After two weeks of Big 12 play, just one teams remains undefeated, and it's not pre-season conference favorite Kansas. The hated Texas A&M Aggies are alone in first place at 4-0 after their impressive home win over Oklahoma State. Texas, Kansas, and Texas Tech are all just a game out at 3-1.
Kansas State has now won three straight, including two on the road, to improve to 3-2 in the Big 12. The Wildcats and Red Raiders will likely be positioning throughout the season for the conference's fifth bid into the NCAA tournament.
In ten Big 12 games last week, the home team went 9-1. Kansas State claimed the lone road win in the last seven days with a nine point win over reeling Iowa State on Saturday afternoon.
Let's take a look at the Big 12 Games of the Week:
Monday
Oklahoma (11-6, 3-2) at Oklahoma State (16-3, 2-2) 8 PM ESPN
The first of two "Bedlam" meetings will be shown to a national audience tonight on ESPN. The Sooners are above .500 in conference for the first time all season and appear to be back on track. They easily took care of Nebraska and Baylor at home last week. Longar Longar is also back after serving a two game suspension. The Cowboys split their games last week, beating the Horns but falling to the Aggies in College Station. OU took both meetings in this series last season. Even with Longar, the Sooners likely don't have enough to pull off an upset this season in Stillwater.
Wednesday
Texas A&M (16-2, 4-0) at Texas Tech (14-5, 3-1) 7 PM ESPN Plus
For the first time all year, the Aggies beat a quality opponent. They are really playing well on offense and defense. Billy Gillespie's club is one of only three teams ranked in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. The other two are Florida and North Carolina. Not bad company. Meanwhile, Texas Tech pulled off their biggest win of the season by downing #5 Kansas in Lubbock on Saturday. The Red Raiders aren't good enough to beat two top 10 teams in a week. A&M manhandles Bob Knight's club in any ugly contest.
Saturday
Baylor (11-7, 1-4) at Texas (13-5, 3-1) 5 PM ESPN2
There are six conference games on Saturday, but none are very interesting. So, let's go with ours. The Horns will return to the Drum for the first time in two weeks. Texas will either have lost three straight or have stolen one in Lincoln on Wednesday night to stop the bleeding. I keep saying that Baylor is better this year than last but their conference schedule has been brutal. Four of their first seven in conference will be road games. The three home games are no bargains either: A&M, Tech, and Kansas. The Bears have talent at guard but not enough talent yet to compete with the other Big 12 south schools. Texas wins easily.
--AW--