Looking Ahead To The Big 12 Tournament

The beginning of the conference tournaments kick off the most exciting time of the year in sports.  It is now that the surprises start.  Teams who probably won't get into March Madness on there own now have a chance to win their conference and get an automatic bid.  Teams such as Oklahoma, UConn, North Carolina, and Pittsburgh only have pride and momentum to play for.

Other teams such as Virginia Tech, Tennessee, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State have everything to play for.  Every game is a must win.  The seniors realize that for most of them if they do not when this conference tournament their basketball careers are over.  The NIT is the only thing waiting on them.

So it begins.  Teams that have everything to lose do whatever it takes to win. Looking specifically at the Big 12 there are 3 teams on the bubble.  Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and Texas are already where they need to be, into March Madness.  Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, and Nebraska need a miracle.  Some people think that Oklahoma State and Kansas State might be able to get in without winning the conference tournament, but they don't want to take that chance, they need to win.  Nebraska's only shot to make it into March Madness is by miraculously winning the conference tournament.  It was not this way until they dropped there last three games to Kansas, Texas A&M, and Kansas State.

Each team needs to know what must be done.  The teams that are already set in making March Madness realize that they need to be doing everything they can to prepare for the big show.  Slacking off in the conference tournament can mean losing momentum going into March Madness and risk not playing your best basketball at the beginning of the tournament.  It only takes one year for a person to realize every game is a toss up when it comes to March Madness.  Every team must be playing at the top of its game in order to win, ask Kansas who won it all last year.

The stage is set.  Most teams in the Big 12 have two games left.  Two games in order to fix the final kinks and get the momentum going. 

So what can we expect out of the Big 12 tournament?

1)  Upsets.  The Big 12 tournament is not going to be shy of upsets.  All season long upsets have been taking place and it is going to continue.

2)  Expect the best player in the Big 12 to prove it in this tournament.  Blake Griffin?  Nope...  Sherron Collins.  I am not going to predict who I think will win the tourney here, but I will say look out for Collins.  He has already been a part of a team that won March Madness last year.  He is the undoubted leader of a team that was supposed to be rebuilding, but is going to end up winning the Big 12 regular season.  Blake Griffin is a great talent, but he has not been tested.  Collins is the most clutch player in the nation.  If you do not believe me go back and watch how he single handily beat Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Missouri.  His stats are not the most eye popping, but he in the last five minutes of any game I will take Collins before anyone.

3)  Watch the quiet leaders start to shine.  Nebraska's Nagundara, Mizzou's Carroll, Kansas State's Clemente, OSU's Anderson, and Texas A&M's Carter will all do everything they can to make their teams successful.  These players will be the key if their teams are going to be key if their teams are going to make a run and all of these players have the ability to make it happen.

4)  Rabid fans.  The Big 12 fans are the greatest in the nation and they will show it again this tournament.  Watching some of the regular season games such as OU-Kansas, Mizzou-Kansas, Texas-OU, Texas A&M- Nebraska, and OSU- Texas made chills go down my spine as I watched these fans jump up and down as they screamed for their teams.  They felt the highs and the lows.  They will continue to fight and bleed with their teams in this tournament.

If you are not excited for the Big 12 tournament you don't know what you are missing.

Anything could happen.  

There are 5 teams that have a legitimate shot at winning it all and two others that are not far behind.  It has been a long time since the Big 12 has been this competitive top down and it is going to make for one amazing tournament!

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