Big 12 Tournament Thread - Page 9

ChiefsCountry · 03-13-2008, 10:51 AM

Didnt see a thread about it, Ok State and Texas Tech is on ESPN2 right now.

BWillie · 03-15-2008, 09:32 PM

BTW, I still don't understand why people think the winner of tomorrows Big 12 Championship will get a #1 seed. Tomorrows game has absolutely no bearing on seeding unless at half time it's just a blood bath. That is the only way. Even the talking heads on ESPN refuse to acknowledge this. Every year they interview the head of the committee and every year they say the game ends too late and they can't take it to account.

#1 Seeds are in stone...
UNC
MEMPHIS
UCLA
KANSAS

It doesn't even matter if we lose tomorrow. We are getting a number one seed.

Tennessee lost. Duke lost their shot at it. G-Town lost.

Mark it down.

I would anticipate the #2 seeds to be..

Tennessee
Texas
Duke
Georgetown

**Bearcat** · 03-15-2008, 09:59 PM

The 'meaningless' title game could pay off down the road
By Tim Griffin
ESPN.com
(Archive)
Updated: March 15, 2008

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Texas and Kansas will meet Sunday in what is evolving into the Big 12's clash of basketball titans.

It might not matter much in the grand scheme of most bracketologists -- particularly those who matter the most. It's hard to believe the NCAA selection committee will break out the Liquid Paper for a major late revision based on the final results of the Big 12's championship game that will end less than an hour before their show airs.

Which is a shame. Because in its own way, the annual battle between the Longhorns and Jayhawks is evolving into the kind of rivalry that at least bears mention with Duke-North Carolina, Stanford-UCLA or Tennessee-Kentucky among college basketball's best.

Most mock brackets have the Longhorns and Jayhawks both as solid second seeds after Saturday's semifinal victories. Texas looked much better in its 77-49 thrashing of Oklahoma than Kansas, which needed a huge game from Brandon Rush to claim a grinding 77-71 triumph over Texas A&M.

But it's hard to believe Sunday's results will attract much notice from those sequestered in the Indianapolis hotel meeting room that everybody in college basketball is concerned about.

"I'd like to think that whoever wins the game tomorrow is among the top four teams in the country," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "But I don't want to tell the committee how to do its job."

Texas was able to roll into the Big 12 final by routing rival Oklahoma, 77-49.

Texas will be seeking its first Big 12 tournament championship after losing in the final four times. The culprit the past two years has been Kansas, which has claimed a record five Big 12 tournament championships.

"I guess it's a tradition for Texas and Kansas to end up in the championship game," Kansas forward Darnell Jackson said. "There's a lot of tradition with Kansas and with Texas. I think our whole mind-set is that these two programs want to win everything."

For everything Barnes has accomplished in Austin, the lack of a Big 12 title is still a motivational factor for his current players. There has been a Final Four trip, enough top players to stock an NBA franchise and an awakening that has enabled the Longhorns to be mentioned as one of the nation's best programs.

But they still haven't cut the nets at the end of a Big 12 title -- something that has been mentioned more than once since the Longhorns arrived in Kansas City.

"We've been working since the summer and the preseason for this game," Texas guard A.J. Abrams said after scoring 24 points to lead the Longhorns' victory over Oklahoma. "We took care of our business and got to where we want to be."

This will be a fun game. It will be an up-tempo game against a tough, tough opponent. It's something we need to get used to.

The regular season has been different. The two teams have split the past eight regular-season games in the series, with the squad with home-court advantage prevailing every time.

Texas claimed a 72-69 victory in Austin on Feb. 11 over the then-No. 3 Jayhawks that enabled the Horns to claim a share of the Big 12 regular-season title.

The Jayhawks remember that game because they were uncharacteristically pummeled inside -- by Texas forward Damion James, who grabbed all 13 of his rebounds in the second half.

Sunday's game also will be an interesting matchup of strong backcourts that boast best players who have been peaking late in the season.

Texas guard D.J. Augustin has overcome a midseason slump that crested in a 1-for-13 shooting slump against the Jayhawks in the first game. Since then, he has averaged 21.2 points and five assists per game.

"Where he's really improved so much in the last month is his concentration," Barnes said. "I thought he was masterful with the way he worked the game for us."

The Jayhawks have received their own backcourt lift since the first Texas game, courtesy of the return to form of guard Sherron Collins. Even though he still hasn't cracked the starting lineup, Collins has been the pivotal player in Kansas' recent spurt.

Collins finally has approached his level of last season in the past two weeks, averaging 13.2 points per game in his past five games.

"He has the best presence of anybody on the court for us," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "And we missed that when he was gone. We played pretty good without him, but certainly, he can take our team to another level if everybody is playing well."

Collins and Augustin will be on display in what should be an entertaining game with a lot of intensity. It's too bad it couldn't be played a day earlier to be truly savored -- and maybe have some meaning when the No. 1 teams are selected.

"This will be a fun game," Collins said. "It will be an up-tempo game against a tough, tough opponent. It's something we need to get used to."

Which is why the championship game that might not matter ultimately could pay big dividends for both teams in upcoming weeks.

**Bearcat** · 03-15-2008, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BWillie007

BTW, I still don't understand why people think the winner of tomorrows Big 12 Championship will get a #1 seed. Tomorrows game has absolutely no bearing on seeding unless at half time it's just a blood bath. That is the only way. Even the talking heads on ESPN refuse to acknowledge this. Every year they interview the head of the committee and every year they say the game ends too late and they can't take it to account.

#1 Seeds are in stone...
UNC
MEMPHIS
UCLA
KANSAS

It doesn't even matter if we lose tomorrow. We are getting a number one seed.

Tennessee lost. Duke lost their shot at it. G-Town lost.

Mark it down.

I would anticipate the #2 seeds to be..

Tennessee
Texas
Duke
Georgetown

I'd like to think it matters, but you're right, it's not going to matter. I was thinking they could swap them pretty easily at the last minute, but once I typed it out on the other thread I realized it's not that easy... If Kansas wins, they'll go to Houston, but if Texas wins, they would probably be sent to Detroit. They have to decide where they want the teams and seed accordingly.

If I had to pick one now though, I'd pick Texas... They beat Tennessee and UCLA, and lost to Michigan State and Wisconsin by a combined 6 points. Oh yeah, and they beat Kansas.

I don't care either way, as long as we go to Omaha (which is set in stone) and then Detroit or Houston.

**Skip Towne** · 03-15-2008, 10:18 PM

Is KSU on the bubble? Following is a partial list of teams with more wins than them: Kansas, Texas, OU, Baylor, aTm, Stanford, Wash. St., USC, UNC, Duke, Clemson, Miami, Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana, Mich. St., Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame, UConn, Marquette, W.VA., Pitt, Tenn., Vandy, Florida, Miss. St., Arkansas, Miss., Xavier, UMass, St. Joe, Memphis, UAB, Houston, Gonzaga and St. Mary's. Plus a whole shitload of mid-majors.

**Bearcat** · 03-15-2008, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skip Towne

Is KSU on the bubble? Following is a partial list of teams with more wins than them: Kansas, Texas, OU, Baylor, aTm, Stanford, Wash. St., USC, UNC, Duke, Clemson, Miami, Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana, Mich. St., Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame, UConn, Marquette, W.VA., Pitt, Tenn., Vandy, Florida, Miss. St., Arkansas, Miss., Xavier, UMass, St. Joe, Memphis, UAB, Houston, Gonzaga and St. Mary's. Plus a whole shitload of mid-majors.

I'd take KSU and even Baylor over the bubble Big East teams.

Lunardi had Temple in as an at-large before they happened to win their tournament tonight... their only big quality win was Xavier, and after that it's other bubble teams like St. Joseph's and UMass
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/teams/schedule?teamId=218

He also has Illinois State in, whose best win is against SIU (twice).
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/teams/...le?teamId=2287

KSU has to be in before those types of mid-majors get in.

BWillie · 03-16-2008, 12:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bearcat

I'd like to think it matters, but you're right, it's not going to matter. I was thinking they could swap them pretty easily at the last minute, but once I typed it out on the other thread I realized it's not that easy... If Kansas wins, they'll go to Houston, but if Texas wins, they would probably be sent to Detroit. They have to decide where they want the teams and seed accordingly.

If I had to pick one now though, I'd pick Texas... They beat Tennessee and UCLA, and lost to Michigan State and Wisconsin by a combined 6 points. Oh yeah, and they beat Kansas.

I don't care either way, as long as we go to Omaha (which is set in stone) and then Detroit or Houston.

They always say it doesn't matter. And it's the Big 12's fault. At least they are going to Wed-Sat next year. I just hope Illinois takes down Wisconsin. That would be hilarious. The committee would be scrambling to figure out how to re-arrange everything. You would think they would be smart enough to have a bracket for each scenario regarding the outcome of Sunday's conference championship but I guess that is too much to ask

milkman · 03-16-2008, 06:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BWillie007

They always say it doesn't matter. And it's the Big 12's fault. At least they are going to Wed-Sat next year. I just hope Illinois takes down Wisconsin. That would be hilarious. The committee would be scrambling to figure out how to re-arrange everything. You would think they would be smart enough to have a bracket for each scenario regarding the outcome of Sunday's conference championship but I guess that is too much to ask

In some ways, the Tournament selection process is just as ****ed up as the BCS selection process.

What the hell is the ****ing rush?

Why the hell can't the committe wait till the finsh of conference tournaments to finalize their selections and seedings?

And why the hell can't they watch the games while they are discussing the selections?

It's all a bunch of dumbassery if you ask me.

**Bearcat** · 03-16-2008, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkman

In some ways, the Tournament selection process is just as ****ed up as the BCS selection process.

What the hell is the ****ing rush?

Why the hell can't the committe wait till the finsh of conference tournaments to finalize their selections and seedings?

And why the hell can't they watch the games while they are discussing the selections?

It's all a bunch of dumbassery if you ask me.

Every conference wants to be in the spotlight and doesn't want 5 other games going on at the same time, and CBS doesn't want the selection show to be during primetime and interrupt [sarcasm]such highly rated shows[/sarcasm] such as 60 minutes and whatever the hell is on CBS on Sunday nights.

It is dumb that they can't play out different scenarios, because by the time they start there are only 2 games left to play.. the Big 12 and Big 11. Then again, I guess that could get pretty complicated, because they might want to send Kansas to Houston if they win but Texas to Detroit if they win, etc. I'm surprised the Big 12 is doing the right thing for the teams and players.

ArrowheadHawk · 03-16-2008, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bearcat

Every conference wants to be in the spotlight and doesn't want 5 other games going on at the same time, and CBS doesn't want the selection show to be during primetime and interrupt [sarcasm]such highly rated shows[/sarcasm] such as 60 minutes and whatever the hell is on CBS on Sunday nights.

It is dumb that they can't play out different scenarios, because by the time they start there are only 2 games left to play.. the Big 12 and Big 11. Then again, I guess that could get pretty complicated, because they might want to send Kansas to Houston if they win but Texas to Detroit if they win, etc. I'm surprised the Big 12 is doing the right thing for the teams and players.

If only they would play the big 12 tourney on national tv. HD would be nice.

**Lzen** · 03-16-2008, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArrowheadHawk

If only they would play the big 12 tourney on national tv. HD would be nice.

I think it is simulcast on ESPN 2. Don't know about the HD, though. They blacked out the ESPN 2 broadcast so that I could watch the horrible picture on my local station.

I think it has to do with the conference's contract with Phillips 66. Anyhoo, the B12 Championship game is on ESPN today.

**Bearcat** · 03-16-2008, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArrowheadHawk

If only they would play the big 12 tourney on national tv. HD would be nice.

Maybe we can trick ESPN into thinking we're East-coast-bias material and rename the conference the Big MidEast... then our quarterfinals would be at least ESPN2 material, and our semis would be on ESPN with the ACC and Big East.

Hell, Marquette and DePaul get the benefit of being in the Big East, and there's nothing East about them!

03-13-2008, 10:51 AM
ChiefsCountry The Insider Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Lake of the Ozarks Casino cash: $-1561248	Big 12 Tournament Thread Didnt see a thread about it, Ok State and Texas Tech is on ESPN2 right now.
Posts: 52,117

03-15-2008, 09:32 PM	#121
BWillie Are you ready to Rumble? Join Date: Apr 2006 Casino cash: $-1438759	BTW, I still don't understand why people think the winner of tomorrows Big 12 Championship will get a #1 seed. Tomorrows game has absolutely no bearing on seeding unless at half time it's just a blood bath. That is the only way. Even the talking heads on ESPN refuse to acknowledge this. Every year they interview the head of the committee and every year they say the game ends too late and they can't take it to account. #1 Seeds are in stone... UNC MEMPHIS UCLA KANSAS It doesn't even matter if we lose tomorrow. We are getting a number one seed. Tennessee lost. Duke lost their shot at it. G-Town lost. Mark it down. I would anticipate the #2 seeds to be.. Tennessee Texas Duke Georgetown
Posts: 52,818

03-15-2008, 09:59 PM	#122
Bearcat Would an idiot do that? Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Arizona Casino cash: $-1045069	The 'meaningless' title game could pay off down the road By Tim Griffin ESPN.com (Archive) Updated: March 15, 2008 KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Texas and Kansas will meet Sunday in what is evolving into the Big 12's clash of basketball titans. It might not matter much in the grand scheme of most bracketologists -- particularly those who matter the most. It's hard to believe the NCAA selection committee will break out the Liquid Paper for a major late revision based on the final results of the Big 12's championship game that will end less than an hour before their show airs. Which is a shame. Because in its own way, the annual battle between the Longhorns and Jayhawks is evolving into the kind of rivalry that at least bears mention with Duke-North Carolina, Stanford-UCLA or Tennessee-Kentucky among college basketball's best. Most mock brackets have the Longhorns and Jayhawks both as solid second seeds after Saturday's semifinal victories. Texas looked much better in its 77-49 thrashing of Oklahoma than Kansas, which needed a huge game from Brandon Rush to claim a grinding 77-71 triumph over Texas A&M. But it's hard to believe Sunday's results will attract much notice from those sequestered in the Indianapolis hotel meeting room that everybody in college basketball is concerned about. "I'd like to think that whoever wins the game tomorrow is among the top four teams in the country," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "But I don't want to tell the committee how to do its job." Texas was able to roll into the Big 12 final by routing rival Oklahoma, 77-49. Texas will be seeking its first Big 12 tournament championship after losing in the final four times. The culprit the past two years has been Kansas, which has claimed a record five Big 12 tournament championships. "I guess it's a tradition for Texas and Kansas to end up in the championship game," Kansas forward Darnell Jackson said. "There's a lot of tradition with Kansas and with Texas. I think our whole mind-set is that these two programs want to win everything." For everything Barnes has accomplished in Austin, the lack of a Big 12 title is still a motivational factor for his current players. There has been a Final Four trip, enough top players to stock an NBA franchise and an awakening that has enabled the Longhorns to be mentioned as one of the nation's best programs. But they still haven't cut the nets at the end of a Big 12 title -- something that has been mentioned more than once since the Longhorns arrived in Kansas City. "We've been working since the summer and the preseason for this game," Texas guard A.J. Abrams said after scoring 24 points to lead the Longhorns' victory over Oklahoma. "We took care of our business and got to where we want to be." This will be a fun game. It will be an up-tempo game against a tough, tough opponent. It's something we need to get used to. The regular season has been different. The two teams have split the past eight regular-season games in the series, with the squad with home-court advantage prevailing every time. Texas claimed a 72-69 victory in Austin on Feb. 11 over the then-No. 3 Jayhawks that enabled the Horns to claim a share of the Big 12 regular-season title. The Jayhawks remember that game because they were uncharacteristically pummeled inside -- by Texas forward Damion James, who grabbed all 13 of his rebounds in the second half. Sunday's game also will be an interesting matchup of strong backcourts that boast best players who have been peaking late in the season. Texas guard D.J. Augustin has overcome a midseason slump that crested in a 1-for-13 shooting slump against the Jayhawks in the first game. Since then, he has averaged 21.2 points and five assists per game. "Where he's really improved so much in the last month is his concentration," Barnes said. "I thought he was masterful with the way he worked the game for us." The Jayhawks have received their own backcourt lift since the first Texas game, courtesy of the return to form of guard Sherron Collins. Even though he still hasn't cracked the starting lineup, Collins has been the pivotal player in Kansas' recent spurt. Collins finally has approached his level of last season in the past two weeks, averaging 13.2 points per game in his past five games. "He has the best presence of anybody on the court for us," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "And we missed that when he was gone. We played pretty good without him, but certainly, he can take our team to another level if everybody is playing well." Collins and Augustin will be on display in what should be an entertaining game with a lot of intensity. It's too bad it couldn't be played a day earlier to be truly savored -- and maybe have some meaning when the No. 1 teams are selected. "This will be a fun game," Collins said. "It will be an up-tempo game against a tough, tough opponent. It's something we need to get used to." Which is why the championship game that might not matter ultimately could pay big dividends for both teams in upcoming weeks.
Posts: 59,595

03-15-2008, 10:18 PM	#124
Skip Towne Supporter Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: T-Town Casino cash: $10004900	Is KSU on the bubble? Following is a partial list of teams with more wins than them: Kansas, Texas, OU, Baylor, aTm, Stanford, Wash. St., USC, UNC, Duke, Clemson, Miami, Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana, Mich. St., Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame, UConn, Marquette, W.VA., Pitt, Tenn., Vandy, Florida, Miss. St., Arkansas, Miss., Xavier, UMass, St. Joe, Memphis, UAB, Houston, Gonzaga and St. Mary's. Plus a whole shitload of mid-majors.
Posts: 69,689

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