No. 21 Texas and Sunflower State sibling Kansas State did their best on Monday night, but 6th-ranked Kansas got no help in the Big 12 race ahead of Tuesday’s matchup at TCU.
Texas fell to No. 3 Baylor in an absolute dog fight in Austin and K-State took Texas Tech to the wire before falling by five in Lubbock.
The wins by Baylor and Texas Tech put the pressure back on KU, which must win at TCU Tuesday night to maintain its lead in the Big 12 race.
Because of the unbalanced schedule to this point, Baylor is technically currently in a first-place tie with the Jayhawks, who can move back in front by a half game with a win over TCU at 7 p.m. tonight.
The Bears’ win moved BU To 13-4 in conference play with one game to play — Saturday at home against Iowa State.
The Red Raiders moved to 12-5 in conference play with one game to play — Saturday at Oklahoma State.
So, while BU is still very much in the mix to win the hardware, a KU win over the Horned Frogs Tuesday night would guarantee that the only way Texas Tech could win the Big 12 regular season title is by sharing it with Kansas, which enters tonight at 12-3 in Big 12 play with three games to play — tonight at TCU, Thursday vs. TCU and Saturday vs. Texas.
That said, Baylor is definitely the bigger threat, which only underscores how big that BU win was last Saturday night in Waco.
After another wild night of close games in the Big 12 Conference, the bottom line in the race is now this: There will be no clinching of any kind in Fort Worth, Texas tonight. Kansas simply has to win to maintain its lead.
A KU loss tonight would move the Jayhawks to 12-4 and put KU a half game behind Baylor in the standings heading into the final two games of the season.
With one more game remaining, though, a KU loss tonight would still leave the door open for a tie with Baylor, provided Kansas wins its final two games. Baylor also could lose one more, opening up even more possibilities for KU to claim the title.
For those of you who might be wondering, the tiebreaker scenario for conference tournament seeding purposes is as follows:
1st tiebreaker – head to head record (KU split with both Baylor and Texas Tech)
2nd tiebreaker – go to the next team in the standings and see how the two teams tied fared against that team. In this case, it would be third-place Texas Tech, which KU split with and Baylor was swept by. Advantage Kansas. Therefore, in the event of a KU-Baylor tie at the top, both teams would be recognized as regular season champs, but KU would be the 1 seed in Kansas City next week.
All eyes now shift to Fort Worth for Tuesday’s 7 p.m. battle between KU and TCU on Big 12 Now via ESPN+.
