Texas is looking good once again.. we could potentially be #1 after the Ohio loss.. from 25 -#1 woud be awesome.. who has Kansas played this year that was ranked?
I think Kansas will most likely be #1. I'd rather have the Horns be #2 and fly under the radar than have the pressure of a #1 rank on them. Horns defense in the 2nd half hasn't been that great... allowing to many easy buckets inside. Need that aggressive D from the 1st half back.
He was on fire so he should have gotten it everytime down the court. Fred Ellis shot at the one minute mark was infuriating. In and out on the last 3 for Dunn..could have been a game but it's over now. Congrats! I feel a little better about the meeting in Waco now.
Well, it just seemed like he was chucking it in the first half and had the ball way too much in his hand at times. Perry Jones doesn't get enough touches IMO. I think Texas will play even better in Waco though, I believe they're a better road team. Good game though, glad Baylor made it a game.
Too close for comfort, but the Horns rack up yet another conference W. Predictions for the new poll? 1. Texas 2. Kansas 3. Ohio State 4. Pitt 5. Duke
I doubt they play better than they did in the first half esp defensively. Baylor might have found a mismatch with Dunn on the block against the skinnier Joseph.
If so, I think Texas can counter with Balbay on Dunn. As great as Dunn was, Texas really doesn't allow players to go off against them, so if it comes down to a mismatch like that, I would think Barnes would counter with putting Balbay on him. Texas has played better defensive on the road at times, so don't count them out... but I was referring to the game as a whole more than just a half.
Will be interesting. We've been gaining on Kansas for the last few weeks, but today, Kansas' performance was more impressive. Ohio State is also still 24-1 with a 4-pt loss on the road to a top 15 team. I think UT/KU/OSU will be a tossup - should be interesting to see how the 1st place votes get distributed.
Is Rick Barnes a good enough tournament coach to do damage in March Madness?? I hope so but I am skeptical.
My guess is KU will move up to #1 followed by UT. I don't think there is any doubt Ohio State drops to #3. If UT and KU run the table to the Big 12 tournament final, I betcha both teams will get #1 seeds. They control their own destiny. Haven't looked up where the regional finals are yet.
Absolutely - I don't even think the B12 Tourney matters. I think if UT goes 16-0 for the regular season, they are a #1 seed even if they lose the first round of the B12 Tourney. KU is probably the same if they win out the rest of the way, though if Duke wins out, that complicates things a bit. There are really 5 teams vying for the #1 seeds - UT, KU, Duke, Ohio State, and the Big East Champ (likely Pitt, though I think Notre Dame is playing amazingly well and could get in the mix if Pitts loses a few). Duke is the weakest of the bunch from a schedule standpoint - as of right now, UNC at #21 is the only currently ranked team they have played, and UNC is the only ranked team they are still scheduled to play. Another loss or two would probably take them out of the running. If they win out, I'm not sure which of the other 4 loses a #1 seed. Assuming they get it, Texas would be almost certain to be the #1 seed in the San Antonio regional, making their road be Tulsa -> San Antonio -> Houston. Very reminiscent of the 2003 Final Four run when it was Dallas (?) -> San Antonio -> New Orleans with home court advantage all over the place.
Well put. It'll be very favorable for Texas come tourney time if they do indeed get a #1 seed... I'm just hoping their defense stays afloat. These last 2-3 games they haven't exactly played defense for the full 40 minutes.
Agreed. They have a month of mediocre competition coming up, and it's going to be tough to maintain the intensity for that long. I'm also worried about injuries - every player on the team plays a critical role and they've been really lucky to be 100% healthy all season. Matt Hill was hurt a bit today (not sure what), and I don't know what J'Covan's injury is, but hopefully nothing major crops up. On one hand, I kind of hope they lose the 1st game of the B12 Tourney to refocus them and let them rest (I thought it helped in 2003). I hate playing 3 back-to-back games right before the NCAA Tourney - especially against the press of Mizzou and then the full-court game against Kansas - in a sport where you never play back to back. It seems like it would just wear a team out and have injury potential. On the flipside, playing that level of competition in some meaningless games might be good to get the team back to playing at peak intensity.
ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll: 1. Kansas 2. Texas 3. Ohio State 4. Pitt 5. Duke KU racked up 14 of the 31 first-place votes, while Texas received 13.
AP Top 25 1.Kansas (22) 2.Ohio St. (14) 3.Texas (23) 4.Pittsburgh (6) 5.Duke Interesting that UT took the most 1st place votes this week.
Not bad... I'll take it. Between Pitt, Texas, Kansas and OSU... all of these teams have been outstanding for pretty much the entire season. You couldn't go wrong with putting one over the other.
Texas and Pitt have the most impressive resumes in America, IMO. OSU's non-conference schedule was laughable, and while I believe Kansas is the real deal, they haven't been tested outside of the Texas showdown... they flopped hard in their most meaningful game of the season, and it was at home. Ohio State's going to be the first 1-seed to drop. They're the kind of team that will get run out of the gym by a battle-tested Big East squad in the 2nd rd. Also, Tennessee's possibly looking at an 8 or 9, and is going to be an absolute nightmare in rd 2 for one of the big dogs.
