Kansas City, Mo. — Take it from Larry Eustachy. More teams have a real chance to win this year's Big 12 tournament than ever before.
The top four seeds Iowa State, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas all have 23 or more wins. They would shock no one if they're raising the trophy in triumph at the end of Sunday's championship game.
But Oklahoma State and Missouri, among the lower seeds, are also dangerous and will be doing all they can to impress the NCAA selection committee.
Furthermore, nobody has forgotten that less than a month ago No. 8 seed Baylor beat Kansas 85-77.
"It's wide open," said Eustachy, coach of the two-time regular-season champion Iowa State.
"I would say there are probably six or seven teams that can run the table, because of the talent and the coaching."
The Cyclones have to rate as favorites because they've got the best record (25-4)and best player, senior point guard Jamaal Tinsley. But No. 4 seed Texas (23-7) could be the hottest team with a six-game winning streak.
No. 2 seed Kansas (23-5) and No. 3 seed Oklahoma (23-6) are solid as always. After a 1-3 start, the Sooners have won 11 of 12 conference games.
Many observers feel Missouri (18-11) and Oklahoma State (19-8) need at least one victory in the Big 12 tournament to lock up an NCAA bid.
"People are saying they are not yet sure things for the NCAA tournament," said Kansas coach Roy Williams. "Their incentive of playing better is going to be awfully important for them."
Oklahoma State's Fredrik Jonzen figures the Cowboys had better win at least once this week.
"I think to be real safe we need to beat Texas Tech for sure," he said.
Iowa State will be out for its second straight tourney title to go with its second straight regular-season championship.
The tournament begins at noon today with Colorado (15-14) meeting Baylor (17-10), followed by Texas Tech (9-18) and Oklahoma State. The Cowboys will be the sentimental favorite of many fans in the wake of the tragic plane crash in January that killed 10 members of their traveling party.
In tonight's games, Kansas State (10-17) meets Nebraska (14-15) and Texas A&M (10-19) goes against Missouri.
Texas will not only have the league's longest winning streak in their possession when the tournament starts. They also have some of the most impressive victories of the past three weeks.
"The best part is we've had a number of different guys playing good basketball right now," said coach Rick Barnes. "We've improved in every area we've needed."
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