Big 12 falters in NCAA Tournament

Barring the unlikely scenario that both Baylor and Kansas State make the Final Four, the Big 12 did not produce in the NCAA Tournament. The idea that the Big 12 was the nation’s best conference did not hold up. Here are my thoughts on the Big 12 teams:

Kansas: We can’t be too hard on the Jayhawks. Sure, KU had no business losing to Northern Iowa. But Kansas has carried the basketball load for the Big 12 for a long time; you can’t expect the Jayhawks to be invincible. KU’s loss is part of the Big 12 disappointment but by no means is it predominant.

Kansas State: Not too many better days for Wildcat fans than Saturday. They reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in 22 years and got to sit and watching Kansas lose in an epic upset. Now the Wildcats get Xavier in the regional semifinals. Won’t be easy. But not a huge mountain.

Baylor: Time to hand in your Baylor Bashing cards. The Bears in the Sweet 16? Talk about helping the conference. Baylor is running into a buzzsaw in Saint Mary’s, after victories over Old Dominion and Sam Houston State. I haven’t studied it, but you won’t find many teams that have reached a regional final without beating a team from a BCS conference.

Texas A&M:Massively disappointed in A&M. If the Aggies had beaten Purdue on Sunday, the Big 12 would be the most successful league in this NCAA. Let’s look at the record. Best record: Big 10 7-2, followed by the Pac-10 and West Coast Conference at 3-1, SEC 4-2, Big 12 7-5, Big East 6-6, ACC 5-5. The Big Ten has the most teams in the Sweet 16, with Purdue, Michigan State and Ohio State. Followed by the Big 12, Big East (Syracuse and West Virginia) and SEC (Tennessee and Kentucky). If A&M had beaten Purdue in that overtime game, the Big 12 would be 8-4, the Big Ten 6-3 and the Big 12 would have three in the Sweet 16. And A&M should have won. Purdue was playing without its best player.