Big 12 Weekend Preview: Kansas Jayhawks Could Provide New Definition of “Pain” Against TCU Horned Frogs
By Brian Spaen
Both Kansas schools will be fighting to stay in the top spot in the conference this weekend while Oklahoma State will try and rebound from their loss to the Jayhawks on Wednesday. It’s going to be a tougher than anticipated road trip for the Cowboys.
Feb 20, 2013; Waco, TX, USA; Iowa State Cyclones forward Georges Niang (31) celebrates with guard Chris Babb (2) after a score against the Baylor Bears during the second half at the Ferrell Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Is there any chance for the Iowa State Cyclones to get back into conference title contention? Not unless miracles are performed on Saturday.
Texas Tech at Iowa State – 12:45 PM, Big 12 Network (WOI-TV)
Preview/prediction coming tomorrow morning.
(14)Oklahoma State at West Virginia – 1:00 PM, ESPN2
Size is one of the biggest advantages WVU has all season, and they’ve kept things close with both Kansas and Kansas State in Morgantown. How will the Cowboys answer after dropping a heartbreaking loss to Kansas and having a banged up Marcus Smart? They must win to stay in contention of a Big 12 title, and I think they will get it.
Cowboys 64, Mountaineers 60
TCU at (9)Kansas – 3:00 PM, Big 12 Network (WOI-TV)
This could be a bloodbath. Whatever happened February 6th won’t happen again, and since Bill Self isn’t that much of an asshole, he’ll keep his team from getting past the century mark.
Jayhawks 98, Horned Frogs 55
Baylor at Oklahoma – 4:00 PM, ESPNU
Who knows what will happen in this matchup. The Bears are near the brink of elimination for NCAA tournament contention while the Sooners would like to get something better than an eight or nine seed. Since the Sooners held a commanding lead on the road against them in their first meeting, I got them pulling away at home this time.
Sooners 81, Bears 73
(13)Kansas State at Texas – 7:00 PM, Longhorn Network
The Wildcats are certainly making teams pay after getting trounced by their rivals a few weeks ago. Nobody in the nation will be able to watch the game, but the Longhorns are 2-0 in conference play on their network for what it’s worth. Yeah, it’s not worth anything.
Wildcats 71, Longhorns 56
Feb 20, 2013; Stillwater, OK, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Elijah Johnson (15) goes to the basket in front of Oklahoma State Cowboys defender Markel Brown during the second half at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Kansas won 68-67 in double overtime. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo J. Adams-USA TODAY Sports
Clones Confidential Big 12 Power Rankings
- (9)Kansas (22-4, 10-3) LW: 2
- (14)Oklahoma State (19-6, 9-4) LW: 1
- (13)Kansas State (21-5, 10-3) LW: 3
- Iowa State (18-8, 8-5) LW: 4
- Oklahoma (17-8, 8-5) LW: 5
- Baylor (16-10, 7-6) LW: 6
- West Virginia (13-13, 6-7) LW: 8
- Texas (12-14, 4-9) LW: 7
- TCU (10-16, 1-12) LW: 9
- Texas Tech (9-15, 2-11) LW: 10
Not much change this week with the exception of me finally getting off my “I hate Kansas” pedestal and putting the Jayhawks back at the top. They (kind of) earned it with that (non-impressive) win at Stillwater. Texas and WVU also flipped spots because apparently the Texas Longhorns just want to score against Iowa State all season. Go figure.
Brian Spaen is the lead editor of Clones Confidential. Get more Cyclones coverage by following us on Twitter and Facebook.