Joe Lunardi updates the Big 12's bids for March Madness

The Big 12 remains one of the most competitive conferences in college basketball, if not the most competitive. That’ll make it a race in the league until the very end and an all-out battle for seeds in the NCAA Tournament according ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.

Lunardi took a look at the Big 12’s outlook for March Madness as we head into February. He did so in a pair of tweets this afternoon as he has 11 teams currently in or making a case to make the field.

Lunardi started with the lone game on the conference’s schedule tonight. No. 4 Houston (18-2, 5-2) will travel to Austin to play at Texas (14-6, 3-4) inside the Moody Center. The Cougars, a No. 1 in his bracket, needs the victory in order to maintain their spot ahead of UNC. On the opposite side, the Longhorns, a No. 10 seed that’s a part of the ‘Last Four Byes’ according to Lunardi, would move up to a No. 9 with the win.

“The Cougars would likely remain a one-seed even with a loss at Texas tonight but North Carolina would eclipse them for No. 3 overall,” wrote Lunardi. “The 10-seed Longhorns stay in the field with a loss but move up one line with a victory.”

Nine other teams then come into the mix afterward. Seven have bids at the moment while the remaining two are currently on the bubble. Kansas (16-4, 4-3), Iowa State (16-4, 5-2), Baylor (14-5, 3-3), BYU (15-5, 3-4), and Oklahoma (15-5, 3-4) are all anywhere from No. 3 to No. 6 seeds according to Lunardi. That leaves Texas Tech (16-3, 5-1) as a No. 7 and TCU (15-5, 4-3) as a No. 10 from there.

After that, Cincinnati (14-6, 3-4) and Kansas State (14-6, 4-3) are the teams that find themselves just on the outside looking in. The Bearcats are slightly better off as part of the ‘First Four Out’. K-State is then part of the following group in the ‘Next Four Out’.

Every week in the Big 12 is a war. However, this one is especially so with several of their tournament hopefuls playing one another.

It’s a significant week for Houston and Kansas as the league’s pair of Top-10 teams in the AP Poll. After the Cougars play Texas tonight and the Jayhawks play Oklahoma State (9-11, 1-6) tomorrow, the two will clash inside Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday.

Before that, though, Tuesday will feature a pair of other crucial matchups. The Red Raiders will travel to Fort Worth to play the Horned Frogs. That’ll be a contest between two teams out of Texas who are “rising” according to Lunardi. Then, in Manhattan, the Sooners and Wildcats will look to end their respective skids.

On Saturday, the other game of importance will be between the Cyclones and Bears in Waco. Iowa State is “rising” as well for Lunardi after a victory over the Jayhawks this weekend. Meanwhile, Baylor will want to have ended their three-game losing streak by then against UCF (12-7, 3-4).

BYU and Cincinnati will also be looking to take advantage of West Virginia (7-13, 2-5) throughout the week. The Bearcats will go to Morgantown on Wednesday while the Cougars will then make the trip this weekend.

This level of competition leaves only a handful of the league’s teams out of the postseason race. The Knights, Mountaineers, and Cowboys are the three teams who aren’t on Lunardi’s list at the moment.

Again, few leagues get after each other in conference play quite like the Big 12. That’s further proven with just a handful of games separating every team in the standings. That leaves plenty of room for each program to either rise or fall in Lunardi’s eyes over the course of this week and then into February.