Busting Brackets
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Big 12 Basketball: Buy or sell Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and Texas Tech

By Joe Cook-Shugart

LAWRENCE, KANSAS - JANUARY 21: Kansas Jayhawks mascots perform during the game against the Iowa State Cyclones at Allen Fieldhouse on January 21, 2019 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
LAWRENCE, KANSAS - JANUARY 21: Kansas Jayhawks mascots perform during the game against the Iowa State Cyclones at Allen Fieldhouse on January 21, 2019 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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LUBBOCK, TX – JANUARY 28: Jarrett Culver #23 and Davide Moretti #25 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders celebrate during the second half of the game against the TCU Horned Frogs on January 28, 2019 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. Texas Tech defeated TCU 84-65. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TX – JANUARY 28: Jarrett Culver #23 and Davide Moretti #25 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders celebrate during the second half of the game against the TCU Horned Frogs on January 28, 2019 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. Texas Tech defeated TCU 84-65. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /

Texas Tech Red Raiders

Expectation: Make the Final Four
Buy or Sell: Sell

Last year, in Chris Beard’s second season in Lubbock, Texas Tech completed a stellar run to the Elite 8 before running into the buzzsaw that was the eventual national champion Villanova Wildcats. After coming so close to a banner last season and getting out to 18-5 start this season, Red Raider Nation has every reason to expect their squad to make it to Minneapolis.

This team’s defense might be even better than last year’s version, but this team’s offense is definitively worse. Jarrett Culver has stepped up to fill in the leading role shoes that Keenan Evans left empty, but he is still the same turnover-prone player and mediocre free-throw shooter he was as a freshman. Add that to the fact that South Dakota transfer Matt Mooney has predictably regressed in his jump from The Summit to the Big 12, and you do not have a recipe for success.

The Red Raiders have averaged a measly 58.4 points per game in their 5 losses this season. Even with the stellar defense they are capable of playing, come tournament time, at some point they’re going to catch a team on a hot shooting night; they just will not have the offensive firepower to keep up.

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