Both teams have three games remaining. Of the two, Kansas looks to have the more challenging road — if only slightly — but also has the upper hand in the standings. Here’s a look at what lies ahead for both teams:
Kansas
Remaining games: vs. No. 8 Missouri, at Texas Tech, vs. No. 24 Texas.
With a one-game lead over the Sooners in the Big 12, the Jayhawks are in control of their own destiny in terms of winning the Big 12 regular season championship and locking up a No. 1 seed for the conference tourney.
The Tigers have been steadily creeping up on both Kansas and OU, now only one-and-a-half games out of first place. Mizzou already beat the Jayhawks on Feb. 9, but this game is in Lawrence, where Kansas holds the nation’s longest home winning streak of 39 games.
Texas Tech shouldn’t be a problem for the Jayhawks, and while the Longhorns will pose more of a challenge, the fact that it’s at home for Kansas makes a big difference. The Jayhawks should win the rest of their games, but as we’ve seen, anything can happen.
Oklahoma
Remaining games: at Texas Tech, at No. 8 Missouri, vs. Oklahoma State
The Sooners blasted the Red Raiders 95-74 in the teams’ previous meeting this year, however, that was largely due to sophomore forward Blake Griffin’s career performance of 40 points and 23 rebounds. Right now it is unclear whether or not Griffin will play, but given how the team competed against Texas and Kansas without the preseason All-American, OU should still win.
Playing at Columbia will be pretty tough, but the Sooners have shown this year they are capable of stopping teams with the similar fast-paced style that Mizzou plays with. Oklahoma State is always an interesting opponent simply because of the rivalry factor, but if OU can take care of the Tigers, it shouldn’t have a problem with the Cowboys.
Bottom line:
OU likely needs to win out. Despite being behind by only one game in the standings, the Sooners need Kansas to drop two games because the Jayhawks hold the tiebreaker due to their win in Norman Monday night.
-Eric Dama is a journalism junior.
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