Big 12 Tournament Championship Game Predictions: Kansas - West Virginia

In a conference that has been as crazy as this one, it has been a bit strange to see the end of the season and conference tournament basically follow the script. Kansas stormed their way to the regular season conference title as the other challengers just didn’t have the horses to run with them, and now the top two seeds meet in what should be an entertaining final. Can Kansas complete the script tonight and take conference title, assuring themselves of the overall #1 seed next week?

fizzle406: If Kansas can get some help out of their bench players today, I think we should be OK. Last night's game was almost an embarrassment. Kansas 77, WVU 72

David: It had been a while since Kansas truly looked bad offensively like they did in the first half yesterday. Hopefully that was just a little hiccup and not a sign that they're wearing down. Graham and Mason played 38 and 34 minutes respectively last night, while only one West Virginia player exceeded the high 20s. I do wonder if West Virginia's press and style of play will be able to run Kansas’ backcourt down. If they’re allowed to get away with full two-hand shoves and slapping like they were last night, things could get especially rough. I think fatigue starts to play a role tonight and Kansas goes down in the Big 12 title game for the third straight year. West Virginia 75, Kansas 70

Winmore: Really hoped to see KU-v-OU round three here. If that had been the case I would have picked the Sooners to win. West Virginia is going to get rolled today. They played uninspired against TCU. They were saved by an eyelash from Buddy Hield’s heroics. Kansas will run through the press with ease. Kansas 80, WVU 69

mikeville: I think the smart money is on West Virginia in this one. Not only are they more rested as David mentioned, they play a style of basketball that is difficult to play against, especially on short rest. The Jayhawks looked sloppy against Baylor, almost as if they didn’t really care if they were there or not. But Bill Self willed this team to victory against the Bears, and who am I to say he won’t do it again today? Kansas 74, West Virginia 68.

dnoll5: I think Bill Self was game planning for West Virginia as the team that would come out of the other side of the bracket. The other likely candidates don’t play any defense, so I think he had WVU circled and has been instilling in his guys how to break their press. Of course, the easiest way to break it is to make them shoot jumpers and do your duties on the defensive glass. KU has recently shown an ability to do both. Kansas 82, West Virginia 70

misterbrain: Can this team be out-classed or out-muscled or out-finessed for a half? Yeah, we’ve seen that multiple times this year. But somehow, this team always finds a way to prevent that from happening for an entire game. West Virginia doesn’t have the type of team that can adjust their game plan the way the Jayhawks can. I’m expecting West Virginia to play tough through the first half. They might even go into the break with a decent lead. But Bill Self will adjust in the locker room, and the Jayhawks will find a way to win this game. The press worked against Buddy Hield, but left basically everyone else free to do whatever they could. Kansas doesn’t have one guy so clearly above the rest to shut down, and the supporting cast is much larger and just as talented. It should be a good game, but Kansas should win this one. The only question is going to be can they make their free throws to keep it from getting too tense towards the end. Kansas 79, West Virginia 73