Bracketology 2023: 5 things to watch on the first weekend in February

Every Saturday in the Big 12 has a tournament feel

When it is February and all 10 teams in the conference have a record above .500 and all 10 are in the top 64 of the NET with eight of the 10 at 24th or better, every game is pivotal. That has been the case for the best conference in the country, the Big 12, all year long.

Every Saturday becomes Big 12 Saturday with Selection Sunday a little over five weeks away. This Saturday we have a top-10 matchup with No. 10 Texas traveling to Manhattan to take on No. 7 Kansas State, and another ranked matchup between No. 13 Iowa State hosting the No. 8 Kansas Jayhawks. The other three games have Oklahoma State hosting No. 15 TCU, fresh off the heels of knocking off Iowa State. No. 11 Baylor is hosting a Texas Tech team looking for its second conference win, and finally, two bubble teams, Oklahoma and West Virginia do battle in Morgantown.

Depending on where you get your bracketology as many as nine of the 10 teams in the conference are currently either in the field or on the cusp of being in. With about 2/3 of the league schedule left to be played and all of these teams “beating up on each other” will almost certainly prevent that many teams from making the field, but even a Texas Tech team with a 1-8 conference record and one win in the first two quads but a predictive metrics average of 53 is just a few wins away from being in serious consideration to make the field. Every game day in the Big 12 and every remaining Saturday might as well be a Super Saturday.