Big 12 Parity: How 8 Teams Could Enter the NCAA Tournament

The Big East has had much talk about parity in the middle of the conference.

Of the teams that are in at-large contention for the NCAA Tournament, more than nine teams have five or more losses in conference. Five of them have seven. All the experts have them as at-large bids.

The Big 12 has been having the same kind of season—where's the love for them?

After Kansas and Texas (except recently), these teams are dropping a game a week. Right now, there are seven teams that have single-digit conference losses but are at five losses or higher. Essentially, it's a smaller version of the Big East.

As soon as you think one team is out of it with a bad loss, it gets a quality win to get right back on the bubble. For example, Nebraska beat Missouri (a Top 25 team in the AP poll) after losing at Iowa State (worst team in the conference).

If the Big East is able to get 11 teams in—which is approximately 69 percent of the conference—then the Big 12 should be able to get eight teams in (approximately 67 percent) if certain scenarios happen throughout this week.

Before we get into the scenarios, there are probably Big Ten fans looking at this oddly and wondering why there are only six potential teams that could get in even though their RPI is higher in conference than the Big 12. What's happened is a similar issue to what's going on in the Mountain West; the conference is incredibly top-heavy, and the middle of the pack hasn't played well down the stretch.

Either way, according to Statsheet.com, the RPI difference between the conferences is .003—which isn't much.

So now, what needs to happen for the Big 12 to get eight teams in? Well, the top four teams (Texas, Kansas, Texas A&M and Missouri) will be at-large bids regardless of how they play down the stretch.

Kansas State has an RPI of 17th and SOS (Strength of Schedule) at sixth in the nation and has won its last five games in conference play—including against Texas, Kansas and Missouri. At fourth place in the conference, they're in.

Nebraska and Colorado are similar with an RPI and SOS around the 70s. First, Colorado needs to avoid a loss at Iowa State tonight. Then both these teams will be playing each other on Saturday. A win for either team would help and could possibly guarantee the at-large bid, while the loser may have to win a game in the conference tournament the following week.

Colorado may have the edge already—as it defeated Kansas State twice—while Nebraska lost to the Wildcats twice.

Both Jerry Palm of CBS Sports and Joe Lunardi of ESPN have removed Baylor from their brackets after last night's loss to Oklahoma State. If Baylor defeats Texas this Saturday, I think it'll have enough on its resume to get in. A win in the conference tournament won't hurt, but its RPI would rise, and the SOS is in the 50s.

What about Oklahoma State? Well, this team cannot finish above .500 in the conference. Even with an RPI and SOS in the 50s, that's a big mark against them. Also, they haven't played nearly as well as Colorado or Nebraska has lately—and there's the Texas factor involved. Both of these teams have defeated the Longhorns, while the Cowboys lost to them twice.

I'm not saying it will happen. Some scenarios may not work out, and the committee may see a few things differently than I do.

But the possibility is there. It's very similar to the Big East, and if you're going to let those 11 teams in the tournament, there's no reason that the Big 12 couldn't get eight teams in.