The Big 12 men’s basketball regular season ends on Saturday and when it comes to the Big 12 Tournament there are still some things to settle.
How does a five-way tie sound? There is certainly the potential for it. That would be some tiebreaker chaos if it happens.
The double byes are solidified. So are the bottom two seeds in the bracket. In between, we have the possibility for some movement, which all depends on Saturday’s games. All 16 teams are in action, and we should know the bracket by midnight central.
As a reminder, we used the Big 12 rules on the web site for tiebreakers.
If the Big 12 men’s tournament started today, here is how the tournament would be seeded.
Seeds Nos. 1-4: Double Byes
No. 1 Houston (18-1)
No. 2 Texas Tech (14-5)
No. 3 Arizona (14-5)
No. 4 BYU (13-6)
The double byes are now locked. Houston, Tech, Arizona and BYU won’t play until the quarterfinals. The only thing that can change is seeding.
Let’s say Tech and Arizona lose and BYU wins on Saturday. Here’s the round-robin results in case you’re interested.
Texas Tech: 2-1 (win/loss to Arizona, win over BYU)
Arizona: 2-2 (win/loss to Texas Tech, win/loss to BYU)
BYU: 1-2 (win/loss to Arizona, loss to Texas Tech)
Tech has the best shot to stay where it is, win or lose.
Seeds Nos. 5-8: Single Byes
No. 5 Iowa State (12-7)
No. 6 Baylor (10-9)
No. 7 Kansas (10-9)
No. 8 TCU (9-10)
Iowa State is the only one locked into a single bye. There is a rather insane chance that Baylor and Kansas lose, while TCU, West Virginia and Kansas State all win on Saturday. Incredibly, none of them play each other. It would force a five-way tie. It’s actually possible.
For now, Baylor and Kansas are at No. 6 and 7, since Baylor beat Kansas earlier this season.
As for No. 8, well let’s round robin TCU, WVU and K-State.
TCU: 2-1 (win/loss to WVU, win over K-State)
K-State: 1-1 (win over WVU, loss to TCU)
WVU: 1-2 (win/loss to TCU, loss to K-State)
For now, TCU remains at No. 8 and in position for the final single bye.
First Round (Seeds 9-16)
No. 9 Kansas State (9-10)
No. 10 West Virginia (9-10)
No. 11 Utah (8-11)
No. 12 Cincinnati (7-12)
No. 13 UCF (7-12)
No. 14 Oklahoma State (6-13)
No. 15 Arizona State (4-15)
No. 16 Colorado (2-17)
Kansas State beat West Virginia head-to-head so, for now, K-State gets the No. 9 seed.
Cincinnati has a win over UCF so the Bearcats win that tiebreaker.
Arizona State and Colorado are locked in at the bottom of the bracket.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
