Big 12 Tournament 2012: Missouri Deserves No. 1 Seed in NCAA Tournament

Missouri never let up against Baylor on Saturday night and they ended up defeating the Bears 90-75, making a great case as to why they deserve the final No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Kentucky, Syracuse and North Carolina are all but guaranteed the top seed status that will be awarded on Sunday night, but the Missouri Tigers are among a group of teams fighting for that last No. 1 seed.

Ohio State, Missouri, Kansas and Michigan State are all in competition for that elusive top seed. Ohio State defeated Michigan on Saturday, setting up a meeting with Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament championship. Kansas was bounced from the Big 12 tournament by Baylor on Friday, who then lost to Missouri in the Big 12 championship on Saturday night.

However, Missouri's 30-4 record, including going 14-4 in the Big 12 Conference may be the best case for the No. 1 seed, especially after they handled Baylor quite convincingly on Saturday night. They split the season series with Kansas this year, losing most recently to the Jayhawks in overtime on Feb. 25.

Missouri knew they had to win the Big 12 tournament in order to be in consideration for a No. 1 seed, but seeing Kansas lose to a Baylor team that the Tigers had close to zero problem with on Saturday night sure does make a point to the selection committee.

Ohio State also makes a strong case for why they deserve to be a No. 1 seed, as they defeated Michigan with zero doubt on Saturday. However, they will need to beat Michigan State by a good margin on Sunday in order to sway the selection committee to choose them.

The only thing knocking this Missouri team would be that they have not had that signature win beyond beating Kansas in early February. They did sweep the season series with Baylor, actually beating them three times now, but the selection committee could side with Ohio State or Kansas because they have been that consistent powerhouse team all season long.  

Missouri is hot right now and showed the nation why they deserve that No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament by dismantling the field in the Big 12. It was tournament they knew they had to win, and they did exactly that.