KU Predictions: at Oklahoma

dnoll5: Why would Kansas even try to win this game? In all honestly, it wouldn't bother me to see some of the guys that could be necessary in the NCAA tournament get major minutes in this one. I think Svi and Hunter Mickelson should get as much time as possible in Norman this weekend. If Alexander is back, this will be a great game to get his confidence rolling as well. And if the score gets out of hand, Tyler Self, Evan Manning, Christian Garrett, and Josh Pollard are right there to get the mop-up minutes their time and dedication deserves. Oklahoma 80, Kansas 68.

fizzle406: We have absolutely no shot of winning this game. You can record record it as a loss right now. Dump all of the money out of your savings and retirement accounts and put it all on Oklahoma. Its as sure of a sure thing that you can get. Hunter, Svi, and some of the other guys whose names I can't remember right now will get plenty of minutes. Oklahoma 77, Kansas 59

Jim Hammen: No Perry, no Cliff, hopefully as little Frank as possible. Solo conference title clinched. Essentially locked into a #2 seed. I can't think of a game that matters much less than this one. Can we get Andrew White III to come back and play for us, for old time's sake? Oklahoma 79, Kansas 65 #freeandrewwhite

Penhawk: I don't see Kansas winning this game, but that's alright. We know Perry will be getting some rest, and I'm guessing we see a reduction in minutes for Mason and Selden as well. This game will have no impact on the conference standings and no impact on tournament seeding. I don't see how the team comes into this with enough motivation and fire to win in Norman. Stranger things have happened though (in fact, a much stranger thing happened Tuesday night), so I'm going to say Kansas finds a way to keep this one close until the last few minutes. Oklahoma 79, Kansas 71

cstonehoops: Looks like I'm in agreement with just about everybody else on this one. I don't think Kansas has much need to invest itself in this game given it's locked up the Big 12 title and likely a #2 seed in the NCAA tournament. Without Alexander or Ellis, the Jayhawks will use a three man rotation in the front court, and potentially allow Self to experiment with some smaller lineups. I sort of imagine this being like secret NBA tanking that's not quite done in the open unless you're the 76ers. Oklahoma 80, Kansas 71.

KU Grad 08: I didn't think KU had a good chance to win this one even with a fully healthy team. While OU doesn't have anything to play for either, they are a very good team. No Ellis and likely reduced court time for other starters likely spells doom for Kansas. KU has the potential to hit some threes which could keep this relatively close, but they aren't winning. Hopefully Mickelson continues to play well, Greene can get some threes to fall (Self should just play him 30 minutes and let him shoot his way out of the slump) and the Jayhawks avoid any more injuries. I think Kansas hangs around a while, but a big OU run with their crowd rocking puts it out of reach in the second half. Oklahoma 85, Kansas 69.

J. Michael Winmore: Oklahoma at home, coming off of a blown game in Ames, I don't see the Hawks, absent Perry Ellis, leaving Norman with a victory. It took everything the Hawks had to defeat a depleted West Virginia at Allen Fieldhouse in fluky fashion. With all that being said though, let's get all sorts of delusional! Brannen Greene finds his shot. Landon Lucas and Traylor go for 15 and 12 respectively. Frank Mason III gets to the line 33 times and cashes in 90% of his attempts there and the Hawks scrape out an ugly win. Kansas 71, Oklahoma 69.