COLUMBIA, Mo. -- So there you are, NCAA Tournament Committee. You're sitting in your far-flung living rooms this weekend trying to slide a mental piece of paper between the nation's top four seeds.
Kentucky does you a favor by wrapping up an undefeated SEC season, not losing since -- what -- that Texas Western game? Arizona cruises in the Pac-10. Then what? In a stirring 24 hours that ended here Sunday afternoon, the Big 12 does you no favors.
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| Kirk Hinrich's Jayhawks have gone 30-2 the past two years in perhaps the biggest, baddest conference in the land.(AP) |
Then the whole darn regular season (and NCAA bracket?) comes down to Kansas' Aaron Miles throwing one up from his hip against Missouri to tie it with 1:19 left. Teammate Kirk Hinrich does one better by falling away (and down) with a 25-footer to win it.
That's Kansas, a 79-74 winner Sunday, clinching its second consecutive outright Big 12 title. The Kansas that is 30-2 in conference games over the past two seasons. The Kansas that has given the committee at least a week's notice it should be one of two Big 12 teams on the top line come next Sunday.
"Arizona and Kentucky have kind of separated themselves from everybody else," Kansas' Nick Collison said after scoring 20 points in the 247th Border War. "After that, it's what you do next weekend."
The problem is the Big 12, with the mother of all conference tournaments coming up, is too good for its own good. Sure, it deserves two No. 1 seeds, but who should those be? Kansas and Texas? Oklahoma and Texas? Kansas and Oklahoma?
Texas (22-5) put itself in position to tie for the conference title with that 76-71 Oklahoma joint. Despite finishing a game behind the Jayhawks (24-6 and 14-2), the No. 4 Longhorns might have the league's best tournament profile. Or do they? No. 6 Kansas then clinched the league title outright (for the 37th time) by surviving another visit to the belly of the beast at Missouri.
It did it having lost only twice in the league since Feb. 17, 2001. It did it without forward Wayne Simien (separated shoulder, out for the season). To top it off at Missouri was the ultimate cherry.
"(Texas coach) Rick Barnes was quoted as saying that he felt that the winner of the league would have three losses," Kansas coach Roy Williams said. "Before the season, I'm not sure I wouldn't have said four, the league is that balanced. For us to come in here today and win on their court is awfully impressive. To go 30-2 in this league, it's something that we're very proud of. ...
"We can go anywhere and play -- Hearnes, Allen Fieldhouse or the parking lot."
Two on the top line would be unprecedented for the Big 12. Having three teams no lower than a No. 2 seed would be historic. Shuffling those cards is going to be the tournament's headache.
Last year's postseason tournament winner, No. 5 Oklahoma (21-6), could get into the No. 1 seed conversation by running the table next weekend in Dallas. And unlike most years, there will actually be a lot at stake in the conference tournament: those top seeds, Colorado and Texas Tech trying to firm up NCAA credentials, all this among the glitz of Dallas for the first time.
"Everybody is hanging on to their hopes, trying to prove their seeds, extend their season," Hinrich said. "You've got to be ready to play."
"It's a lot like the ACC," Missouri coach Quin Snyder said of the Big 12 after losing his fifth consecutive game to the Jayhawks.
To be precise, Snyder was speaking of the old ACC, when the conference was good. The Dean's ACC. Frankly, Tobacco Road needs a light these days. The Big 12 is the one rolling its own.
"The teams play great defense and there's great coaching," Snyder said. "It does remind me of that. It will be a great tournament. I certainly think those teams are of that caliber, they make you better. They make you grow up real quick."
Snyder and the Tigers were on the brink Sunday of a growth spurt. Wednesday night, they blew a shot at a first-round Big 12 Tournament bye by getting blown out at Iowa State. But there is nothing that gets the blood boiling like Kansas-Missouri.
North Carolina and Duke can have their blue-blooded meetings. This rivalry goes back to pre-Civil War days, when pro-slavery Missourians rode across the border and killed abolitionist Kansans. Those "Burn KU" signs trace their lineage back to 19th century, when a radical named Quantrill actually did that to Lawrence.
So no matter what their standing, the Tigers can be counted on to get up at least twice a year for the hated Jayhawks. But despite falling one game short of the Final Four last season, unranked Missouri (18-9) is still in that maturation process under Snyder. They have a lot of talent that finished no higher than fifth in Snyder's four seasons.
That Kansas is on a two-year tear through what is now regarded as the nation's top league makes the rivalry more intense, or more frustrating for the Tigers. So much so that security personnel were dispatched to the Hearnes Center student section to confiscate any, shall we say, off-color signage.
And there was a lot, questioning the Jayhawks' gender orientation and physical characteristics.
"It felt good," Miles said of his off-balance 23-foot 3-pointer that tied it 74-74. "But it felt more good having them quiet. They talked a lot of stuff prior to the game."
Miles' shot will at least go down in Jayhawks lore, if not Big 12. Missouri had recovered from a sluggish start to take a 74-71 lead with 1:55 left. Almost equal to beating Kansas, Missouri wanted to stay out of the dreaded No. 8-vs.-No. 9 game in the NCAA Tournament. The winner of that game has always gotten a No. 1 seed in the second round, because a No. 1 has never lost in the first.
"Aaron's shot was pure luck, don't you think?" Kansas coach Roy Williams said. "I've never seen a shot like that in my life."
Neither had Miles, a sophomore point guard, or his teammates.
After teammate Michael Lee grabbed a key offensive rebound, Miles found himself left of the circle with two seconds remaining on the shot clock, Missouri's Ricky Clemons draped all over him.
"When I saw him shoot, I thought he was aiming to hit the rim," teammate Bryant Nash said.
"Man," Collison said, "that thing was as flat as I've ever seen a shot go in."
Hinrich then delivered the knockout blow, a 25-footer while falling flat on his back to break the tie with 23 seconds left.
"When you're fighting a heavyweight, you can't let it go to a decision, you've got to knock him out," Snyder said, "take the element of chance out of it. You gotta put them on the canvas, we couldn't do that."
Suddenly, Missouri was the one feeling burned. An 8-9 first-round game is a definite possibility. That's the easy part for the tournament committee. Last year, they intimated they disregarded Oklahoma's victory over Kansas in the tournament championship game. Before the game, the Jayhawks were locked into a No. 1 seed, Oklahoma had a No. 2.
Never mind the two teams played a knockdown, drag-out classic that foreshadowed the two teams getting to the Final Four.
Was ignoring the championship game fair? Maybe. Tearing up the bracket for one game hours before its release might be asking too much. Lazy? Absolutely, if the committee didn't even try. Especially with the best league in the land making itself a nuisance because of its excellence.
Three teams among the top eight in the tournament could make it all that more complicated -- or all that more glorious.
