Men’s college basketball concludes the regular season this weekend with a Saturday contest between Baylor and Texas Tech that has tournament-seeding implications.
Texas Tech could lock up the No.4 seed with a win against No.11 Baylor and secure a double-bye headed into March Madness next weekend. The Red Raiders have a tall task to get the win, but head coach Grant McCasland said seeding is not on his mind headed into the contest.
“Everybody wants to talk about where the finish is, but I honestly don’t have any thoughts on it, nor am I thinking about it,” McCasland said, as reported by The Daily Toreador. “We’re consumed with ‘How do we win the jump ball? How do you get a stop defensively? How do you guard them?’ And I’m just not using any energy on trying to figure out anything past ‘How do we win the game on Saturday?'”
Tech’s task is even more challenging as the team will likely be without their big man, center Warren Washington. The 7-footer is still dealing with a foot injury that has held him out of five of the last six games. With Washington out, the Red Raiders have not been the same team and have gone 1-3 without the starter.
Baylor enters the game already having a double-bye and would fall no lower than a four-seed with a loss. The Bears have been one of the most dominant teams in college basketball this season and are the only Big-12 team to win double-digits in conference in six straight seasons. They enter the season finale on a hot streak and have won three straight against conference rivals.
Tech could still earn the four-seed with a loss by Kansas who plays against No.1 Houston on Saturday. The Red Raiders and Kansas have the same record, but Tech holds the tiebreaker for the four-seed with a win over Baylor. A Kansas win and a loss to Baylor would drop Texas Tech to the five seed.
Baylor and Texas Tech tip off at 5 p.m. CT on March 9. The teams likely won’t know the outcome of Kansas and Houston until right around tip-off time. Kansas and Houston start at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday.
The Phillips 66 Men’s Big-12 Championship will officially begin on March 12 in Kansas City. The championship game will be held on Saturday, March 16.
