2010 Big 12 Conference Tournament Preview

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/09/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Another year and another championship for Kansas, which captured its sixth straight Big 12 regular-season crown with a 15-1 finish. The No.1 ranked Jayhawks are the top-seed for the sixth time in the 14-year history of the Big 12 Tournament and they received a bye in the first round. Also earning first-round byes are Kansas State, Baylor and Texas A&M, as they all finished tied for second at 11-5. After the tie-breakers were worked out, the Wildcats landed the second seed followed by the Bears and Aggies.

The Missouri Tigers will begin their title defense in the first round, as they placed fifth in the conference at 10-6. Texas and Oklahoma State tied for sixth at 9-7, with the Longhorns grabbing the sixth seed and the Cowboys the seventh. The bottom five teams all had losing records in the conference and were seeded accordingly. The winner of this annual event moves on to the NCAA Tournament with an automatic bid.

The 14th-annual Big 12 Tournament gets underway at the Sprint Center on Wednesday, with the ninth-seeded Texas Tech Red Raiders clashing with the eighth-seeded Colorado Buffaloes. This is a rematch of Saturday's regular- season finale in which Colorado won a 101-90 shootout in Boulder. The Buffs won their last three games of the regular campaign, while the Red Raiders have dropped seven in a row heading into the postseason. Neither of these teams have won this tourney, and Texas Tech has captured both prior meetings with Colorado in the event.

The fifth-seeded Missouri Tigers defend their title against 12th-seeded Nebraska in the second game of the first round. The Tigers, as the third seed, won their first-ever Big 12 Tournament championship last season and went on to the Elite Eight of the Big Dance. Missouri, which has posted back-to-back 10- win campaigns in the Big 12 for the first time since 1999-00, is 15-12 all- time in this event. This is the sixth time Missouri and Nebraska are meeting in the Big 12 Tournament, with the Huskers winning the last two encounters. The Huskers though, finished with a league-worst 2-14 mark and they are just 1-9 over their last 10 outings.

Bitter rivals come together in the third game, as the 10th-seeded Oklahoma Sooners tussle with the seventh-seeded Oklahoma State Cowboys. One year removed from an outstanding campaign, the Sooners disappointed big time due to injuries and inconsistency, finishing just 4-12 within the conference. Oklahoma enters the postseason riding an eight-game losing streak and will need to win this event in order to avoid its first losing campaign since 1981. The Cowboys meanwhile, were the only Big 12 team to defeat Kansas, as they knocked off the top-ranked Jayhawks, 85-77, on February 27th. Oklahoma State features the Big 12 Player of the Year in James Anderson, who will try to carry the program to its first title in this tourney since 2005.

First-round play wraps up with the sixth-seeded Texas Longhorns taking on the 11th-seeded Iowa State Cyclones. The Longhorns soared to No.1 in the nation at one point this season, but fell on hard times down the stretch and finished the regular campaign outside the Top 25. Still, Texas had enough to reach the 20-win plateau for the 11th straight season at 23-8 overall. The Longhorns are 17-13 all-time in this event and despite five championship game appearances, they have never won the title. Iowa State meanwhile, is coming off another poor showing with just a 4-12 mark within the conference. The Cyclones, however, ended a 21-game losing streak to ranked opponents with a triumph of Kansas State on Saturday. In 2000, Iowa State won this tourney, but it hasn't had much luck since.

The top-ranked and top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks will make their tourney debut in the quarterfinals on Thursday, as they await the winner of Texas Tech/Colorado pairing. The Jayhawks are the face of the Big 12, having won or shared 10 of the 14 regular-season titles while capturing this tourney on six occasions. Kansas has won at least 11 games each season since in the inceptions of the Big 12 in 1996-97 and they have notched 15 league victories on four occasions. The Jayhawks, who are 29-2 overall, own a 25-7 record in this event, but had their run of three-straight titles stopped last season.

Once the doormat of the Big 12, the fourth-seeded Texas A&M Aggies are now consistent contenders for a top finish. The Aggies earned a first-round bye for the third time in five years following a run in which they were never seeded higher than seventh. Texas A&M though, has only three wins in this event and that ranks last of any member. The Aggies, who have registered six straight 20-win campaigns, will tussle with the winner of the Nebraska/Missouri matchup.

The quarterfinal round continues with second-seeded Kansas State hooking up with the survivor of the Oklahoma/Oklahoma State pairing. The No.2 seed is the program's highest in the Big 12 Championship, as Kansas State earned a first- round bye for the fourth straight season. The Wildcats 24 overall wins and 11 conference victories are their most since the 1987-88 campaign. The team, though, is just 7-13 all-time in this event and has yet to even reach the finals.

The third-seeded Baylor Bears had a terrific run in this tourney last season and will collide with the victor of the Iowa State/Texas clash in the quarterfinals. As the ninth seed last season, the Bears played the role of giant-killer, advancing all the way to the finals before losing to Missouri. Baylor took that experience and applied it to this season, capturing 11 conference wins for the first time in Big 12 history. With that came the program's highest seed and first bye in this event.

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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

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