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BIG 12 CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT SEEDING:

1. Oklahoma
2. Kansas
3. Oklahoma State
4. Texas Tech
5. Iowa State
6. Texas
7. Texas A&M
8. Missouri
9. Nebraska
10. Kansas State
11. Colorado
12. Baylor

Oklahoma and Kansas actually tied for the conference title, but because of Oklahoma’s head-to-head win over the Jayhawks, the Sooners take the top seed in what should be an interesting conference tournament.

Kansas suffered a huge setback when senior Keith Langford injured his left ankle against Missouri. It is possible that he will be out for the Big 12 tournament, which makes the Jayhawks extremely vulnerable. Granted, they’d rather make a run at the final four over winning their conference, but this could open up an opportunity for one of those teams with work still to do to grab an NCAA at- large birth, as an upset win over Kansas would make quite the statement. The Jayhawks should not be sold short, however, as they still boast the conference’s leading scorer and rebounder in Wayne Simien (19.4 points, 11.1 rebounds per game), and top assist man in Aaron Miles (7.3 assists per game). On the flip side of all this, if Kansas were to win the Big 12 tournament, it would strengthen their case for a one seed in the NCAA tournament.

Teams that fall under the “still need work” category are Iowa State and Texas A&M. The Cyclones have had a solid year, and their body of work merits an NCAA tournament birth, with wins at Kansas, at Texas, and at home over Oklahoma and Texas Tech. However, they started out 0-5 in the conference with some suspect losses before bouncing back to finish at 9-7. They’re 4/5 battle with Bobby Knight’s Texas Tech team should be one of the better games in this bracket. In their only meeting of the year, the Cyclones won at home, 81-68, but with “The General” in the house, who knows what can happen.

Texas A&M could be the team to pull off the Kansas upset in the second round of this tournament. If the Aggies get by Kansas State in the first round, they’ll meet the Jayhawks, with whom they played an extremely competitive game before losing by five in Kansas early this season. A&M has one of the premier players in the country in junior guard/forward Antoine Wright, and the Aggies could make a splash by making it to the semifinals.

Oklahoma State is powered by veteran experience and star power. The Cowboys start four seniors—quite the rarity in college basketball today—led by All-Big 12 first-teamers point guard John Lucas and do-it-all forward Joey Graham. The Cowboys have only one bad loss all year, their 74-67 slip up at Nebraska two weeks ago, and look primed to make a run at the Big 12 tournament championship.

Waiting for the Cowboys in the final should be in- state rival Oklahoma. The Sooners quietly won the regular season championship, and have flown under the radar for much of the year. Junior college transfer, conference newcomer of the year, and All-Big 12 first team member Taj Gray has been one of the key factors in their comeback from last year’s disappointment. Gray leads the team in points (14.7 per game) and rebounds (7.8 per game), and he along with Kevin Bookout form a very formidable front line.

Look for an Oklahoma civil war with the Cowboys emerging on top. Oklahoma State would make a very strong case for a top seed in the NCAA tournament if they were to win the Big 12 and a team like Kentucky were to get upset in their conference tournament.