College basketball's selection committee was much friendlier to the Big 12 than their football counterparts.
Perhaps the league pulled the strings left untugged last December, when TCU and Baylor watched the inaugural College Football Playoff with their foreheads pressed against the shop window, wondering why they weren't allowed to play.
Four of the league's teams made the committee's overall top 11. Of those four teams, the Big 12's top-ranked team--Kansas--ironically managed to draw the toughest road, despite having the highest seed, No. 2 in the Midwest.
Congratulations on your 11th consecutive Big 12 regular season title, Jayhawks. Welcome to Kentucky's region and a lose-lose game against Wichita State in the second round! No one will be impressed if you win and prepare for state-wide hand-wringing if you lose.
Iowa State, Baylor and Oklahoma all earned No. 3 seeds in their respective regions and are well-positioned to reach the Sweet 16.
"We could get 3-4 teams into the second weekend, without question," Kansas coach Bill Self said.
It would be a monumental accomplishment for a league that went 6-7 with seven teams on this stage a year ago and only advanced two teams to the Sweet 16. In 2013, the league went just 3-5 and put one team through to the second weekend.
"I think it is time for our league to step up. Last year was an off year and we certainly contributed to that by losing in the first weekend in the second game. It would be nice to see our league take a step forward," Self said. "We need to do something as a league to validate what everybody else has about us all year long."
There's no excuse worth listening to if the Big 12 can't do it this year.
The Midwest's No. 5 seed, West Virginia, drew a Buffalo team making its first trip to the NCAA Tournament. Bob Huggins wasn't in the mood to tip his cap to the newbies on Monday, a day after the pairing was announced.
"We've got one guy on our roster who's been to the tournament before, so I don't feel real sorry for them," he said.
An opening-round win for Iowa State could mean a meeting with an SMU team that lost its biggest talent--Emmanuel Mudiay--before the season and is making its first tourney appearance since 1993. An SMU upset would mean a meeting with a UCLA team that has beaten one ranked team all season. If Iowa State wins that game, it'll most like meet Gonzaga. The weakest two seed on the bracket would be all that stands between the Cyclones and a likely meeting with Duke for a trip to the Final Four.
Baylor drew Georgia State, who will play its first tournament game since 2001. Win that game and the Bears' most likely opponent would be Xavier, a team who went 9-9 in a weak Big East, though the Musketeers do boast four total wins over Georgetown and Butler in the final six weeks of the season.
Oklahoma? The Sooners get Albany in Round 1 and though Providence is among the strongest six seeds on the bracket, the Friars lost their last four games against ranked teams. The Sooners were 3-3 against ranked teams in the final month of the season, including wins over Iowa State and Kansas.
"We made each other better throughout the year and hopefully we'll validate that," Sooners coach Lon Kruger said.
Oklahoma State has reason to complain after drawing a No. 9 seed in Wisconsin's region and Oregon in the first round, a team that eliminated OSU two years ago as a No. 12 seed and closed this season by winning 11 of its final 13 games.
Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford called them "one of the hottest teams in America."
Texas can be glad it avoided a play-in game on Tuesday, even with a difficult first-round draw in No. 6 seed Butler, who boast an RPI of 17 and a 6-8 record against the RPI Top 50.
It should be one of the most successful tournaments in recent history for the Big 12, which boasted about its record-setting nonconference record all season long and positioned itself as the nation's best conference.
Still, even with the best nonconference winning percentage of any league in the past decade, the Big 12 lacked a big buck to mount on its wall. The tournament is an opportunity to change that.
"I don't care what happens, we have the best league in America," Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford said. "Do we all hope we go far and do well? Sure, but I don't think (our league) needs to just be judged on the next 2-3 weeks."
Too bad. Perception is cemented when the lights are brightest.
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