Can the Cyclones get a date for basketball’s spring formal with four wins in four days at the Big 12 Conference tournament?
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Weekend games set the seeds for the Big 12 Conference tournament, which begins Wednesday in Kansas City.
Iowa State could face four top 25 teams in its odyssey to Selection Sunday. Cyclones odds suggest they’ll face just one because the 10th-seeded Cyclones drew No. 25 Oklahoma (the No. 7 seed) in the opening round.
A loss would end the season and possibly trigger a job search for coach Steve Prohm‘s replacement, but let’s take it one tip at a time.
The Oklahoma-Iowa State is Game 2 Wednesday at the T-Mobile Center. ESPN will carry the game with an 8:30 p.m. start. The Cyclones stayed close in the teams’ two matchups this season. The Sooners won 79-72 on Feb. 6 in Norman and 66-56 on Feb. 20 in Ames. Watch for PlayIA‘s live odds here when they become available:
Iowa State vs. Oklahoma odds
Last year’s Big 12 Conference tournament came to an abrupt halt due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the Cyclones do have an excellent history down in Kansas City. The Cyclones won four of the previous six completed Big 12 tourneys. Kansas has the other two championships in that span, but the J-Hawks aren’t the favorites this week.
The Big 12 best bet
National title contender Baylor moved back put to No. 2 in Monday’s Associated Press poll and the sportsbooks unsurprisingly installed the Bears as the prohibitive tournament favorite.
DraftKings and BetRivers sportsbooks have Baylor -134 in conference tournament futures. The Bears are -175 at William Hill, -140 at FanDuel and -150 at Betfred.
That compares to +50000 for Iowa State to win the tournament at DraftKings and BetRivers. Other futures are: +75000 at William Hill as well as +20ooo at FanDuel and Betfred.
Iowa State Big 12/national championship odds
Here’s a look at the full tournament schedule:
Wednesday, March 10
- 5:30 p.m. — No. 8 TCU vs. No. 9 Kansas State (ESPN)
- 8:30 p.m. — No. 7 Oklahoma vs. No. 10 Iowa State (ESPN) 8:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 11
- 10:30 a.m. — No. 4 West Virginia vs. No. 5 Oklahoma State (ESPN/2)
- 1:30 p.m. — No. 1 Baylor vs. Game 1 Winner (ESPN/2)
- 5:30 p.m. — No. 2 Kansas vs. Game 2 Winner (ESPN/2)
- 8:30 p.m. — No. 3 Texas vs. No. 6 Texas Tech (ESPN/2) 8:30 p.m.
Friday, March 12
- 5:30 p.m. — Winners from the afternoon session (ESPN/2)
- 8:30 p.m. — Winners from the evening session (ESPN/2)
Saturday, March 13
- 5 p.m. — Big 12 Tournament Championship
Other Big 12 contenders
With six of 10 teams in the most recent Associated Press Top 25, bettors have plenty of choices in the Big 12 Conference tournament. Kansas is the second choice at DraftKings, William Hill, FanDuel and BetRivers, but Betfred likes West Virginia as a second choice. Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma are all considered safe to receive at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament.
Baylor clinched the 2020-21 Big 12 men’s basketball regular-season championship, its first conference crown since 1950.
