Big 12 Tournament Simulation - The Sooners are King

COLLEGE BASKETBALL BETTING – XBOX SIMULATION

Big XII Tournament

March Madness (brackets available now) is just about here for sports betting gurus, but as a prequel to all of the great college basketball betting action that can only be the NCAA Tournament, BetUS Sportsbook members will get their chance to sink their teeth into the Big XII Tournament, as teams vie for tournament position or entry to The Big Dance.

In the opening round of the tournament, the chalk pretty much held serve. The #5 Texas Longhorns (20-10, 11-16 ATS) posted the biggest route of the round, beating the hapless #12 Colorado Buffaloes (9-21, 13-13 ATS) 72-42. Other first round winners included the #6 Texas A&M Aggies (23-8, 15-8 ATS), the #7 Oklahoma State Cowboys (20-10, 12-11-1 ATS), and the #9 Baylor Bears (17-13, 7-15 ATS).

Though Baylor was the only team to spring a mild upset in the first round of the tournament, its luck and its hope for a spot in the NCAA Tournament both went up in flames with an 82-74 loss against the top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks (25-6, 18-6-1 ATS). Much like the Bears, the #4 Kansas State Wildcats (21-10, 8-13-2 ATS), Cowboys, and Aggies were all in bubble trouble coming into the second round. None would advance.

2009 Big XII Tournament Simulation

Texas did its job and certainly secured a spot in the NCAA Tournament by beating K-State 74-64, while in the other half of the bracket, the #2 Oklahoma Sooners (27-4, 13-12-1 ATS) beat the Okies in a rematch of Bedlam 80-71, while the #3 Missouri Tigers (25-6, 14-10 ATS) used a press defense to halt the Aggies 62-48.

With the four best teams in the conference still standing, the Big XII semifinals were both fantastic games.

In the first semifinal, the Jayhawks came out of the blocks like a house of fire, scoring the first 13 points in just 1:45. It sure looked like a Rock Chalk day at the half, as KU led the Longhorns 38-24. Texas never really put together a sustained run, but chipped away at the Kansas lead the entire second half. With just six minutes to go, the Longhorns cut the deficit to six points, when G AJ Abrams took over. The senior went on an 8-0 run of his own to give Texas a 58-56 lead. The two teams battled back and forth for the remaining four minutes, but in the end, an Abrams jumper with 1:25 gave Texas a one-point lead that it would never relinquish. Texas advanced to the Big XII final with a 69-66 win.

On the other side of the bracket, the Sooners and Tigers were involved in a huge slug fest. Both teams turned the ball over 22 times in the game and neither team reached 40% from the field. The difference was on the boards, where the tandem of Blake and Taylor Griffin combined for 32 rebounds, 11 of which were on the offensive end of the floor. #2 Oklahoma avenged a 73-64 loss in the Show Me State by winning in the Big XII semifinal 52-43.

The Red River Rivalry is one of the fiercest in all of college sports, but the Sooners clearly had revenge on their minds after losing 73-68 in Austin just three weeks ago. F Blake Griffin missed all but a few minutes of that game with a concussion, and came back with an absolute vengeance, scoring 38 points on 12/12 shooting from the floor to go with 22 boards and nine blocks. Abrams tried his best, scoring 18 points and dishing out 11 assists, but when the scoreboard reached 0:00, the Sooners won the Big XII title and likely guaranteed themselves a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament with the 80-62 win over their rivals from Texas.