Big 12 hoops: Previewing another big conference Saturday

By Anthony Slater – Aslater@opubco.com - @anthonyVslater

Here are Saturday’s five Big 12 games:

Texas Tech at Iowa State (12:45 p.m. on ESPN3)  - The Red Raiders are 3-20 in Big 12 road games the past three years. Iowa State has won 21 straight games at Hilton Coliseum (an underrated home court advantage), including 12 against conference foes. I’m sure this’ll be a fun one.

Oklahoma State at West Virginia (1 p.m. on ESPN2) - This feels like a vital game for the Pokes. They can come out fired up, shake off that brutal double OT loss to Kansas and start a new win streak against one of the worst West Virginia teams in years. Or they could show up hungover and traumatized from Wednesday night’s dramatics, play sloppy and sluggish, giving WVU and its disappointed crowd a reason to get into it. We should know which way it’s going early in the game.

TCU at Kansas (3 p.m. on ESPN3) - The Jayhawks revenge tour continues. And this one could get ugly. TCU somehow (and I’m still not sure how the basketball Gods pulled it off) beat KU down in Fort Worth. How much does Vegas care? They labeled Kansas as 25-point favorites in this one. I’m not sure I’ve seen a conference line that high. Guess that’s what happens when some angry eight-time defending champs play a floundering 1-12 squad.