Big 12 Basketball: 2020 conference tournament preview and predictions

Key Teams

Kansas is easily the favorite to win the tournament, and rightfully so, as they’re the first ranked team in the country in the AP poll, and in the NET rankings. Dotson is the leading scorer in the conference, Azubukie is the conference player of the year, as there is just not much to not like about this Kansas Jayhawk team. Since their loss to Baylor at home, they’ve collected 16 straight wins, including a rematch against the Bears, where they won 64-61. Not only is the Jayhawks a threat to win the conference tournament, but they’re one of my favorites to compete for a national championship.

The team that’s the biggest threat to Kansas is Baylor, as they’re a top 5 team nationally and in the NET, and is a projected number one seed in the tournament as well. Baylor is also the only Big-12 team to draw blood on the Jayhawks this season, as they beat them in Allen Fieldhouse. The problem, however, is that Baylor has lost two of their last three games against TCU and West Virginia, and could slip up before they get a chance at Kansas again.

My dark horse to win the tournament, or make it to the finals is the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Texas Tech is SO MUCH better than their record indicates, as every single big game this team has they come up just short, as they recently gave both Kansas and Baylor scares, losing by just four and three points respectively.

There’s this ageless saying of teams “peaking at the right time”, and I don’t think this Red Raiders team have played their best ball with a chance to do so in the Big-12 tournament, against four teams with projected seeds of 9th or higher, and two number one seeds, as they have a chance to skyrocket themselves up the seed line.