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Wednesday night saw West Virginia do what superior teams are supposed to do to inferior opponents. Build a lead and then step on the throat of their opponent, eliminating any chance of hope. The win on Wednesday had the desired effect of putting WVU firmly in the driver's seat for a number 2 seed in the Big 12 tournament. With one weekend to play, a win on Saturday against Baylor, no easy feat, would secure a #2 seed in the tournament and a first round bye.
West Virginia has never won a Big 12 tournament game, being eliminated in their first game in 2013, 2014 and 2015. The improvement in the team can be seen by their tournament rankings, starting at #8 in the 2013 tournament, to #6 in 2014 and #5 in 2015. This year West Virginia brings its best team yet to the tournament, looking to finally win a tournament game and possibly make a run similar to the 2010 Big East Championship team.
The 2015 version of Press Virginia had one serious achilles heel in the form of the Baylor Bears and Rico Gathers. The 2016 version of Press Virginia has one serious achilles heel in the form of the Shaka Smart-led Texas Longhorns. In two conference games against the Longhorns, the Mountaineers have been unsuccessful in matching the intensity and aggressiveness of the Longhorns, losing both games by an average of 7 points.
WVU is guaranteed at least a 3-seed, but can secure a 2-seed with a win on Saturday. To avoid playing Texas until the championship, Texas would need to be a 4 or 5 seed.
Here's the final weekend schedule:
Friday, March 4
Texas at Oklahoma State, 9 pm ET, ESPN2
Saturday, March 5
Oklahoma at TCU, 1 pm ET, ESPN News
WVU at Baylor, 2 pm ET, ESPN
Kansas State at Texas Tech, 3 pm ET, ESPN News
Iowa State at Kansas, 4 pm ET, ESPN
Here are the scenarios for each team:
Kansas Jayhawks
- Has secured the #1 seed in the tournament
West Virginia Mountaineers
- #2 seed with a win or Oklahoma loss
- #3 seed with a loss and Oklahoma win
Oklahoma Sooners
- #2 seed with a win and WVU loss
- #3 seed with a win and WVU win
- #3 seed with a loss and WVU loss
- #3 seed with loss, WVU win and ISU loss.
- #4 seed with loss, WVU win, ISU win
Iowa State Cyclones
- #3 seed with a win, WVU win and OU loss
- #4 seed with win, WVU win and OU win
- #4 seed with win, OU win, losses by Texas and WVU
- #5 seed with loss, losses by Texas and WVU, OU win
- #5 seed with loss and losses by OU, Texas and WVU
- #6 seed with loss, Texas loss and WVU win.
- #6 seed with loss and Texas win
Baylor Bears
- #4 seed with win, Texas win, Oklahoma win and Iowa State win
- #4 seed with win, Texas loss, Oklahoma loss and ISU win
- #4 seed with win, Texas loss and ISU loss
- #4 seed with loss, Texas loss and ISU loss
- #5 seed with Texas win and ISU loss
- #5 seed with win, Texas win, Oklahoma loss and ISU win
- #5 seed with win, Texas loss, OU win and ISU win
- #6 seed with loss and ISU win
Texas Longhorns
- #4 seed with win and ISU loss
- #4 seed with win, OU loss, WVU loss and ISU win
- #5 seed with win, OU win and ISU win
- #5 seed with win, WVU win, OU & ISU loss
- #5 seed with loss and WVU win.
- #6 seed with loss and WVU loss.
Texas Tech Red Raiders
- Has secured the 7th seed in the tournament and will play #10 TCU on Wednesday
Kansas State Wildcats
- Has secured the 8th seed in the tournament and will play #9 Oklahoma State on Wednesday
Oklahoma State Cowboys
- Has secured the 9th seed in the tournament and will play #8 Kansas State on Wednesday
TCU Horned Frogs
- Has secured the 10th seed in the tournament and will play #7 Texas Tech on Wednesday