Big 12 figures to be tough
The Big 12 should be loaded with good teams, which might make it tough for Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to make the NCAA Men’s Tournament.
NORMAN — The Big 12 figures to once again be one of the deepest conferences in college basketball next season, so finding breaks in the schedule once Big 12 play begins is tough.
For Oklahoma, they’ll need to find a way to string together some wins—especially after a tough non-conference schedule—if they want to make the NCAA Tournament a year after missing out.
Thursday, the Big 12 released its conference schedule for 2017-18.
Here are five takeaways from the Sooners’ slate:
Student-free Bedlam? Well, there will be some OU students at Norman’s edition of Bedlam, but it might not be many. The Sooners host the Cowboys on Jan. 3, well before classes for the spring semester begin and when plenty of students are still back home or elsewhere celebrating the holidays. By the time the Sooners play seven conference games, the Bedlam series will be finished, as the return trip to Stillwater is Jan. 20.
One tough stretch: Beginning Jan. 23, the Sooners will host Kansas, travel to Alabama, host Baylor, play at Texas and host West Virginia all in the span of 14 days. That five-game stretch could prove critical in how OU’s season shakes out. With Kansas expected to be a top-five team nationally, Alabama’s stellar recruiting classes and West Virginia expected to be really good once again, having success in the middle of that stretch plus finding a way to pull off at least once more win could be necessary. Jayhawks once again a midweek game: For the second consecutive season, Kansas’
trip to Lloyd Noble Center will come during the week instead of on Saturday. Trae Young will play his first game against the other team that was in his final two during his decision process, at 6 p.m. on a Tuesday night.
Ending on a Friday: While most Big 12 teams have ended their regular season on the Saturday before the Big 12 Tournament begins, a couple have played the night before thanks to television holes to fill. The Sooners will be in that role this year when they finished the regular season at home against Iowa State at 8 p.m. March 2. Home for the weekends in February: While five of OU’s first six home games come on weekdays, the last three games at Lloyd Noble Center are scheduled for Saturday (or Friday in the case of the Iowa State game). That figures to increase the chance of a large turnout if the Sooners are having a strong season by the time mid-February rolls around.