8 Must-Watch Conference Tournament Games For Thursday
By Jacob Rude
2. Baylor vs. West Virginia, 12:30 PM, ESPN2
Don’t you love the Big 12, which gives us 2/3rds of our top 3 in today’s must-watch games, with three of the four teams being ranked in the last top 25 and the fourth a preseason top-10 ranked team?
The Golden Bears of Baylor and the Mountaineers of West Virginia finished the season with identical 23-8 overall records and 11-7 records in the conference. However, in head-to-head match-ups this year, Baylor owned West Virginia, thumping them by 18 points in Morgantown in their first go-round and handing them a 12-point loss in Texas in round 2.
But, much like the unpredictability of Big 12 goes, Baylor lost against Texas in it’s penultimate game and barely escaped Texas Tech in their regular season finale.
West Virginia, meanwhile, one-upped the Bears by losing two of it’s final three games, albeit it to Baylor itself and the Kansas Jayhawks, but losses nonetheless. With both teams securely in the tournament, this game will be for bragging rights and a chance to move one step closer to a Big 12 tournament title, which would be no small feat in this year’s Big 12.
Winner: West Virginia (because logic).
Next: UNC vs. Louisville