texas A&M when it was torn, we anticipate him being able to come back at a high level.” — Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel, whose star freshman Blake Griffin underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Sunday and was expected to miss the final two regular season games

Key Upcoming Games

They’re all big games on the Big 12’s final weekend — well, maybe not the matchup between Colorado and Nebraska on Sunday afternoon in Lincoln.

Saturday, March 8
Baylor at Texas Tech
The Bears are looking to make up for Wednesday’s loss to Texas A&M by beating the Red Raiders, who have dropped only one game in United Spirit Arena all season. With a victory, Baylor could still grab a bye in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament.

Missouri at Oklahoma
The Sooners can lock up the No. 4 seed and a first-round bye if they can beat the Tigers. But they’re expected to be without the services of Blake Griffin as they try to combat Missouri’s frontline duo of Leo Lyons and DeMarre Carroll, who combined for 39 points and 21 rebounds in Saturday’s loss to Baylor and followed it up with 45 points and 17 rebounds in Wednesday’s win over Iowa State. For the Tigers, a win would boost their chances of playing in the NIT for the first time since 2005.

Kansas State at Iowa State
The Wildcats are looking to snap a five-game road losing streak and grab their 10th Big 12 victory of the season. A 10-6 mark wasn’t enough to get K-State into the NCAA Tournament last season, but it should be in this one. Here’s betting Michael Beasley also sets the Big 12 single-season conference scoring mark in this contest.

Kansas at Texas A&M
The Jayhawks can lock up at least a share of the Big 12 regular-season title by beating former KU player turned A&M coach Mark Turgeon, though Kansas would still need some help to be the No. 1 seed in next week’s conference tournament. The game is more important for the Aggies, who might find themselves last in the pecking order of Big 12 teams under consideration for an NCAA bid.

Sunday, March 9
Oklahoma State at Texas
This game lost some of its intrigue when the Cowboys lost to the Sooners on Wednesday. They’re no longer in a position to try to sneak into the NCAA Tournament. But there’s a lot at stake for the Longhorns, who can win their second Big 12 regular-season title in the past three years (both would be shared with Kansas). Texas would also claim the top seed in the Big 12 Tournament because, as in 2006, it beat the Jayhawks head-to-head.

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