Welcome to Day 1 of the Big 12 Tournament. If you’re lucky enough to have today off and want to talk about some Big 12 Basketball with other Kansas State fans, this is your place.
All the basketball chat without the trolls and bots, in this economy?
Indeed, folks, there is a better way to talk about sports away from all the vagaries of social media! I can’t guarantee there won’t be disagreements, but I can guarantee they’ll be about the merits of zone defense, not man-to-man. There might be conspiracy theories, but how could you not believe Jerome Tang was a PsyOp perpetrated by Scott Drew to bring Kansas State down from the inside?
Here’s the Schedule!
Game 1: #12 Arizona State vs #13 Baylor – 11:30 am (CST) – ESPN+
Notes:
Rumors abound that Blue Devil Bobby Hurley’s time as a Sun Devil has reached its conclusion. The zombie Sun Devils join the zombie Wildcats in hopes of infecting other Big 12 programs. Nothing would please me more than to see Baylor go down to the future head coach of an A-10 program.
Go Devils IMO
Game 2: #9 Cincinnati vs #16 Utah – 2 – ESPN+
Notes:
If you think this K-State season has been tough to stomach, imagine how Utah feels. Head Coach Alex Jensen’s return to his alma mater hasn’t worked out quite the way the Utes envisioned in his inaugural season. Wes Miller was born in 1983, and that means I hate him because I hate every head coach younger than I am out of pure, unadulterated jealousy. Still, misery loves company, and there is something comforting about not being the worst team in the Big 12 despite this horror show of a season.
Give Me the Bearcats
Game 3: #10 BYU vs #15 Kansas State – 6 – ESPN+
Notes:
Zombie Kansas State has the chance to do the funniest thing; they can knock BYU’s multi-million dollar out of NCAA Tournament consideration if they can conjure up a win this afternoon. Imagine, if you will, Kansas State signing Michael Beasley and then failing to make the NCAA Tournament despite hand-selecting the roster around him.
Can the Wildcats newfound Big 3 of P.J. Haggerty, Nate Johnson, and Khamari McGriff make this BYU team go down in college basketball infamy as one of the first big losers in the NIL era
Probably not, but I’m typing this while doing the Wabash Cannonball and it’s actually quite difficult.
GO ZOMBIE CATS!
Game 4: #11 Colorado vs #14 Oklahoma State – 8:30 – ESPN +
Notes:
I keep forgetting that Colorado is in the Big 12. There’s something about Colorado basketball that doesn’t feel real to me. I don’t know, it’s probably just me.
Former Purdue assistant Coach Steve Lutz is the head Cowboy in Stillwater, and if I’m being honest, Matt Painter kind of needs him to do something. Former Painter assistants have been shockingly awful as head coaches (see Shrewsberry, Micah), and Lutz hasn’t done anything to dispel that notion in his first season at Oklahoma State.
Someone allegedly named “Tad Boyle” coaches Colorado, and that sounds like a made-up name to me. I’ll take Lutz and the Cowboys in a mild upset over a program that may prove we’re all living in a simulation.
PEW, PEW, PEW, Ride Em Cowboys!