KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A year ago, the Groves brothers nearly knocked out Kansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. On Thursday at the Big 12 tournament, the brothers might have done the Jayhawks a solid by sending Baylor home.
The Bears, who entered tournament week as No. 1 seed placeholders in the Big Dance, are now in wait-and-see mode after losing 72-67 to Oklahoma in the Big 12 quarterfinals.
The Sooners were desperate for a win to try to get on the right side of the bubble. They now have three wins over teams that will be on the top four seed lines — Arkansas (on a neutral court), Texas Tech and now Baylor — and they have just one stinker loss (at home to Butler). Oklahoma is only 3-11 in Quad 1 games, but not many teams on the bubble can compete with that trio of wins.
The Jayhawks, meanwhile, blew past West Virginia 87-63 and have a shot to surpass Baylor for the most Quad 1 wins if they win the conference tournament. The numbers currently are almost identical. KU is No. 1 in KPI; Baylor is No. 2. Baylor is No. 1 in strength of schedule; Kansas is No. 3.
What it could come down to is optics for the committee. It would be hard to argue Baylor over Kansas if the Jayhawks have a share of the regular-season title and win the Big 12 tournament.
There’s also the possibility both end up on the No. 1 line if, say, Tennessee or Arkansas win the SEC tournament.
This thought exercise, of course, could be a lot of wasted verbiage if Kentucky or Auburn win the SEC tournament, and KU fails to win the conference tournament. There is a major wrecking ball on the other end of the bracket in Kansas City known as Texas Tech. The Red Raiders looked like the most dominant team on Thursday, absolutely shredding Iowa State.
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