Welcome to the latest edition of Conference Chatter, where you’ll be asked to make your opinions known on the upcoming Big 12 men’s basketball tournament in Oklahoma City.

I’ll answer some fill-in-the-blank, hot topic questions and then ask for your responses as well.

First, though, a rundown of the Big 12 tournament pairings and seedings. The top four seeds (No. 1 Kansas, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Missouri and No. 4 Kansas State) receive first-round byes.

First round — Wednesday

• No. 8 Nebraska vs. No. 9 Baylor, 11:30 a.m.
• No. 5 Texas vs. No. 12 Colorado, 2 p.m.
• No. 7 Oklahoma State vs. No. 10 Iowa State, 6 p.m.
• No. 6 Texas A&M vs. No. 11 Texas Tech, 8:30 p.m.

Second round — Thursday

• No. 1 Kansas vs. Nebraska/Baylor, 11:30 a.m.
• No. 4 Kansas State vs. Texas/Colorado, 2 p.m.
• No. 2 Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State/Iowa State, 6 p.m.
• No. 3 Missouri vs. Texas Tech/Texas A&M, 8:30 p.m.

Time for five questions to get us ready for the tournament. I’m curious what everyone thinks so post your answers in the comments section below.

1. The most exciting Big 12 tournament title game would be…?
Answer: No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 2 Oklahoma. Obviously, we still haven’t seen KU vs. Oklahoma with the future national player of the year Blake Griffin roaming the paint for the Sooners. In KU’s 87-78 victory over OU on Feb. 23 in Norman, Cole Aldrich dominated the paint with 20 boards. The Jayhawks outrebounded the Sooners, 35-29. How much of this would change with Griffin playing? Plus, it’s about time we see a KU-OU battle with a healthy Griffin. For the past two years, we haven’t seen this matchup.

If this ends up being the title game, the Ford Center crowd should be interesting to observe. Oklahoma City is no more than 30 minutes away from Norman, but the KU basketball faithful travel better than the OU basketball faithful. Split crowd in this scenario?

2. The biggest sleeper of the Big 12 tournament will be…?
Answer: Texas A&M. Look out for the Aggies (23-8, 9-7 Big 12), winners of six straight and a near-lock for an NCAA Tournament bid. The Aggies should win their first-round game against Texas Tech to set up a rematch against Missouri, which A&M destroyed on Saturday in College Station, Texas.

A&M was one of the few teams able to slow down the Tigers. The Aggies went to the line 35 times on Saturday. They converted 26 for a rather average 74 percent, but Missouri couldn’t run up and down the floor with frequent pauses in the game for A&M free throw attempts.

Zaire Taylor ended up fouling out. J.T. Tiller, as far as I’m concerned the best on-the-ball defender in the conference, had four fouls. DeMarre Carroll, just voted an All-Big 12 first teamer, had four fouls as well. A&M should have confidence, should a rematch take place.

I’d also look out for Oklahoma State (20-10, 9-7), which had won six in a row before running into Oklahoma on Saturday.

3. The team that needs the Big 12 tournament the most for its NCAA Tournament hopes is…?
Answer: Kansas State. It’s interesting to call K-State, the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament, on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament when the Big 12 should send six teams to the Big Dance. But the Wildcats have a weak non-conference resume, and their only win against a ranked team was at then-No. 11 Texas, which currently isn’t ranked.

If the Wildcats win one game, they’ll probably remain on the bubble. If they win two games, that would mean they’d knock out Kansas in the semifinals. This is their best shot to prove to the committee they belong in the NCAA Tournament.

4. The winner of the Big 12 tournament will be…?
Answer: Kansas. Three reasons.

First, the path. The only way the Jayhawks see Oklahoma or Missouri is in the title game. Kansas also has no chance of facing my two sleeper teams, A&M and Oklahoma State, unless it’s in the title game. KU is in the Big 12 tournament championship with a victory over Nebraska/Baylor, followed by a victory over Texas/Kansas State. This is a favorable path.

Second, tournament history. The Jayhawks have simply owned the tournament, winning the last three years. They’ve proven (in 2007) they can win the tournament in Oklahoma City, as opposed to the more convenient Kansas City, Mo. They’ve won the tournament six times in the conference’s 12-year history.

Third, coaching. This is relatively new territory for Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel and Missouri coach Mike Anderson. Both fabulous coaches. But this is far from new territory for KU coach Bill Self, who was just named AP’s Big 12 coach of the year. I’ll take a Self-coached team in a big game over anyone else in the conference.

5. The craziest Big 12 tournament moment was when…?
Answer: Colorado defeated Kansas State, 77-76, in the 2003 tournament in Dallas. I’m sure everyone remembers the Pervis Pasco fiasco:

That should be all for now, friends. Is anyone traveling to Oklahoma City? I saw tickets were still available online as of Sunday morning for all sessions, but they were going for $240 a pop.

As always, discuss.