Between The Eers: Big 12 Tournament Predictions
Between The Eers: Big 12 Tournament Predictions
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - Hello everybody and welcome into Between the Ears.
00:12 I'm Skylar Callan, that is Christopher Hall
00:15 and we got the Big 12 Conference Tournament
00:17 getting underway this week.
00:19 As we mentioned in the post game show on Saturday,
00:22 might be a cup of coffee for the Mountaineers,
00:23 but regardless, we're gonna go through,
00:25 make our predictions
00:26 because we're all about competition on here.
00:29 We like to see who's smarter.
00:31 I think the last three years I've won this thing, maybe.
00:34 - Wow, you did no research on that whatsoever.
00:39 - No, I didn't.
00:40 And so we'll just go and say I've won
00:42 all six of these things, but I'm just kidding.
00:45 Anyways, let's go ahead and jump into it.
00:48 Oklahoma State, UCF is the first game getting underway
00:52 and it's been a very disappointing season,
00:55 I think for Oklahoma State.
00:56 UCF, it's their first year in the league.
00:58 I don't know what else you can expect.
01:00 This is a coin flip for me,
01:02 but I'm gonna go Oklahoma State.
01:04 - Yeah, I'm going to Oklahoma State too.
01:06 They've been off all year,
01:07 but they're accustomed to this tournament.
01:09 UCF is new, so I'm just gonna take Oklahoma State
01:12 'cause it's a coin flip.
01:14 - Yeah, so we'll just stay in the top half of the bracket.
01:17 So Oklahoma State, they'll take on BYU in the next round.
01:22 This one is, I think an intriguing game.
01:25 Like BYU is pretty good for their first year in the Big 12,
01:27 but I think Oklahoma State can give them a scare,
01:30 but probably not much more than that.
01:32 So I'm going to go with the Cougs.
01:34 - Yeah, I feel like BYU is built for postseason
01:36 the way they can shoot the ball.
01:37 They can get real hot and obviously on the flip,
01:40 on the other side of the coin,
01:41 they can get real cold and kind of,
01:43 and get kind of stomped,
01:45 but they've been playing tough all year.
01:47 They've been definitely the surprise of NCAA,
01:48 definitely the surprise of the conference, who knew?
01:50 So yeah, I like BYU in this tournament.
01:53 - And if they can make shots, look out,
01:55 'cause this is a team that puts up threes like nobody else.
01:58 So let's go, we'll stay here with BYU.
02:02 BYU and Texas Tech in the quarterfinals.
02:05 Tech has been kind of up and down at parts this year.
02:13 I'm going to go with the upset here.
02:14 I think BYU catches a little fire.
02:17 They make some shots from deep.
02:18 I'm going to go with the Cougars again.
02:20 - Yeah, I don't, this one is another coin flip,
02:24 but a good coin flip,
02:25 'cause it's going to be a good game.
02:26 Toussaint is definitely a good defender
02:29 around the perimeter.
02:31 Tex played better towards the end of the season,
02:33 but like I said, I like BYU in the post-season
02:36 just because they can get really hot.
02:38 And it's been a long season,
02:39 kind of get their feet back on their feet in this tournament.
02:42 So I'm going with BYU.
02:44 - Moving to the other half of this,
02:47 top half of the bracket, Oklahoma and TCU.
02:51 Probably, I don't really know.
02:54 I don't have a good read on this TCU team.
02:56 It feels like they could be a team
02:59 that can make some noise,
03:00 but then it's also a team
03:01 that I feel it could be one and done.
03:04 But I'll go TCU for now.
03:05 I don't think I can trust this Porter Moser group
03:08 as good as he's done with this team in recent years.
03:12 So I'm going TCU.
03:13 - Yeah, this one's a bad matchup, really.
03:19 TCU's really bad defensively.
03:22 OU's had some injuries of late.
03:24 Yeah, I mean, I really have no idea on this one.
03:27 I'm going to take Oklahoma just because TCU,
03:30 if they're not,
03:31 West Virginia definitely is the worst defensive team.
03:35 TCU probably is the second.
03:38 Like Oklahoma State definitely ranks up there,
03:40 but TCU is really, really bad.
03:42 They've been able to offensively, it's not crazy.
03:45 Jamie Dixon's always been known for his defense.
03:47 This may be one of his better offensive teams
03:50 that he's had,
03:50 but it's the worst defensive team he's ever had.
03:53 So it really, like if they can play a little bit of defense,
03:56 they lack size, but they may be able to do some damage,
04:00 but I'm going to take Oklahoma on that.
04:02 - Well, I think we're probably going to agree
04:04 on this next one.
04:05 I think regardless, I have TCU, you have Oklahoma.
04:10 That would put them in a matchup against Houston.
04:13 And I'm sorry, no one's, I don't want to foreshadow here,
04:17 but it's going to be tough to knock out Houston,
04:20 who's one of the best defensive teams in the country.
04:23 They can score it too, but defensively,
04:25 they are a very stingy team.
04:28 I mean, Houston may win this game by 20.
04:31 - Yeah, Houston.
04:32 Don't even need to do a lot of analysis.
04:36 - No.
04:36 - Just go Houston.
04:38 - And in the last part here of this top half,
04:42 so I've got Houston and BYU, as do you.
04:46 - Yep, I'm just going to go ahead and mark Houston
04:48 in there in the championship game as well.
04:49 And I'm assuming that's where you're going.
04:51 - Yep, Houston.
04:52 - Good run layer for BYU though.
04:55 They helped their tournament stock.
04:56 - I don't think it's going to, again,
04:59 I think BYU can get hot and I definitely-
05:02 - That would be a fun semi-final.
05:04 - Houston running for money,
05:05 but they've allowed the Big 12 to be physical this year,
05:09 which I think is going to be bad for them
05:11 in the NCAA tournament.
05:12 But Houston, man, they guard in the paint
05:16 and they guard on the perimeter.
05:17 And I think that's going to be way too much for BYU.
05:19 - Let's go ahead and get to it, Chris.
05:23 West Virginia.
05:25 West Virginia and Cincinnati feel like they can erase
05:28 that 40 some point deficit from two days ago.
05:31 Oh, brother.
05:34 This one could be, I mean, you would think that
05:38 with it being tournament time,
05:40 even though the season has been horrendous,
05:43 this is kind of the time where even teams
05:45 like West Virginia may put it all together
05:47 and make it interesting.
05:50 But I don't think that's going to happen.
05:52 I think that ship has sailed.
05:53 I think this team's ready to move on
05:55 and just get on with the next step of their career,
05:58 whether it's the seniors or just get on to the next step
06:01 here at West Virginia.
06:02 So I'm going to go with Cincinnati.
06:04 Another blowout game, probably 20, 25 point win
06:07 for the Bearcats.
06:09 - Yeah, really the only thing that could save West Virginia
06:11 is if they start off hot,
06:13 because Cincinnati's just, I mean,
06:15 they just beat them by like 40 points.
06:17 So they, I mean, Cincinnati hasn't been great,
06:20 but they may overlook them.
06:21 I mean, at the end of the day,
06:22 how many times have we talked about
06:23 West Virginia not handling success?
06:25 When you just beat a team as bad as they did
06:28 and West Virginia kind of just gave up in that game,
06:31 maybe Cincinnati overlooks them.
06:32 So, I mean, I don't think West Virginia wins
06:35 'cause there doesn't seem to be any fight left in this group.
06:39 But again, maybe they're going to turn on a switch
06:41 and say, "Hey, this is March and see what we can do."
06:43 So I'm not going to,
06:44 I'm not saying they're going to lose by 40.
06:47 They may actually make this a game,
06:48 but I'm going to take Cincinnati
06:49 'cause West Virginia has not won away
06:51 from the Coliseum at all this season.
06:53 So why would they start now?
06:55 - Yeah.
06:56 And I mean, who knows?
06:58 It's been two days.
07:00 It's hard to beat the same team twice
07:02 in a span of three or four days,
07:04 but I mean, they're down bad right now.
07:07 So yeah, we've got both West Virginia.
07:10 One in Dun and Kansas City,
07:11 which means the coaching search will pick up full steam
07:14 ahead as it already probably is by Wednesday morning.
07:18 So let's go to Kansas State and Texas.
07:21 The winner will take on Iowa State.
07:24 Texas, I think, has been a little underwhelming this year.
07:27 And I think, well, I guess you could probably say that
07:29 for Kansas State too.
07:31 I don't really think this matters
07:34 because I think that they're going to get beat
07:36 by Iowa State anyway, but I'll go with Kansas State.
07:40 - Kansas State has definitely been a team
07:42 that's been up and down.
07:43 Not really sure what to make of this group
07:47 heading into the postseason.
07:49 They did pick up a nice win yesterday or on Saturday.
07:51 But I'm going to always look at scores in the postseason.
07:57 The Desus Elite is up there at the top
07:59 of the conference in scoring,
08:01 so I'm going to go Texas,
08:02 but this is somewhat of a coin flip
08:05 because Kansas State's been so inconsistent this year,
08:08 but you can say the same thing about Texas,
08:10 but I'll take the scores in Texas.
08:12 - Iowa State and Kansas State, for me,
08:16 anytime you get to this time of the year,
08:22 Kansas State's always a team to watch
08:24 because of the crowd that they bring there in Kansas City.
08:27 But Iowa State always brings a crowd too.
08:29 So I'm going to go Iowa State in a very good game.
08:32 I think it's lowest scoring, probably like 66, 64,
08:36 ugly, but good game to watch, Iowa State.
08:39 You got Iowa State, Texas.
08:41 - Iowa State, the Hilton South, as they like to call it.
08:45 So I'm going with Iowa State.
08:47 This team hasn't been talked about enough
08:49 for being the two seed in the Big 12.
08:51 So watch out for Iowa State.
08:52 If there's anyone that's going to knock off Houston,
08:54 it could be Iowa State.
08:56 - Cincinnati and Kansas.
09:00 This is kind of interesting.
09:02 I don't know that we can just write Kansas in anymore,
09:07 at least this year's team.
09:09 They've shown that they're vulnerable.
09:11 Am I right in saying that Cincinnati
09:13 beat Kansas at home this year?
09:15 Is that right?
09:16 Or did they just give them a game?
09:20 I can't even remember now.
09:21 - Kansas beat them, Kansas won at home.
09:27 I think that's, I'm pretty sure that's the only matchup.
09:30 Yeah.
09:31 - Okay. Okay.
09:32 Maybe I'm thinking of somebody else.
09:34 Cincinnati beat somebody at home, I think.
09:35 But regardless, that doesn't really change my thought
09:38 on this game.
09:39 I think it's going to be a good game,
09:41 but I think Kansas walks away victorious,
09:45 but it's not going to be easy.
09:47 And the Jayhawks are going to be a little fatigued
09:50 running into that next game against Baylor.
09:52 So you've got the same matchup there
09:54 with the Bearcats and Jayhawks.
09:56 - Yeah, I'm going with Kansas.
09:57 I think they run,
09:58 I think they end up winning by double digits late
10:00 on this one.
10:01 You're going to play West Virginia,
10:04 probably somewhat close.
10:07 Kansas is going to come off fresh.
10:08 They're going to have a bad taste in their mouth
10:10 after getting just pummeled by Houston.
10:12 So I think they got a lot to prove.
10:14 Bill Self is a Hall of Fame coach, so.
10:16 Kansas is definitely in a year where it's not just right
10:20 them to the championship,
10:22 but at the same time, is this kind of,
10:24 that they've been, not playing the okey-doke,
10:26 but been lax a day to go all season
10:27 just to get to the post season.
10:30 They definitely have a ton of talent, love their guards.
10:32 So I'm taking Kansas.
10:35 I think they kind of went easily there in the second half,
10:38 but I haven't written off Kansas yet in this one.
10:42 - So we got Kansas and Iowa State in the semifinal,
10:46 both of us.
10:46 I'm actually going to, or excuse me,
10:50 Kansas and Baylor in the quarterfinal.
10:52 I'm going to go with Kansas here.
10:57 I know it's kind of a weird pick,
10:58 especially since I just said you can't really
11:00 necessarily write Kansas in, but I don't know.
11:03 Baylor's a weird team.
11:06 They're good, but they're not a team that I feel like
11:08 can just break away from a team like Kansas,
11:12 even though they have a short rotation.
11:14 I mean, I think Kansas really only plays six or seven guys,
11:17 but I'm going to trust in Bill's self to get the job done.
11:21 Again, that crowd, it means a lot there.
11:23 So I'm going to go with Kansas,
11:25 springing the quote-unquote upset over Baylor.
11:28 And you've got the same as well.
11:30 - Yeah, Baylor has been good all year,
11:33 but when they've been bad, they've been kind of bad.
11:37 Going with the home team, quote-unquote,
11:38 they're only like 45 minutes away.
11:40 So I'm going to take Jayhawks.
11:42 I think that they kind of flip the switch here in March.
11:47 They've been tremendous in this tournament.
11:49 Again, Bill's self didn't go anywhere.
11:51 - Yeah.
11:52 - I'm going to take the Jayhawks over the Bears.
11:55 - All that to say I'm going with Iowa State over Kansas
11:59 in the semifinal.
12:00 I think, again, Kansas is a team that I think
12:03 they've got the talent to make a little bit of noise here,
12:06 but I don't know if they can string together
12:09 that many wins to get to the championship game.
12:12 I think at some point you're going to see them
12:14 be that vulnerable team
12:15 that they've been numerous times this year.
12:17 Iowa State's a tough team to play.
12:20 They're going to keep it low scoring.
12:21 I think they can play more to their tempo.
12:23 And Iowa State gets a date in the championship with Houston.
12:27 - I'm going with Kansas.
12:30 - Okay.
12:31 - Again.
12:32 - Making that run.
12:33 - Yep, they have a ton of talent.
12:35 They just, I don't know, whatever it is,
12:37 just haven't had that fire throughout the regular season,
12:40 but now it's time.
12:42 So I'm going with Kansas to knock off Iowa State.
12:46 It's going to be a good one.
12:46 Would not be surprised at all if Iowa State won
12:49 when you get this far into the tournament.
12:51 Any of these teams can advance,
12:54 but I'm going to keep on rolling with the Jayhawks.
12:57 - So I've got Houston and Iowa State in the title game.
13:00 And yeah, I'm going Houston.
13:03 Iowa State will make this a game.
13:06 I don't think it's going to be as one-sided
13:08 as probably most would assume it would be.
13:10 I'd guess the odds on the, or the spread on this one
13:13 probably be like Houston minus what, seven,
13:17 seven and a half, eight, somewhere in that range.
13:20 But I think Houston makes it a game,
13:23 especially because of the crowd.
13:25 They've got some momentum.
13:25 They just beat Kansas.
13:27 And I think they've had a little bit easier of a path
13:30 to the title game than Houston.
13:32 So I think they give them a run for their money,
13:35 but they fall up short.
13:36 Houston wins the Big 12 regular season title
13:39 and the conference title.
13:40 You've got Houston and Kansas.
13:43 - Yeah, I'm going to go with Houston,
13:45 but Kansas definitely makes this a game.
13:48 I actually wouldn't be surprised if Kansas won it.
13:51 And I know they just got beat by 30,
13:53 but Houston always hasn't been the best
13:57 in the post season historically.
14:00 So pressure could mount,
14:01 obviously being winning the regular season
14:04 and going in as the one seed, you cruise against Kansas.
14:07 I think Kansas makes it a game,
14:09 but defense wins out for Houston
14:10 and they end up winning it,
14:13 I would say under double digits,
14:15 eight, nine points, somewhere around there.
14:17 - So there you have it.
14:18 I've got Houston being crowned the Big 12 champions
14:22 as does Chris.
14:22 We have different ways of getting there,
14:24 but if you want the perfect bracket, right there,
14:28 this is it.
14:29 - Yeah, sure.
14:30 - So that's going to do it for us here today
14:35 on Between the Ears, a little fun, picking some games.
14:38 We'll see how this thing goes.
14:40 I actually get to, well, if I want to,
14:43 the sports books finally open up down here
14:45 in North Carolina here today.
14:47 So interesting to see how this all plays out.
14:50 People down here who've probably never bet on sports before,
14:55 if that really influences anything, probably not,
14:57 but interested to see how that works out down here.
15:00 West Virginia, I think has, was it like plus 10,000 odds
15:04 to win the Big 12 title?
15:06 It's dead last with Oklahoma State,
15:08 but they will open up Big 12 Conference Tournament play
15:13 on Tuesday at three o'clock,
15:16 taking on number 11 seed Cincinnati.
15:18 Winner of that one will play the following day
15:21 at 9.30 p.m. Eastern time against number six, Kansas.
15:25 So Cincinnati, have fun with that one
15:28 on Wednesday against Kansas,
15:30 but that'll do it for us here today.
15:32 I'm Scott Calane from Mountaineers Now.
15:35 That's Christopher Hall.
15:36 Make sure you hit that subscribe button on YouTube
15:38 at Mountaineers Now.
15:39 Give us a like and a follow as well.
15:41 This has been another episode of Between the Ears.
15:43 We'll be back tomorrow with another show.
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